The Religious Freedom Day Group here at Daily Kos annually commemorates the enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786, which historians recognize was the forerunner to the approach taken by the Framers of the Constitution and the First Amendment regarding the right relationship between the citizen, religion, and government.
Most of the time, when we hear about religious freedom, it is about efforts by the conservative evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Bishops to redefine religious freedom to erode LGBTQ and reproductive rights, and to justify religious discrimination.
But we recognize that religious freedom is in fact, a progressive value, without which democracy itself would be impossible.
There are many roots of religious freedom, but the story of religious freedom as a constitutional right in the US begins with the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. The Statute was originally drafted by Jefferson in 1777 and shepherded through the Virginia legislature by James Madison in 1786. The following year, Madison served as the lead author of the Constitution, and in 1789, as the lead author of the First Amendment. Thus, the Virginia Statute is rightly understood to be the clearest statement of the intentions of the Framers in matters of the right relationship between the individual, religion, and government.
Historian John Ragosta’s thumbnail history of the bill at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello recognizes this. He quotes Madison saying that the Virginia Statute “’is a true standard of Religious liberty: its principle the great barrier agst. usurpations on the rights of conscience. As long as it is respected… these will be safe.’”
But so much of this has been lost in the mists of time and the robust efforts of the historical revisionists of the Christian Right, who falsely claim that the founders intended the country to be a “Christian nation.” Congress sought to rescue the story of the origins of religious freedom in 1992 by designating January 16th as Religious Freedom Day, stipulating only that it be commemorated by a presidential proclamation.
Unfortunately, the public discussion of the Virginia Statute has been dominated by the Christian Right. Even the website ReligiousFreedomDay.com is owned by Gateways to Better Education, a Christian Right outfit that seeks to turn the Day to its own purposes.
But it is important to note that the 221 original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives were quite diverse, and included a wide ideological range from Christian Right Republicans like Henry Hyde (R-IL) and Newt Gingrich (R-GA) to progressive African-American Democrats, like Ronald Dellums (D-CA) and John Conyers, (D-MI), the first openly gay member of Congress, Gerry Studds (D-MA), and feminist pioneer, Louise Slaughter (D-NY).
Jefferson would be pleased, since he wanted to be remembered for authoring the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute, and for founding the University of Virginia. Ragosta says this was because Jefferson saw political freedom, religious freedom, and educational freedom as the great accomplishments of his life. Of the three, Jefferson “thought religious freedom was the foundation because without freedom to think and believe, you could not have the other two.”
The promise of religious freedom for all, served as a rallying point among religious factions and made the Revolution, and the Constitution and its ratification politically possible. Once instituted, the principle has helped every advance in human and civil rights ever since.
Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that this revolutionary and liberatory principle and legislation were born in the context of the oppressive institution of slavery and the conquest of indigenous peoples. Indeed, Jefferson, Madison and most of the framers of the Constitution owned slaves. What’s more, religious freedom has also been used as a justification for these and other oppressions to this day.
Religious Freedom Day then, is an opportunity to reflect on the whole of this history, how far we have come, how far we have to go, and to highlight the struggles of the day.
These things are not, as some seem to suggest, something to be avoided. They are necessary to understand the paradoxes of our history, and how to effectively defend and advance religious freedom and social justice in our time. That Religious Freedom Day annually falls on or near the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives us all the more reason and opportunity to reflect on this history.
So please be on the lookout for more Religious Freedom Day-related posts from the RFD ‘23 Group, in the run up to January 16th. Please feel free to join us, or otherwise join in this commemoration.