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Virginia
Statute for Religious Freedom
Whereas
Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts
to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil
incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and
are a departure from the plan of the Holy author of our religion, who being Lord
both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as
it was in his Almighty power to do;
that
the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as
ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have
assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and
modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to
impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the
greatest part of the world, and through all time;
that
to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the
propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical;
that
even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious
persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his
contributions to the particular pastor, whose morals he would make his pattern,
and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness, and is withdrawing
from the ministry those temporary rewards, which proceeding from an approbation
of their personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and
unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind;
that
our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our
opinions in physics or geometry;
that
therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the
public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of
trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious
opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to
which in common with his fellow-citizens he has a natural right;
that
it tends only to corrupt the principles of that religion it is meant to
encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments,
those who will externally profess and conform to it;
that
though indeed these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet
neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way;
that
to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into
the field of opinion, and to restrain the profession or propagation of
principles on supposition of their ill tendency, is a dangerous fallacy, which
at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being of course judge
of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or
condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from
his own;
that
it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its
officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace
and good order;
and
finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to
herself, that she is the proper and sufficient
antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by
human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free
argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely
to contradict them:
Be
it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall
be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry
whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his
body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions
or belief; but that all men shall be free to
profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and
that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil
capacities.
And
though we well know that this assembly elected by the people for the ordinary
purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding
assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to
declare this act to be irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free
to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby
asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be
hereafter passed to repeal the present, or to narrow its operation, such act
shall be an infringement of natural right.
Source:
W.W. Hening, ed., Statutes at Large of Virginia, vol. 12 (1823): 84-86.
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/42.htm.
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