THERE IS A DAY IN JANUARY THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU MAY KNOW

The Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson made a January day very important for all Americans.

Being a big fan of US history, and someone that devoirs history books through my Kindle reader, it’s normal that most Americans don’t see how our future sometimes connects deeply to our past. But the Christian Right does see that connection, and for the most part, they do not like what they see.

So, as a quick quiz, why should we Americans be aware every year of the date: January 16^th ?

 Today, there is barely any mention, let alone any observance, of the official National Religious Freedom Day, enacted by Congress in 1992 and recognized every January 16^th by an annual presidential proclamation.  This day commemorates the 1786 enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.  The original bill was authored by Thomas Jefferson and later pushed through the state legislature by the then member of the House of Delegates, James Madison.  Madison, regarded as a key framer of the US Constitution, dealt heavily with the matters of religion and government.  Most Americans today don’t realize thatt he bill was as revolutionary as the era in which it was written.

Just as Jefferson was well aware that many religious Americans did not like the statute, as they also did not like the Constitution and the First Amendment, both of which sought to expand the rights of citizens while deflecting claims of the churches, and their members, that were seeking special considerations.  It is no different with today’s Religious Right.

The point of the original statute was not only that it removed the Anglican Church as the official state church, it also provided that no one can be compelled to attend any religious institution or to underwrite it with the nation’s taxes.  It stated that individuals were free to believe as they will and that this “shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”  In other words, it meant that what we believe, or don’t believe, is not the concern of government and that we are all equal as citizens

Jefferson, over 200 years ago, discounted all the contemporary claims of Christian Right leaders, many of whom insisted that America was founded as a Christian nation.  Jefferson further explained that the legislature had specifically rejected the proposed language that would have described “Jesus Christ” as “the holy author of our religion.”

Is it any wonder that the Christian Right does not want us to remember Jefferson’s original, Statute for Religious Freedom?   It obviously doesn’t fit their narrative of history.  Nor does it justify their vision of the struggles of the political present, or the highly theocratic future the far-right has always envisioned for the country.

Now, take our religious freedom and today’s issues that arise about LGBT individuals and marriage equality.

Religious Freedom Day is nothing but bad news for the likes of Religious Right leaders like Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, a Religious Right public policy and DC lobbying firm who argues that Christians who favor marriage equality are not really Christians.  That is probably why on the 2014 Religious Freedom Day, Perkins made no mention of what Religious Freedom Day is really about.  He instead used the occasion to denounce president Obama’s liberal approach to religious liberty.

The Christian Right  does not want Americans to know anything about this special day.  But by “Americans”, I mean everyone who is not Christian Right and their allies, and especially not LGBT people and those that they consider “insufficiently Christian enough.”  

The areas that the Religious Right hate, are the exact areas that Jefferson made sure were addressed by his Virginia statute and the US Constitution.  That being, religious equality.  It is the root of Jefferson’s bill.

Jefferson wrote the first statute draft in 1777, right after authoring the Declaration of Independence in1776.  And as stated, James Madison then got the statute legislation passed through the Virginia legislature, just months before he traveled to Philadelphia to be a principal author of the US Constitution.  

In fact, the final US Constitution’s text only mentions religion once, saying that there would be “no religious tests required for public office.” This is noted in Article 6 of the US Constitution.  

In other words, per Jefferson’s own words and the original statute, one’s religious identity, or lack thereof, has no bearing on one’s “civil capacities.”

The reality is that as religious equality continues to advance, so do equal rights for all.

So it becomes very clear why the Christian Right might not want Americans like us to be thinking like Thomas Jefferson, and that is exactly why we must continue thinking that way.

So January 16^th is a very special day for those of us that value religious equality and that want to see it continuing to advance. 

But don’t expect that January date to ever be recognized by those of the Religious Right.

That just ain’t going to happen.

Copyright G.Ater  2015