08 July, 2008

Thomas Jefferson, Christians and Atheists


(This is my response to Mr. Floyd Johnson, our unbelieving neighbor, who burns with dislike for Christianity which he often expresses in his letters to the editor.  -JHW)

Floyd Johnson has provided us with another of his anti-Christian diatribes, under the guise of a study of the thinking of Thomas Jefferson.  He has labored long and hard to assemble his quotes and from them we learn the following lessons:
  • Jefferson, like all the other founding fathers, believed in God.
  • He believed that God created man and endowed him with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  • He believed that slavery in all its forms antithetic to Christianity as well as to democracy.
  • He did not like the oppression that Catholicism had imposed on peoples in nations where it was dominant.
  • He believed in freedom of religion. No one should be forced to embrace any religion against his will.
  • He especially opposed persecution of dissenters by a corrupt state church.
  • He despised the confusion of sectarianism with their human creeds.
  • He believed that the religion of Jesus offers "the purest system of morals ever before preached to man."
  • He rightly believed that many of the churches created by men have corrupted the pure religion of Christ which is revealed in the Bible. (Perhaps Mr. Johnson has seen the Jeffersonian Bible which Jefferson edited).
  • Jefferson professed eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."  Thus he would have hated the tyranny of the atheistic governments of Russia, China and Cuba.
  • He believed that reason should take precedence over fear and prejudice.
  • He believed that no church should be allowed to have political control in our nation.
In case Mr. Johnson does not know it, I and a multitude of other Christians share the above beliefs of Thomas Jefferson.  Because of our faith, we wish our adversary well and pray for him. If he is hungry we will feed him, if thirsty we will give him drink.  

Sincerely,



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