Best citizens & atheism Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings

“Our Constitution... has not left the religion of its citizens under the power of its public functionaries, were it possible that any of these should consider a conquest over the conscience of men either attainable or applicable to any desirable purpose.”

Men Should Purpose Left Atheism Citizens Conscience Constitution Positive Atheism Desirable Conquest

Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson: being his autobiography, correspondence, reports, messages, addresses, and other writings, official and private

Source: The writings of Thomas Jefferson: being his autobiography, correspondence, reports, messages, addresses, and other writings, official and private

“It is accepted as an axiom by all Americans that the civil power ought to be not only neutral and impartial as between different forms of faith, but ought to leave these matters entirely on one side, regarding them no more than it regards the artistic or literary pursuits of the citizens.”

Different Matter Form Sides Atheism Ought Citizens Regard Positive Atheism Accepted Pursuit Artistic Axioms

Book:The American Commonwealth: Vol. 4: Illustrations and Reflections & Social Institutions

Source: The American Commonwealth: Vol. 4: Illustrations and Reflections & Social Institutions

“Of all the differences between the Old World and the New, this is perhaps the most salient. Half the wars of Europe, half the internal troubles that have vexed European States... have arisen from theological differences or from the rival claims of Church and State. This whole vast chapter of debate and strife has remained virtually unopened in the United States. There is no Established Church. All religious bodies are equal before the law, and unrecognized by the law, except as voluntary associations of private citizens.”

“Of the six men who have done most to make America the wonder and the joy she is to all of us, not one could be the citizen of a government so constituted; for Washington and Franklin and Jefferson, certainly the three mightiest leaders in our early history, were heretics in their day, Deists, as men called them; and Garrison and Lincoln and Sumner, certainly the three mightiest in these later times, would all be disfranchised by the proposed amendment. Lincoln could not have taken the oath of office had such a clause been in the Constitution.”

Men Done Government America Joy Three Leader Wonder Taken Atheism Citizens Office Six Constitution Positive Atheism Amendments Oath Franklin Heretic X Men Clauses Deist Oath Of Office

Author:John Chadwick

“It goes beyond mere 'acknowledgment' of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context. In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”

Matter Government Purpose Individual Left Sides Religious Prayer Taken Atheism Citizens Exercise Conscience Function Mere Positive Atheism Instance Sole Secular Acknowledgment

Author:Barbara Brandriff Crabb

“The plain message conveyed by the new administration is that George W Bush's America is a Christian nation, and that non-Christians are welcome into the tent so long as they agree to accept their status as a tolerated minority rather than as fully equal citizens. In effect, Bush is saying: "This is our home, and in our home we pray to Jesus as our savior. If you want to be a guest in our home, you must accept the way we pray."”

“The United States, knowing no distinction of her own citizens on account of religion or nationality, naturally believes in a civilization the world over which will secure the same universal laws.”

World Believe States Law United United States Knowing Atheism Citizens Civilization Universal Accounts Positive Atheism Secure Distinction Nationality Universal Laws

Author:Ulysses S. Grant

“Many men without morals have attacked religion because it was contrary to their inclinations. Many wise men have despised it because it seemed to them ridiculous. Many persons have regarded it with indifference, because they have never felt its true disadvantages. But it is as a citizen that I attack it, because it seems to me harmful to the happiness of the state, hostile to the march of the mind of man, and contrary to sound morality, from which the interests of state policy can never be separated.”

“Meiklejohn's position is that free speech in a democracy is not an absolute flowing from the boundless source of some presumed 'natural right.' It is a practical necessity of 'self-government by universal suffrage,' for if the citizens are not permitted to argue out the issues of government, how can they be what they must be in a democracy - the rulers as well as the ruled?”

“Two hundred years ago the forces of freedom challenged this idea. The children of the new enlightenment rose up to defy the tyranny of arrogant clergy and the censorship of pious bureaucrats. They boldly proclaimed that the state must be free from religious coercion and that religion must be free from state control. All individuals have the right to pursue the dictates of their own conscience. All citizens even have the right not to be religious at all.”

“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.”

Natural Religious Common Opinion Atheism Citizens Office Advantage Fellows Privilege Positive Atheism Unworthy Renounce Incapacity Depriving

Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson

Source: The writings of Thomas Jefferson

“It is an insult to our citizens to question whether they are rational beings or not, and blasphemy against religion to suppose it cannot stand the test of truth and reason.”

Reason Atheism Citizens Tests Positive Atheism Rational Insult Censorship Blasphemy Against Religion

Book:The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 7: 28 November 1813 to 30 September 1814

Source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 7: 28 November 1813 to 30 September 1814

“... the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy.”

Atheism Crime Citizens Positive Atheism Controversy Shrinks Secret Society Lawmakers Athenians

Author:John F. Kennedy

“You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence.”

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Citizens Quotes