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THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
> I want to express my gratitude to you for the collection of Jefferson's > writings. I found in them, ample evedence of the concern that Jefferson > would have had concerning the rise of the Radical Religious Right in our > country. I have been able to confound several of my detractors with > references from your pages. Thank you And thank you for your kind comments. Indeed, Jefferson would be alarmed at the attempts of the religious right to influence political decisions, and especially their attempts to break down the "wall of separation between church and state." We thought at one time that this battle was over. And when we look around the world, we would think that the examples of religious interference in government would be enough to serve as a warning to us in this country.
> I just read that communication you had with that religious lunatic about the > Jefferson Bible. I thought you took him apart. Isn't it sad in this day and age > that there are still people controlled by religion, with a mind warped and > steeped in ignorance? His e-mail was dripping with arrogance,and > condesension, as if you and Jefferson both were poor lost souls in need of his > infinite wisdom. He is the type of person, I believe, who pines for a christian > theocracy much like the muslim ones in the Middle East. He doesn't care about > constitutional government, nor does he care that Article 6,section 3 of the > Constitutions, which provides > that"no religious test shall EVER BE REQUIRED for any office or public trust > under the United States". To a mind like his liberty is evil and is spawned > from Satan himself. To believe what you want is not tolerable because the > potential for error is evil. Well,keep up the good work. There are many people who think that our lives and our liberties should be subject to the higher law, the law of God. That sounds pretty good, especially to a religious person. But who will tell us what that law is? Why, they will, of course! So what you end up with is a kind of religious fascism. They say that the state should be under the control of the law of God, but what that really means is, it should be under the control of what THEY SAY is the law of God. That means a kind of dictatorship of the self-righteous, i.e., themselves. But it is almost impossible to get them to see that. This is exactly what happens in the Islamic nations. Nothing could be more oppressive, especially of women and members of other religions. But all of this is done in the name of God.