Jefferson the Skeptic - Brooke Allen
This links to a .pdf file that requires Acrobat Reader.
Brooke Allen has built a solid case that the United States' third president was anything but a true believer when it came to Christianity. Using Thomas Jefferson's many writings on the subject, including large swaths of direct quotations in the essay, she simply destroys the notion that he believed the United States should be a Christian nation.
Mr. Jefferson was a pragmatic man who feared that the United States might be taken over by a rabid clergy if it were to politically favor a particular religion.
This is tough reading if you happen to be a believer in the Christian foundations of this country. If you are an atheist, you might find yourself a little disappointed, too. Mr. Jefferson never denies the existence of God. He just doesn't believe in the reality of the God of the Bible. Atheists typically reject divinity in all its forms.
Ms. Allen has included some interesting historical nuggets here, such as the mudslinging that occurred in the 1800 Presidential election. An editorial ran in a Connecticut newspaper that reads like a comment in a political blog of today: "Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will all be openly taught and practiced" if Jefferson was elected. The more things change, eh?
After Mr. Jefferson retired from politics, he worked on stripping the Gospels of what he felt were the unbelievable parts, the miracles, the virgin birth, the ascension, etc. What he created from this is today popularly known as the Jefferson Bible. The actual title is The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. The link takes you to the text at the University of Virginia.
If you enjoy this essay, I would recommend more of Brooke Allen's writings (I love her book reviews). Specifically, on this topic, her book, Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers is a good read.
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