Memorial And Remonstrance Against Religious Assessment

In the excerpt “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments” of 1785, James Madison and the “subscribers” that follow him give a list of reasons why they deny the Bill that was printed by the General Assembly that entitles “A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion.”(Madison pg. #478) Some of those listed reason include “Because the Bill implies that the Civil Magistrate may employ Religion as an engine of civil policy” (Madison pg. #479), “Because the establishment proposed by the Bill is not requisite for the support of the Christian Religion” (Madison pg. #479), and “Because the establishment in question is not necessary for the support of Civil Government.” (Madison pg. #480) Madison’s purpose of

For example, the priest could hand out voting registration papers to everyone in the church and tell them who to vote for as president in the presidential election and/or what the president should do in political issues; if they deny the orders, they could be banned from the church or sinned to hell by the priest without any consequences. The question being asked is have the fears that Madison expressed in his excerpt “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments” continue to plague our society today or have we moved beyond them? I believe that we have moved beyond them because of other political issues that are more important than the religious issue, that the Constitution and the Amendments forbid churches to force their believers to do their opinionative will, and the right to pray and believe in what we believe in and to protect such

Many colonists had believed the word in the First Amendment that states “every man has the right to free speech and to speak his own opinion and beliefs” and many others believed in the word of the pastor that voting for so and so in the presidential election will get them a successful and productive term with the church’s aid. Those that had believed in the pastor at the time tried to enforce Christianity on others and believe that all other religions are wrong and sinful. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson wrote a Bill stating in the second section “no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or beliefs; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”(Jefferson pg. #482) This Bill was later approved and released to the public in 1786. Without this Bill, we would be within Madison’s fear that “the Civil Magistrate may employ Religion as an engine of civil