What James Madison thinks about religion
American statesman (1751 to 1836); fourth US President and co-author of The Federalist.
James Madison did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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9 dated positions, c. 1784–1785, in their own words. Our reading of what James Madison has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsThe religion, then, of every man, must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Their wordsIt is unalienable, because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated in their own minds, cannot follow the dictates of other men: it is unalienable, also, because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Our readingThe civil magistrate is not a competent judge of religious truth nor should use religion as policy
Their wordsBecause the bill implies, either that the civil magistrate is a competent judge of truth, or that he may employ religion as an engine of civil policy. The first is an arrogant pretension, falsified by the contradictory opinions of rulers in all ages, and throughout the world; the second is an unhallowed perversion of the means of salvation.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Our readingLegal support for a religion weakens believers' confidence and invites unbelievers' suspicion
Their wordsIt is, moreover, to weaken in those who profess this religion a pious confidence in its innate excellence, and the patronage of its Author; and to foster in those who still reject it, a suspicion that its friends are too conscious of its fallacies to trust it to its own merits.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Their wordsBecause experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of religion, have had a contrary operation.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Their wordsSuch a Government will be best supported by protecting every citizen in the enjoyment of his religion, with the same equal hand that protects his person and property; by neither invading the equal rights of any sect, nor suffering any sect to invade those of another.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Their wordsInstead of holding forth an asylum to the persecuted, it is itself a signal of persecution. It degrades from the equal rank of citizens all those whose opinions in religion do not bend to those of the legislative authority.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Their wordsDistant as it may be, in its present form, from the Inquisition, it differs only in degree. The one is the first step, the other the last, in the career of intolerance.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book
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Their wordsThe American theatre has exhibited proofs, that equal and complete liberty, if it does not wholly eradicate it, sufficiently destroys its malignant influence on the health and prosperity of the State.
↗A Memorial and Remonstrance (written 1784-1785; 1828 printing)en.wikisource.org All 17 from this book