In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that throughout history, religious leaders have often opposed the concept of freedom.
Thomas Jefferson's assertion implies that in all societies and historical periods, religious authorities have frequently been antagonistic towards liberty. This opposition can stem from a desire to maintain control over the population, as the pursuit of personal freedom often conflicts with institutional power. Jefferson highlights a recurring theme in human history, pointing towards the tension between religious governance and individual rights.
In practice
In a discussion about the impact of religion on politics, this quote can highlight issues of freedom.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
The realities of the world affected me as visions, and as visions only, while the wild ideas of the land of dreams became, in turn,βnot the material of my every-day existence--but in very deed that existence utterly and solely in itself.
The question of the next generation will not be one of how to liberate the masses, but rather, how to make them love their servitude.
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.
The difference between a man who is led by opinion or emotion and one who is led by reason. The former, whether he will or not, performs things of which he is entirely ignorant; the latter is subordinate to no one, and only does those things which he knows to be of primary importance in his life, and which on that account he desires the most; and therefore I call the former a slave, but the latter free.
Grace is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world. It is a floating, cosmic bash shouting its way through the streets of the universe, flinging the sweetness of its cassations to every window, pounding at every door in a hilarity beyond all liking and happening, until the prodigals come out at last and dance, and the elder brothers finally take their fingers out of their ears.
By writing her self, woman will return to the body which has been more than confiscated from her, which has been turned into the uncanny stranger on display - the ailing or dead figure, which so often turns out to be the nasty companion, the cause and location of inhibitions. Censor the body and you censor breath and speech at the same time. _x000D_ Write your self. Your body must be heard. Only then will the immense resources of the unconscious spring forth.
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