History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that a society heavily influenced by religious leaders cannot sustain a free government.
Thomas Jefferson's quote reflects his belief that when a population is dominated by religious authority, it undermines their ability to govern themselves freely. He warns that religious leaders may exploit the ignorance of the people for their own agendas, leading to a loss of civil liberties and governance.
In practice
In a discussion about the separation of church and state, this quote can serve to highlight the dangers of religious influence in politics.
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
We 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.
It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.
I have often thought that when I do die it will be of sheer boredom.
The male orientation of classical Athens was inseparable from its genius. Athens became great not despite but because of its misogyny.
the size of a misfortune is not determinable by an outsider’s measurement of it but only by the measurements applied to it by the person specially affected by it.
From the first day to this, sheer greed was the driving spirit of civilization.
I don't mind what happens. That is the essence of inner freedom. _x000D_ _x000D_ It is a timeless spiritual truth: release attachment to outcomes, _x000D_ _x000D_ deep inside yourself, you'll feel good no matter what.
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