Virgil Goode vs. Thomas Jefferson

By: Kindler
Published On: 12/22/2006 11:50:55 PM

As people around the world hear about Rep. Virgil GoodeGÇÖs narrow-minded comments against Muslims, many of them will assume that in this, he is representing the people and state of Virginia.  So let us set the record straight: GoodeGÇÖs stance is a complete repudiation of our stateGÇÖs Jeffersonian tradition of religious tolerance.

In his GÇ£Notes on VirginiaGÇ¥ (1784), Thomas Jefferson wrote: GÇ£It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god.  It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.GÇ¥  (Got that, Virgil?)

In 1779, Jefferson introduced a GÇ£Bill for Establishing Religious FreedomGÇ¥ to the Virginia state legislature, which states:

We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, or shall suffer otherwise on account of his religious opinions or belief; 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 no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities.

To be sure, it took Jefferson (and James Madison) years to get this enacted, but they finally did so in 1784.  At the time, Jefferson was serving as Ambassador to France, and was so thrilled to hear about the passage of this law that he translated it into French and Italian and had it distributed across Europe at his own expense.  As he said then: GÇ£It is honorable for us to have produced the first legislature who had the courage to declare that the reason of man may be trusted with the formation of his own opinions.GÇ¥

When he wrote the epitaph for his own tombstone (shown above), he mentioned only three accomplishments for which he wanted to be remembered: the Declaration of Independence, the University of Virginia GÇô and the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom.

So let us remember Jefferson for this milestone and take pride that Virginia played such a pivotal role in spreading the notion of religious tolerance across the world.  And let us not allow Virgil Goode or any of his Republican apologists to tarnish this great Virginia tradition.

Comments



This is an excellent post! (demnan - 12/23/2006 7:33:49 AM)
Why don't you cross-post at DU and Kos so a lot of non-Virginians can also enjoy it?


Done! (Kindler - 12/23/2006 10:40:03 AM)
Thanks for the comments and suggestion.

BTW, while on Kos, I found another post along similar lines: "George Washington vs. Virgil Goode" by David Sewell



Virginia a state of bigots? (mosquitopest - 12/23/2006 9:58:16 AM)
I'm a native Virginian and I wish what you said was true.

However, Virginians recently voted to enshrine Jim Crow into our constitution with the Marriage Amendment.

I can't honestly defend my home state when I see the bigotry in action...

Until the Marriage Amendment is repealed by Virginians and politicians such as Virgil Goode are retired for good....I have to concede that VA is for Bigots and "straight" lovers only.

Buzz...Buzz...



Virginia and the culture wars (Kindler - 12/23/2006 10:21:51 AM)
Well, as somebody said a few posts ago, we are on the front lines of the culture wars here.  My point is that tolerance is part of Virginia tradition -- if we choose to follow that tradition...


The trouble is general ignorance (montpellier - 12/23/2006 11:36:01 AM)
Virginia has a remarkably strong Age of Enlightenment/Reason heritage.  Most of the 'progressive' elements of the US Constitution are of Virginian pedigree.  However, the social-reactionaries (bigots) who oppose them are studiously ignorant and subscribe to revisionist 'Christianist' literature which describes America as a Democracy with the fanchise extended only to Protestants (theocrats at that).  Unfortunately, the mis-information seems to win out.


Virginia and the culture wars (presidentialman - 12/25/2006 1:00:24 AM)
Virginia, again in reference to your sic semper tyrannis quote, is also the home of the South. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, George Pickett.  Pickett said before his charge at Gettysburg, "rise up men, don't forget today that you're fighting for Ol' Virginia."  I used to volunteer at the Lee Mansion at Arlington National Cemetery. Periodically I go back.  One time I went back, I got to the top of the hill where the House overlooks DC.  The House was closed.  Anyrate, there was a group of people next to me, about ten feet away.  One guy was leading the small group and he was talking. The guy looked like a Civil War reenactor, he was all dressed in Grey.  The South wore Grey.  He was explained where he worked, these are his words, "I work, see a little beyond Imposter's Memorial..", he kept repeating "Imposter's Memorial."  Might want to take a guess what Memorial he was talking about? 

In the context of Virgil Goode's words about defending against muslim invaders, he's really just an updated stand in for Jefferson Davis, who said,"all we want is our independence and to be left alone." It is true that Virginia is not Mississippi.  Mississippi joined the Confederacy like there was no tommorrow.  Virginia waited. In fact that was like the 2000 election of its day.  People wanted to know which side Virginia would join.  It joined with the South. It was one of the last to join, but it joined.  Many battles were fought here, Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chancelorsville-considered Lee's greatest victory, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor.  The Confederacy may've ended at Appomattox, but that's where the Lee myth and the Lost Cause began. These things are never lurking too far from our noble image. 

I don't know if its you or another person, but one guy mentioned the Notes on the State of Virginia.  That's where you can find Jefferson's ugly view of blacks as human beings. Makes ya wonder if Virgil is using the same text book.



Waldo Jacquith one-upped me... (Kindler - 12/23/2006 3:40:29 PM)
...with a quote from Jefferson that specifically applied the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom to Moslems ("Mahometans").

So was TJ 2 centuries ahead of his time or is VG 2 centuries behind his?



RT Editorial on Goode (cycle12 - 12/23/2006 6:18:58 PM)
In today's (Saturday, December 23) Roanoke Times, their opinion page published a scathing editorial about Goode available at this link:

http://www.roanoke.c...

This final paragraph of the RT editorial is probably the most on-target and sobering one:
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"Goode's got another two years in Congress, but his constituents will have little representation during that time. No one, other than of a handful of his bigoted supporters, will ever take Goode seriously again. Not that he'll notice."
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Unfortunately for Virginia's 5th Congressional District, I fear that the RT may be correct about Goode's ineffectiveness and his apparent total lack of empathy and understanding.

Steve