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To: average american student
Jefferson, a man not just of reason, but of faith,

Wrong! Jefferson was an atheist. See it at http://no-god.com/article/quote.html

Some Jefferson quotes from that website ...

"Question boldly even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must approve the homage of Reason rather than that of blindfolded Fear."

"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."

"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies."

"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being of His Father, in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."

All the above are from Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President, author, scientist, architect, educator, and diplomat

5 posted on 11/18/2003 1:09:22 PM PST by thinktwice ("Americans are the most reality oriented people on earth." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: thinktwice
Wow! Talk about cold water on a hot subject.

I believe Jefferson was a "theist" rather than an "atheist".

I'll check out the site that you referenced. I'm assuming that is your source.

6 posted on 11/18/2003 2:17:26 PM PST by Luke (u)
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To: thinktwice
The quotes you have kindly provided do not prove Jefferson an atheist, they prove him a reasoning human being who was not a blind believer in every jot and tittle of Christian dogma, and did not advocate it. One can abhor many Christian (or any other strain of belief) religious organizations and the evil they have done and sectarianism they have promoted without being an atheist.

Often atheists use as their arguments the evils or stupidities religious organizations have done. Those evils and ignorance are only indictments of the failings of weak and fallen men, not evidence of the non-existence of God!
7 posted on 11/18/2003 2:24:17 PM PST by little jeremiah
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To: thinktwice
I've visited your source site.

One small problem. Verified facts and non-verified facts. For example a verified fact would be, "The President of the United States is George Bush." Everyone knows this is true.

A non-verified fact would be, "Homosexuals make up 1% of this nations population." There are no known surveys to prove this statement.

From the limited time I spent on your source site I did not fine one verified quote nor did I find one quote with a reference. Sites such as the one you referenced would not be acceptable as a reference source in any scholastic setting.

8 posted on 11/18/2003 3:00:12 PM PST by Luke (u)
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To: thinktwice
Wrong! Jefferson was an atheist. See it at http://no-god.com/article/quote.html

If Jefferson said he was an atheist, I would have to accept him at his word. If he said he was a Christian I would have to accept him at his word. Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, 21 Apr 1803:

To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; & believing he never claimed any other.
On 4 Mar 1805 President Jefferson prayed a National Prayer for Peace:
"Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners."

"Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues."

"Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those whome in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of earth."

"In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."

Thomas Jefferson to Charles Thomson:
Monticello, January 9, 1816. I, too, have made a wee-little book from the same materials, which I call the Philosophy of Jesus; it is a paradigma of his doctrines, made by cutting the texts out of the book, and arranging them on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time or subject. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen; it is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists, who call me infidel and themselves Christians and preachers of the gospel, while they draw all their characteristic dogmas from what its author never said nor saw.

Jefferson was a Christian.

18 posted on 11/19/2003 5:40:00 AM PST by 4CJ (Come along chihuahua, I want to hear you say yo quiero taco bell. - Nolu Chan, 28 Jul 2003)
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