The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
MORAL PRINCIPLES / UNIVERSAL
Reading, reflection and time have convinced me that the interests of
society require the observation of those moral precepts only in which
all religions agree, (for all forbid us to murder, steal, plunder, or
bear false witness,) and that we should not intermeddle with the
particular dogmas in which all religions differ, and which are totally
unconnected with morality. In all of them we see good men, and as many
in one as another. The varieties in the structure and action of the
human mind as in those of the body, are the work of our Creator,
against which it cannot be a religious duty to erect the standard of
uniformity. The practice of morality being necessary for the
well-being of society, he has taken care to impress its precepts so
indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the
subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral
precepts of Jesus, and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater
purity than in his discourses. It is, then, a matter of principle with
me to avoid disturbing the tranquillity of others by the expression of
any opinion on the innocent questions on which we schismatize.
to James Fishback, 27 September 1809
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