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.
There's always something suspect about an intellectual on the winning side.
Truths and roses have thorns about them.
Tolerance always has limits - it cannot tolerate what is itself actively intolerant.
The Lord has given us a table at which to feast, not an altar on which a victim is to be offered; He has not consecrated priests to make sacrifice, but servants to distribute the sacred feast.
It is not the being seen of men that is wrong, but doing these things for the purpose of being seen of men. The problem with the hypocrite is his motivation.
The majority of those who are loosely identified by the term 'liberals' are afraid to let themselves discover that what they advocate is statism. They want to keep all the advantages and effects of capitalism, while destroying the cause, and they want to establish statism without its necessary effects. They do not want to know or to admit that they are the champions of dictatorship and slavery.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.