“ Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other. ”
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Jefferson |
|---|---|
| Source | Notes on the State of Virginia |
| Topic | opinion religion censorship difference |
| Date | 1785 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/jefferson/jefferson.html |
Context
“No more than of face and stature. Introduce the bed of Procrustes then, and as there is danger that the large men may beat the small, make us all of a size, by lopping the former and stretching the latter. Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.”
source
Meaning and analysis
