Jefferson Hydrafoil

Had a family doctor appointment to attend to, plus a good deal of USDA work (which will be for the next 2 weeks), but here’s what I got done:

E-Block: Read a chapter from Sherwin-White’s Roman Law and Roman Society in the New Testament for an article.

TIF Response: Worked on Part 10.

Project TAB: Set up files for commentary on 1 Corinthians.

Buddha Project: I have a freelance project in which I closely investigate some “pagan copycat” claims about Buddha. I’ll be busy on this a while. Today I did some initial checking for research needs.

Other: Added a “bogus quote” reference that page; it’s good and short enough to relate here. Thomas Jefferson is quoted by many atheists as saying, “There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites.” This is said to come from Jefferson's Notes on the state of Virginia -- but it's not quite accurate. The actual quote:

“Truth can stand by itself. Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well as public reasons. And why subject it to coercion? To produce uniformity. But is uniformity of opinion desireable? 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. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites.”

In short, Jefferson isn't talking about Christianity; he's talking about "coercion".

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