[LarryLied]

The point is that they had an explicit opportunity to insert Christianity into the Declaration, and they did not. Jefferson, a Deist by his own claim, writes about this incident quite a bit.

Jefferson was a Unitarian. He had no problem with state taxes being raised to fund the Unitarian church.

[Mark Bahner]

Jefferson was a Unitarian. He had no problem with state taxes being raised to fund the Unitarian church.

I didn't call you on this on the Libertarian Party add on drugs board, because it was off-topic. But on what do you base your claim that Jefferson, "...had no problem with state taxes being raised to fund the Unitarian church."

I say that's wrong. Jefferson considered his work on the "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" to be, with the Declaration of Independence, and founding the University of Virginia, to be among the 3 most important things he did in his life. He began work on that Statute in 1777 (just a year after the Declaration of Independence). That statute says, in part,

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or SUPPORT (my emphasis) any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever..."

The Virginia Religious Freedom Statute

In fact, in his early work on that Statute, Jefferson wrote:

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical."

So where do you get the idea that Jefferson supported state taxes for the Unitarian Church?