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Review Of James Madison's Address To The General Assembly Of The Commonwealth Of Virginia

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In James Madison’s address to the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, “Memorial and Remonstrance”, he speaks about his opposition to a Bill which would provide provisions for teachers of Christian faith. He argues that such a Bill is an abuse of legislative powers, and he is bound by duty to prove why.
Madison starts off by pointing out how religion is a personal freedom given to every man and it should not be controlled in any way by a governing body. That this unalienable right (religion) is formed by personal opinions and evidence created in an individuals’ mind. He continues on with saying how religion is an obligation given to every man to respectfully pay homage to his creator, and man cannot be a member of civil society without it, but if the General Authority imposes his religious beliefs in civil society he shall live in a state of reservation. Additionally, Madison recognizes that even if this Bill were the want of the majority, that it would crush the want of the minority.
He also strongly believed in the legislative’s body removal from all religious mandates, claiming that to have a free government you must preserve the separation of power and each branch must never cross the line which over step’s the individual rights of the people and that previous rulers that have …show more content…

Every person born on this earth should be given the right of religious freedom and not be persecuted for their religious beliefs. People move to the United States for the exact purpose of religious freedom, and this Bill would have shown favoritism to Christianity. The Bill itself would have been fine if it were applied to all religions, but that is just too unrealistic so it’s easier to have no Bill at all. As stated in Madison article Christianity has been around for a long time and has done fine without legislative funding before so there is no necessary need for it then

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