Think For Jesus Christ
A commentary on this.
I came across this postorm, that I have cached here.
It makes me wonder how some people think, or whether they think at all. If you assume that everything he asserts about what Jefferson said is true, you have to admire this guys uncritical thinking (the web site author, not Jefferson's).
He says for example:
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So he is making a big deal of one false quotation while admitting as true an almost identical one.
The author of the web page declares what he is trying to achieve: "So I bring out these quotes because I, and I'm sure you, are interested in the truth even if the person in question doesn't happen to believe the way I do."
His approach to "The Truth" illustrates a curious form of thinking. A quotation attributed to Thomas Jefferson is false unless somewhere on the web is an image of the exact words of the quotation written in Jefferson's own handwriting, yet he decorates the page with bible quotations not one of which has ever been seen in the handwriting of the supposed author. He makes claims to Jefferson quotations ("Thomas Jefferson denied the Godhead and called the Bible a dunghill") without reference to supporting evidence.
But that's not the big issue. My question is how can a person read the words of "Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President, author, scientist, architect, educator, and diplomat" - the man who has a claim to be the single most influential thinker in the creation of this nation, a man whose opinion is expressed so utterly clearly and unambiguously in words that the web site author acknowledges are genuine quotations, and yet declare Jefferson to be wrong, without so much as the tiniest inkling of a reason. The web page author in effect declares Jefferson to be wrong simply because he held a different opinion.
Surely if you read what Jefferson said, and acknowledge that he wasn't the most stupid person in the world, it should make any thinking person ask why Jeffferson thought it to be true.
You might read "History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose. " and wonder if that sheds light on where our civil government went now government is priest-ridden. If you are inclined to accept the correctness of the bible quotations, does it not occur to you that you might be the victim of the slavery that Jefferson referred to in "The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ."?
It makes me wonder how some people think, or whether they think at all. If you assume that everything he asserts about what Jefferson said is true, you have to admire this guys uncritical thinking (the web site author, not Jefferson's).
He says for example:
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Here's another false quote:
"I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth."
If you look at Jefferson's notes on the State of Virginia, you will see that only some of this quote was truly penned by the hand of Jefferson. Only the part that is underlined is true Jefferson. The rest is false.
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So he is making a big deal of one false quotation while admitting as true an almost identical one.
| False | True |
| They are all alike founded on fables and mythology | Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies |
| I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. | "I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature." |
| Christianity...(has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man. | The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ. |
The author of the web page declares what he is trying to achieve: "So I bring out these quotes because I, and I'm sure you, are interested in the truth even if the person in question doesn't happen to believe the way I do."
His approach to "The Truth" illustrates a curious form of thinking. A quotation attributed to Thomas Jefferson is false unless somewhere on the web is an image of the exact words of the quotation written in Jefferson's own handwriting, yet he decorates the page with bible quotations not one of which has ever been seen in the handwriting of the supposed author. He makes claims to Jefferson quotations ("Thomas Jefferson denied the Godhead and called the Bible a dunghill") without reference to supporting evidence.
But that's not the big issue. My question is how can a person read the words of "Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President, author, scientist, architect, educator, and diplomat" - the man who has a claim to be the single most influential thinker in the creation of this nation, a man whose opinion is expressed so utterly clearly and unambiguously in words that the web site author acknowledges are genuine quotations, and yet declare Jefferson to be wrong, without so much as the tiniest inkling of a reason. The web page author in effect declares Jefferson to be wrong simply because he held a different opinion.
Surely if you read what Jefferson said, and acknowledge that he wasn't the most stupid person in the world, it should make any thinking person ask why Jeffferson thought it to be true.
You might read "History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose. " and wonder if that sheds light on where our civil government went now government is priest-ridden. If you are inclined to accept the correctness of the bible quotations, does it not occur to you that you might be the victim of the slavery that Jefferson referred to in "The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ."?