| Atticus Grinch |
04-22-2013 02:37 PM |
Re: Okay
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
(Post 478720)
A UU? I don't think so. The UUs were New Englanders, and while Jefferson's brand of theism and agnosticism may have made him a fellow traveler, I can't think of anything he said or did that would suggest actual UU membership. Jefferson's founding of UVa was very much contrary to the goals of the UUs, since it was explicitly nondenominational (verging on the anti-religious even) while the UUs were aggressively focused on taking over and running universities (like Harvard) at the time. They wanted to teach and control the religion classes that made up a sizable portion of the curriculum.
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Jefferson's religious life can be neatly divided into three phases. Prior to independence, he was conventional CofE and attended Bruton Parish in Williamsburg while in college, and was on the Vestry of Fredericksville Parish in Albemarle County. Phase Two (post-Revolution) was his public life and presidency, where he was non-specific about religious observances and was pretty cool with whatever anyone happened to be preaching, attending all Christian services (except Catholic). Phase Three was his retirement to Monticello, where he went pretty hardcore Deist -- as he wrote a friend in 1819, "I am a sect by myself, as far as I know."
Everything I've seen indicates the Founders had two religions -- a public one filled with invocations to Divine Providence and the Creator, and a private one, which ranged from genuine belief to practical atheism. In other words, not really far off from today, in practice.
ETA: An interesting data point on Jefferson is that none of the parish records indicate he was a registered communicant -- which means he may always have been more interested in the governance aspects of parish life than the sacraments. This phenomenon lives on to this day, as plenty of people belong to churches while not feeling terribly strongly about faith, ritual and sacrament.
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