The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was written in 1779 by Thomas Jefferson. In 1786, the Virginia General Assembly enacted the statute into the state's law. The Statute for Religious Freedom is one of only three accomplishments Jefferson instructed be put in his epitaph.
In Section 1, Jefferson argues that the concept of compulsory religion is wrong for the following reasons:
Section 2 (which remains part of Virginia law, in Article 1, Section 16 of the Constitution of Virginia) declares that:
...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
Section 3 declares "...that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right."
The bill was made law on January 16 1786. Jefferson, proud of this achievement, had it listed on his epitaph along with his founding of the University of Virginia and the writing of the United States Declaration of Independence.
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