Right to Belief Quotes
This quotation was used ten years later by Virginia which, in convention, passed a resolution objecting to the Alien & Sedition Acts. The drafter of the original resolution was James Madison.
This appears to be one of the first religious groups to withdraw and separate from a state church.
It is ironic that Pakistan, the creation of Jinnah’s efforts, has to a great extent adopted Sharia (Islamic Law) resulting in severe curtailment of freedom of speech and thought. Professors languish in jail for not teaching the history of Muhammed in the orthodox way, people are sentenced to death for what the local mullahs regard as blasphemy—results which from Jinnah’s point of view were terrible.
Prior to Vatican II, freedom of conscience was not explicit in Catholic Doctrine. The controlling view had been that of Pope Pius IX a hundred years earlier. See {612299}.
Berger, an elected Congressman, was denied his seat after he had written an editorial against the First World War {587982} and been convicted under the then existing law. The House vote was 311 to 1. The 1 was Voigt. Berger was re-elected again anyway. Finally, the Supreme Court overturned his conviction and the House seated Burger. The one had been right; the 311, wrong.
Islam is not alone. Even fundamentalist Christians and Jews are told by God in the Bible to kill blasphemers and idolaters. See {637504} for another concern with this clash.
The Belgian parliament legalized abortion and under the constitution the King had to sign the legislation. But he, a Roman Catholic, opposed abortion:. A political solution was found whereby the cabinet declared him unable to govern for a day and assumed his powers to promulgate the bill.
