Likewise, Thomas Jefferson wrote that the Virginia statute protecting religious freedom, which he drafted, deliberately covered “the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination,” and that a proposal to mention Christ in the bill “was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend” all religions.

The VC post also notes that prior to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, various state constitutions had included language that protected any and all religious beliefs so long as they acknowledged Christ, or any and all religious beliefs so long as they acknowledged a Supreme Creator, etc. Thus, the framers of the Constitution had been very much aware of these alternative phrasings — but rejected them — when they chose the language used in the Constitution’s “no religious test” clause and in the First Amendment.

Reading the relevant sections, it becomes clear that Fischer has pulled out a section out of the context of Story’s eloquent tribute to freedom of conscience that is the First Amendment.

Where have we seen this before…pulling out material from its proper context?