...We remonstrate against the said Bill, 1. Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, "that Religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator...reason and conviction, not by force or violence." The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is...

...privilege and immunity, enjoyed by others their fellow subjects. Rhode Island Constitution of 1790 4 . That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator,...it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, and not by force or violence, and therefore all men, have an equal, natural and unalienable right to...

...the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1785, succinctly sums up the thinking of our Founding Fathers: ". . . that Religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can he directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence. The Religion then of every man...

...proposed Virginia bill that was formed to create a tax to support Christian teachers, and in it, he stated that "...Religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can only be dictated by reason and conviction and the conscience of every man.... This right is in its...

...Everson case, according to Moore, the courts had consistently relied on Madison's definition of religion: "the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it."12 Relying on this definition, the courts typically interpreted the establishment and free exercise...

...within each individual. Accordingly, he persuaded the convention to change the wording to say that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience." In Madison's version the state did not have the right to deny a citizen...

...conviction"; it could not be secured through force or violence. The bill of rights therefore said that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience." Article 16, however, eluded the question of establishment.24 Baptists...

...again rejecting a Lockean construct, persuaded the convention to adopt alternative language that read, "All men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience."47 Mere "toleration" was not sufficient to suit Madison's taste for...

...a Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason, protecting rights of religion, speech, and press. "All men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience," the Virginia constitution declared. Adding similar protections to the...

...mandate equality. As a result, the final version of the Declaration of Rights, June 12, 1776, read: "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience." When the first session of Virginia's new republican government convened...