“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. ”
——Thomas Jefferson. Inscribed in the Jefferson Memorial.
當然很多人會肯定傑弗遜寫的《獨立宣言》是他給人類歷史留下的最光輝一筆。“我們認定以下真理不言而喻:人因創世主創造而人人平等;創世主亦賦予其不可被剝奪的權利;這些權利包括生命存在、自由和追求幸福。”(節選自《獨立宣言》)(原文:We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal;that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable right;that among these are life,liberty,and the pursuit of happiness. )
然而或許有人會問,為什麼傑弗遜沒有提及曾兩任美國總統,簽署路易斯安那購地文件而使美國的領土增大一倍等等,為什麼如此看重他撰寫的《弗吉尼亞宗教自由法案》(the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom)。它只是美國一個州政府通過的法案並只在一期的議會間有法律效應。我們如何體會這位美國建國先驅的良苦用心?
(原文:Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishment or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy author of our religion. . .)
(原文:Be it enacted by the General Assembly, 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 opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.)
至此,美國成為世界上第一個以憲法保障人民宗教信仰自由的國家,進入了一個尊重宗教信仰自由、真正民主的時代,並開始形成一個極具包容性的社會。法國著名思想家及歷史學家亞歷西斯·德托克維爾(Alexis de Tocqueville)於十九世紀三十年代旅行美國觀察這個獨特新興國家的民主制度。他非常驚異於“自由精神”和“精神信仰”,在歐洲這兩個對立的“敵手”,竟能在這個國家和諧共存!
1998年,美國國會通過了《國際宗教自由法》。根據這一法律,美國國務院建立了國際宗教自由委員會(United States Commission on International Religious Freedom)。觀察、監督世界是否有違反宗教自由的情況,每年起草年度國際宗教自由報告並向美國國家安全委員會就宗教自由問題提供建議。