Thomas F. Bayard Quote

"Religious liberty is the chief cornerstone of the American system of government, and provisions for its security are embedded in the written charter and interwoven in the moral fabric of its laws. Anything that tends to invade a right so essential and sacred must be carefully guarded against, and I am satisfied that my countrymen, ever mindful of the suffering and sacrifices necessary to obtain it, will never consent to its impairment for any reason or under any pretext whatsoever."

by:	Thomas F. Bayard (1828-1898) U.S. Senator from Delaware, U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Source:	Foreign Relations of the United States for 1885, pp.48-51
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Categories:	America, Constitution, Law, Morality, Religion, Security
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Our Religious liberty is of such importance in this country that if given up the country will certainly decay and self distruct. We must not let our government become the giver of all, the dispenser of all rewards, the solver of all problems, the great objective of our individual lifes. Sometimes our elected officials feel they know what is best for each of us, rather than be servants of the people they desire to be their masters. We must always be prepared to defend our liberty from all who attack it.  -- w dornth, arizona      1
I completely agree with the quote.  -- Ethan
"It is imperative the American people understand the bonds between personal, political and economic (and religious) are indissoluble. Personal and political freedom is impossible without financial freedom." William E. Simon . "Let me issue and control a nation's economy and I care not who writes the laws." Mayer Anchel Rothschild. The chief cornerstone of the American system of government is not religious liberty, it's the love of MONEY!  -- Ron Forberg, Decatur, GA
Religious liberty IS the cornerstone of American liberty -- it is the primary reason America was colonized. Lest we forget that Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious tenets condemn 'usury' -- if only we would observe such economic 'laws' for sooner or later the usurer becomes the master of the debtor.  -- E Archer, NYC
Religious liberty, or the liberty of conscience and thought, is certainly the cornerstone of all liberty. It seems sometimes that parts of the building have been built crookedly, however, without regard to the cornerstone.  -- Ken, Allyn, WA
"Let me issue and control a nation's economy and I care not who writes the laws." sounds like a quote I heard once- “let me write the songs and it will not matter who writes the laws." Both are perverted with some truth thrown in to make the ideas dangerous. I have no doubt both are in practice today especially the song part.  -- warren, olathe
I'm not quite sure how to rate this. Religious liberty is a corner stone, a major corner stone that can not be done without if any semblance or freedom were to be hoped for or realized. Thee cornerstone ? It reminds me of the saying; you can tell what or who a man really is by what he does in his spare time. Religion is the action based on moral rectitude. When harmonious with law, religion directs man's activities for the good (inclusive of liberty and freedom) Freedom of religion, with all its implications (including that all beings are individual sovereign children of a Divine King, equal in all ways before the law.) was the driving force that started this body politic.  -- Mike, Norwalk
Just as our freedom was won by the separation of church and state thereby forging religious liberty; our freedom must now be maintained by separating corporations from the state. As money has become our religion and those that weild the power over it are morally bankrupt.  -- L. Hanson, Edmonton, Canada
A theocratic government would be one of the worst governments. Believe what we say or it's the rack for you, or worse. Before the Enlightenment you could be burned at the stake for saying that the world was round. This notion was compliments of the ruling religious leaders of the day. Once the priests, imams, or fundamentalists take over, you better head for the hills.  -- jim k, Austin, Tx
"Religious liberty is the chief cornerstone of the American system of government" Yeah, right. Tell that to a devout Muslim or find me a mosque ANYWHERE in the US that isn't hard wired and a hotbed of alphabet-agency surveillance. The U.S. is pursuing war all over the globe and it's primarily a HOLY war with Islam scapegoated. Human suffering is hardly foremost in most American minds. And it's never found in the minds of those responsible for inflicting suffering. That space is apparently reserved for lending credence to ideas made of crud, like the one promulgated by Sen. Barnyard, er, Bayard. Zero stars, five belly laughs.  -- Mann, Kalamazoo
jim, traditional priests, imams, etc. are mere pikers when compared to the theologians of the occupying statist theocracy infesting this land. Never have so many been denied so much freedom (by way of terse example; compelled compliance, license, victimless crimes, larceny with impunity [funny money, income / property tax] and non recognition of inalienable rights [including ownership]). I have mentioned here a few persons I've known personally that were murdered by the IRS and other departments. When the head executive of the statist theocracy has an active hit list, killing Americans at will, with out trial, heading for the hills is probably a good idea. When the occupying statist theocracy infesting this land orders thousands of armored vehicles and drones and, sufficient bullets to severely dry up the market - by an entity that, by its nature, is to interact with free society, it is close to becoming to late to head to the hills. Mann, here I agree with you. The occupying statist theocracy infesting this land does not play well with others. Both Christianity and Islam are taking hits (in different ways but, non-the-less hits)  -- Mike, Norwalk
Amen that Hanson! ;-)  -- J Carlton, Calgary
Hanson, good point. You should know, however, that the Constitution recognizes 3 forms of jurisprudence: common law, commercial law (also known as colorable law or statutory law), and admiralty/maritime law (known as military law). I agree absolutely with the separation of corporation and state! But, the common law jurisdiction was merged with commercial law, and today's courts are actually admiralty/maritime courts -- there are no more common law courts because the people no longer trade in substance, only equity. We don't own anything, and we have no real 'money.' We are trading in commercial script for mere equitable interest, thus subject to the commercial law jurisdiction. And the use of admiralty/maritime courts allows the magistrate to be the final arbiter and judge with a jury as merely a 'poll.' Today, if the jury does not come to a unanimous decision, the judge may declare a mistrial and bring the case to court again -- this is an absolute corruption of common law, where only a unanimous verdict of guilty can condemn a man, if one juror does not agree, then the verdict is NOT GUILTY, period. Because people are now treated like corporations, corporations are treated as 'persons' and thus we are pitted against giants who can break an individual with ease. That is why the corporation has been enshrined in globalist politics and why the people are no longer sovereigns in their own land.  -- E Archer, NYC

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