Amendment I (Religion)


[Volume 5, Page 70]

Document 25

Virginia Declaration of Rights, sec. 16

12 June 1776

16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity, towards each other.


The Founders' Constitution
Volume 5, Amendment I (Religion), Document 25
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions25.html
The University of Chicago Press