#1318 Was Thomas Jefferson a Christian?

Listening to America

Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2018

⏱️ 59 minutes

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Summary

"I believe so strongly that Jefferson was right about separation of church and state." — Clay S. Jenkinson

We wish all a Merry Christmas from The Thomas Jefferson Hour, which, as it turns out, is perhaps more than Thomas Jefferson would have done. Jefferson was not a believer in celebrating Christmas in a traditional fashion and felt it should not be a national holiday.

This episode features questions from Billie Rose Paxton Einselen, Paul South, Jacob Clark, Jeff Chun, Joe Gotchy, Ian Adams, Cheryl Masters, Jason Eisenhut, and Zena Thorpe.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about our Cultural Tours & Retreats with Clay S. Jenkinson at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the truth.
0:01.7	What?
0:02.7	He didn't hate it, but he didn't care about it.
0:03.7	It's like, well, I'm rolling already, so I'm going to leave that in.
0:07.0	Good day Thomas Jefferson.
0:08.7	Why am I raving?
0:10.0	Good day Thomas Jefferson, now our podcast list.
0:12.5	It must be the rush of the holiday season.
0:14.5	I'm having a nervous breakdown in the barn.
0:17.4	We talk about Christmas this weekend.
0:20.4	The first segment we devolved into our...
0:22.4	There's a rant.
0:23.0	And that was mine.
0:25.0	Yeah.
0:26.0	I seldom rant.
0:27.0	Well, maybe sometimes.
0:28.0	Well, the point is that Jefferson was a deist and he was not going to celebrate Christmas.
0:34.0	And he frequently traveled on Christmas, he frequently worked on Christmas.
0:38.0	It literally was not a holiday for Thomas Jefferson.
0:41.0	But that's all right. He's entitled to that. He wanted freedom and the
0:44.8	rest of us can enjoy it. And silly me trying to make sense of that and give you a
0:48.7	nice out, nope. We're going to take it. We're not taking it. No, no sir, not doing it. I have a hunch you're going to have a few people who are going to hear like 10 minutes of this conversation and be writing you. They can because I'll tell them. Here are the letters. Jefferson wasn't that way.
	...

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