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Work #1121 · Early

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Thomas Jefferson
1777 (drafted), 1786 (enacted) · English
Statute / Legal text · Anglo-American classical liberalism / Religious-disestablishment tradition

Jefferson's 1786 statute disestablishing religion in Virginia — foundational text of religious-liberty law

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (Early)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method —
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

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Time

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

The 1777-86 Virginia legislative-political moment.

✦

Space

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Virginia and the broader American constitutional setting.

◉

Matter

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

The embodied political community whose religious liberty the Statute protects.

◎

Observer

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

The Virginia General Assembly as collective political subject.

⚡

Energy

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

The political-religious energies of disestablishment.

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Information

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

The legal-statutory content of the Statute itself.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

The Statute's "strict separation" reading has been variously assessed — defenders see foundational liberty, "accommodationist" critics argue the Statute is consistent with greater religion-state cooperation than strict-separationists allow.