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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.

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.

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.