American heroes (1.3): Thomas Jefferson

«If we did a good act merely from the love of God and a belief that it is pleasing to Him, whence arises the morality of the Atheist? It is idle to say, as some do, that no such thing exists. We have the same evidence of the fact as of most of those we act on, to wit: their own affirmations, and their reasonings in support of them. I have observed, indeed, generally, that while in Protestant countries the defections from the Platonic Christianity of the priests is to Deism, in Catholic countries they are to Atheism. Diderot, D'Alembert, D'Holbach, Condorcet, are known to have been among the most virtuous of men. Their virtue, then, must have had some other foundation than love of God.»

(Thomas Jefferson numa carta a Thomas Law, em 1814; é uma passagem curiosa pelo reconhecimento de que é possível ser ateu e virtuoso, o que hoje é óbvio mas à época era uma opinião rara; note-se que Jefferson dizia-se deísta ao nível da crença, e era unitário ao nível da prática religiosa.)