It has been a long time since I last wrote you. I write now to take responsibility for a sentence I wrote over two centuries ago, hoping that you will forgive me for the confusion those words have caused. Who would have thought that this sentence would be placed on a memorial to me? When the Jefferson Memorial was completed in 1939 it was inscribed:

“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

I wrote that sentence in a letter to my friend Dr. Benjamin Rush, on September 23, 1800. As the election was approaching, pamphlets were distributed by clergy in Philadelphia accusing me of being an infidel, unfit to become President, and Dr. Rush had warned me of these attacks. The clergy and I had different views regarding the relationship of church and government. They expected more intermingling than I was willing to accept as constitutionally correct. Here is part of the letter I sent in response to Dr. Rush:

“…The clause of the Constitution, which, while it secured freedom of the press, covered also the freedom of religion, had given the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity through the United States; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the Episcopalians and Congregationalists.

"The returning good sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes, &
they believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: & enough too in their opinion, & this is the cause of their printing lying pamphlets against me.”

Many historians, theologians, and thoughtful citizens have debated what I meant in the line “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” They argue over what I meant by “God,” some saying I meant the Christian God, others claiming I meant “nature,” or the “supernatural” in general terms. Some use the sentence as a justification for hostility in the name of God. Regardless of the interpretations, my letter shows that I believed some of the tyranny that I was swearing to meet with “eternal hostility” was coming from some of the clergy.

Webster’s dictionary today defines “hostility” as conflict, opposition, resistance, overt antagonism, overt acts of war. And what did I solemnly promise to oppose with eternal hostility? Tyranny. Webster says that “tyranny” means oppressive power, and Webster’s example of the use of the word “tyranny” makes use of my very words, “every form of tyranny over the mind of man: Thomas Jefferson.” So you can see that this “one liner” of mine has had staying power, and more exposure than I ever imagined.

Eternity is a long time to be hostile. I realize now that my very vow of “eternal hostility” has itself become a source of tyranny over the mind, similar to the tyranny I perceived in some of the clergy back then. Millions of visitors to the memorial may have inferred that conflict, opposition, resistance, overt antagonism, overt acts of war, are eternal. I was being tyrannical myself when I ascribed to God’s eternity my own ideas of hostility. My words implied that there is an eternal state of hostility, which sounds like hell to me, in retrospect.

Today I believe that hostility and tyranny are merely temporary states of mind. Only goodness and love are eternal. I am of the belief now that everything we humans do, say, and think is either a calling for love, or a giving of love. When we think we see tyranny, let us search for the particular form of love the perceived tyrant is calling for us to give, or giving to us. What were those clergy calling for then, or what form of love were they expressing, that I did not recognize? I wish I had asked them. I wish I had realized that my “eternal hostility” words were but another form of tyranny.

After two centuries of watching hostility tear humanity apart, I ask you to join me in seeing the inscription at the Jefferson Memorial in a new light of forgiveness, and to search your heart to see what form of love it is that your “enemy” is asking you to give, or giving to you.