Jefferson, Madison & Their Evangelical Pals Religious freedom
resulted from an unlikely alliance: evangelicals and skeptics
BY: Steven Waldman A version of this article is also appearing
in the Thomas Jefferson stood, dressed in a black suit, in a
doorway of the White House on Jan. 1, 1802, watching a bizarre
spectacle. Two horses were pulling a dray carrying a 1,235-pound
cheese—just for him. Measuring 4 feet in diameter and 17 inches
in height, this cheese was the work of 900 cows. More impressive
than the size of the cheese was its eloquence. Painted on the
red crust was the inscription: “Rebellion to tyrants is
obedience to God.” The cheese was a gift from religious leaders
in western Massachusetts. It may seem surprising that religious
leaders would be praising Jefferson, given that his critics had
just months earlier attacked him as an infidel and an atheist.
In the 1800 election, John Adams had argued that the francophile
Jefferson would destroy America’s Christian heritage just as the
French revolutio