“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience by in any manner, or on any pretext infringed.”

He was an advocate of the separation of church and state, believing we are accountable to God to maintain freedom of religion. “The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as they may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right.”

James Madison acknowledged and condemned the reality of religious persecution in his native Virginia in a letter to William Bradford, Jr., on January 24, 1774, calling it “that diabolical, hell-conceived principle of persecution.” 

“Poverty and luxury prevail among all sorts; pride, ignorance, and knavery among the priesthood, and vice and wickedness among the laity. This is bad enough, but it is not the worst I have to tell you. That diabolical, hell-conceived principle of persecution rages among some; and to their eternal infamy, the clergy can furnish their quota of imps for such business. This vexes me the worst of anything whatever. There are at this time in the adjacent country not less than five or six well-meaning men in close jail for publishing their religious sentiments, which in the main are very orthodox. I have neither patience to hear, talk, or think of anything relative to this matter; for I have squabbled and scolded, abused and ridiculed, so long about it to little purpose, that I am without common patience. So I must beg you to pity me, and pray for liberty of conscience to all.”