WHAT IS a syllabus without a quotation from Thomas Jefferson at the top? What is a speech without the invocation of Jefferson's ideals of freedom and democracy? What is the University without its indelible attachment to the man and his words?
Yet Jefferson's beliefs and ideals have become all too ubiquitous these days. No matter what a person's religious or political leanings, he or she can always find a quote from Jefferson to fit the bill. To call upon the wisdom of T.J. is an easy task. His exceedingly quotable writings are lofty enough to inspire even the most apathetic among us, and they are vague enough to fit the objectives of the most right-wing conservative or the most left-leaning liberal. He is not a man for all seasons so much as he is a man for all agendas.
The speech given by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the University's School of Law last week is one example. Justice Scalia asserted, "Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers never intended to eliminate religion from government." He cited Jefferson's authorship of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom as evidence that the University's founder did indeed envision a role for religion in public and political life.
Yet how am I supposed to reconcile this with the use of Jefferson's written ideals to oppose any mention of God in a political setting? In the leftist publication The Nation, John Nichols criticized President Bush's Easter radio address, which consisted of direct quotations from the Bible, as violating the wall of separation between church and state. Nichols, like Scalia, invoked Jefferson's words as proof of his point that Bush's references to passages from the Bible violated this tenet.After all, Nichols holds, Jefferson did avow, "I have refrained from presenting even occasional performances of devotion presented indeed legally where an Executive is the legal head of a national church."
My intention is not to enter into a debate about the separation of church and state or even to question Jefferson's true intentions in making the above statements. What I am arguing against is the tremendous amount of authority and weight we give to the words of a man who died over 175 years ago,and whose moral authority -- given his position as a slaveholder and the racist assumptions published in his Notes on the State of Virginia -- is questionable, to say the least.We take his words as fact, and worse, we substitute them for our own thoughts and ideas. It is as if Jefferson is the kid whose notes we copy while we skip class every week.
Furthermore, the omnipresence of his words on buildings, in textbooks, and in political speeches renders them relatively meaningless. Even the A.F.C. uses his words to convince students that working out is as valuable an endeavor as doing homework: "Give about two hours a day to exercise, for health must not be sacrificed to learning. A strong body makes the mind strong." When people are confronted so often by Jefferson's excerpted beliefs and statements, the force of these quotations become diminished. An idea becomes merely a short sentence carved into the cement on the side of a building.
Jefferson-worship is a common practice at the University. We take pride in his beliefs about academic pursuit and democratic principles. Yet in doing so, we tend to idealize his tired and imperfect notion of the American Dream. Jefferson was a flawed man, and he came from a vastly different generation of Americans. His ideals are not necessarily our own, and his dreams for America do not reflect the reality of today. To use his words as proof that whatever position we may hold on an issue is the right position is a cop-out. To invoke his wisdom in an effort to give legitimacy to our own ideas and attitudes is simply too easy.
It is time to divorce ourselves from the deified image of our University's founder. It is time to stop using age-old quotations as factual evidence that what we believe is right and true. One can be mindful of his legacy and of the spirit in which he founded the University without posting his expressions on every available concrete slab. And one's ideas can be defended without the placement of grand expressions once uttered by Jefferson in every other sentence. Jefferson can retain an important place in America's history without being idolized. His efforts to create -- in his image -- a more democratic society can be recognized without being replicated.
Quotations are like pick-me-ups or icebreakers. They make everyone smile without delving too far below the surface. It is time to dig deeper and to stop recycling words that no longer contain the meaning and relevance that they once did.
Amelia Meyer's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at ameyer@cavalierdaily.com.
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