Johann Kaspar Lavater Quotes
Man without religion is a diseased creature, who would persuade himself he is well and needs not a physician; but woman without religion is raging and monstrous.
Lavater, Johann Caspar. Aphorisms on Man. J. Johnson, 1788, p. 90.
The phrase ‘This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion at all!!!’ is often quoted to imply that Adams was opposed to religion. This is a classic use of using quotations out of context for if one reads the entire quotation, Adams is stating that without religion the world would not be a particularly fit place. Some religionists then use the entire quotation to argue that Adams was a religious, Christian man who saw America as a Christian nation. That too is out of the context of the totality of his views—see {592753}.
In the first part of the 18th Century, one county in Virginia became a magnet for runaway indentured servants, The more runaways settled there the more empathetic and hospitable they were to new runaway servants. The culture at the time had identified knowing your place in society and accepting it. So a runaway indentured servant had renounced their oath and contrast to serve their masters, and hence were not Christians. These renegades were armed and there was not enough political will or support for forcing the County to comply with the laws and mores of the time.
Johann Kaspar (or Caspar) Lavater was a Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist and theologian.
