Is a Bill of Rights a security for [religious liberty]? If there were but one sect in America, a Bill of Rights would be a small protection for liberty.... Freedom derives from a multiplicity of sects, which pervade America, and which is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society. For where there is such a variety of sects, there cannot be a majority of any one sect to oppress and persecute the rest.
ATTRIBUTION:
James Madison (1751–1836), U.S. president. W.T. Hutchinson et al., The Papers of James Madison, vol. 11, p. 130, Chicago and Charlottesville, Virginia (1962-1991).
