Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page Henry Clay Quote “All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.” ~ Henry Clay (1777-1852) U. S. Senator, Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeech, 24 March 1818 Freedom , Government , Liberty , Religion Ratings and Comments Reply Michael William Stone, Peterborough, England 6/7/05 I'd have given him five stars if he had added that, whilst the combination of religion with government is the most dangerous, government unlinked with religion has far more power to do harm than religion unlinked with government. Reply James Henry S., North Carolina, USA/UK 7/14/05 An uneasy generalization. Britain: a state religion involved in government. No formal constitution. Highly compatible with undefined liberty for all. The USA,: a bar against state religion. A formal constitution espousing liberty for all. Highly compatible with liberty for those who agree with it. My own quote: "Those who demand liberty for all define their true humanity. Those who define liberty for all demand their true spirituality." Reply Dick, Fort Worth 12/12/05 A true statement. Reply Anonymous 12/12/05 Reply Mike, Norwalk 3/29/13 I'm assuming he is referencing a theocracy. A uniting of religion with government can be different from a theocracy. Rome for example. The Caesar at the time of Jesus was the secular Emperor, Pontifex Maximus (the highest religious position in the entire empire, and was the high priest to the College of Pontiffs), and was by legislative enactment a God (a Savior, Bringer of Glad Tidings, God the Son of God and the Messiah - God of peace) With all that, Rome was not considered a theocracy. Historically, "All" is to broad. In my brief scan of history though, even those religions united with government that were not inimical to liberty at their commencement, ended up incompatible with liberty. Reply Mike, Norwalk 3/29/13 I might add, the occupying statist theocracy infesting this land is absolutely inimical to liberty. Reply jim k, Austin, Tx 3/29/13 1 Reply E Archer, NYC 3/29/13 We are simply talking about collective power. When the political powers and the religious powers are unified, the power is immense and thus subject to corruption. Keeping these two spheres separate helps check the other. The distribution of power and influence is the best security for liberty -- the centralization of power is inimical to liberty. SaveOk2 SaveOk2 View CommentsClick to view or comment. Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print This Henry Clay quote is found in these categories: Freedom quotes Government quotes Liberty quotes Religion quotes About Henry Clay Bio of Henry Clay Quotations by Henry Clay Books by/about Henry Clay Henry Clay videos Henry Clay on Wikipedia Astrological chart for Henry Clay