American Ideals 31. Religion in Utopia

Utopians’ religious beliefs are again touched upon by Professor Konvitz. Those who did not share these views could not hold public office and could not discuss their alternative views in public but were encouraged to do so in private. Utopians did not otherwise punish religious dissent but held that religious views were a matter of private conscience. This concept of religious freedom, as so many of More’s insights, according to Professor Konvitz, was far ahead of its time. If there was one true religion, More suggested, it would be revealed through rational examination. This was what Jefferson believed, and it was enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution