Atheists’ billboard quote isn’t Jefferson’s

Oct. 26, 2011
By JON CASSIDY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
http://www.ocregister.com/news/jefferson-323913-quote-one.html

COSTA MESA – A group of atheists called Backyard Skeptics is planning to unveil a billboard at 1545 Newport Blvd., Wednesday afternoon with a quote from Thomas Jefferson bashing Christianity.

The quote reads, “I do not find in Christianity one redeeming feature. It is founded on fables and mythology.”

There’s one problem: There’s no evidence Jefferson ever said it. The Jefferson Library Collection at Monticello lists it on a page of spurious Jefferson quotes. . . .

On a page about spurious quotes attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the Jefferson Library writes . . . “One presumes that Jefferson did, in fact, find some redeeming features in Christianity, otherwise he would not have taken the time to paste together his own versions of the Bible.” . . .

Yeah, this is really foot-in-mouth. There’s plenty of good material one can find in Jefferson and other founding fathers without having to go make stuff up.

I guess even skeptics aren’t perfect.