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what did the Founding Fathers believe?
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It pains me to see the debate over the spiritual beliefs of this country’s Founding Fathers. Activists on both sides of the argument seem inclined to recruit the founders into their own circle. Secular Humanists and atheists often cite Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli that reads:
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
The religious right, on the other hand, mentions the inclusion of God in the Declaration of Independence and the countless other religiously-oriented quotes by the various signers.
As in most things, the truth lies in the middle. Not one of the founders was a traditional Christian. As far as I know, not one of them was an atheist either. Focusing on the handful of the more important founders, one finds them to range from deists (Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison) to members of liberal Christian sects (John Adams and George Washington).
During his time as a president, Washington turned away numerous representative of major religion trying to gain favor with the government. He established the tradition of complete separation between Church and State, despite himself being a believer who often prayed and encouraged his troops to pray. The principle was confirmed with the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison, who were more antagonistic toward organized religion.
Below are some quotes and facts to help the reader make up their mind about the beliefs of the Founding Fathers.
George Washington:
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- Earlier in his life, Washington seemed more religious. He often encouraged religious participation among his men. He was known to contribute money for the building of Churches and religious institutions.
- When he became the president, Washington came in contact with many people from the different walks of life. He became more concerned about the goodness of people regardless of belief, and less with their church memberships.
"If they are good workmen, they may be of Asia, Africa, or Europe. They may be Mahometans, Jews, or Christian of any Sect, or they may be Atheists." To his workers in Mount Vernon.
“If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.”
George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia, May 1789, in Anson Phelps Stokes, Church and State in the United States, Vol 1. p. 495, quoted from Albert J Menendez and Edd Doerr, The Great Quotations on Religious Freedom
“The name of American, belongs to you…[and] with slight shades of difference, you have the same religion.”
George Washington in his Farewell Address to the American people, Paragraph 10; September 17, 1796
John Adams:
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- John Adams was raised a traditional Christian. He was urged by his father to become a minister but he refused. Later in life, he became a member of the then-liberal Unitarian Church. He believed in god, but rejected the concept of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus.
- Adams and his wife were stringent opponents of slavery. They never owned a slave.
“The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles?”
letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 20, 1815
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
“The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations.”
Thomas Jefferson:
- Like Adams, Jefferson denied the divinity of Jesus. He viewed all stories of the supernatural, biblical or otherwise, as harmful .jpg)
superstition.
- Jefferson wrote his own version of the bible. It excludes all references to miracles.
- Thomas Jefferson believed in god, but he spent much effort ensuring freedom of religion for all Americans.
“But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782
“What is it men cannot be made to believe!”
Thomas Jefferson to Richard Henry Lee, April 22, 1786. (on the British regarding America, but quoted here for its universal appeal.)
“Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.”Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom
James Madison:
- Known as the Father of Constitution, Madison is the main author of the first amendment.
“Freedom arises from the multiplicity of sects, which pervades 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.”
James Madison, spoken at the Virginia convention on ratifying the Constitution, June 1778
“ It was the Universal opinion of the Century preceding the last, that Civil Government could not stand without the prop of a religious establishment; and that the Christian religion itself, would perish if not supported by the legal provision for its clergy. The experience of Virginia conspiciously corroboates the disproof of both opinions. The Civil Government, tho' bereft of everything like an associated hierarchy, possesses the requisite stability and performs its functions with complete success; whilst the number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State.”
James Madison, as quoted in Robert L. Maddox: Separation of Church and State; Guarantor of Religious Freeedom
I must remind the reader that those were different times. Atheism was not common. Naturalistic explanations, such as the theory of evolution, were not yet well known. Science was still in its infancy. Had the Founders been born today, their views might have been different.
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