Faith, Freedom, and the Founders: What America Was Really Built On
T here’s a common refrain in today’s politics: “America is a Christian nation.” But if you look back to the words and intentions of our Founding Fathers, that claim doesn’t hold up. Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Washington, and Franklin, who were men of different temperaments and beliefs, all agreed on one thing: government should never be built on religious rule. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, declaring that our rights don’t depend on religious opinions. James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution,” went further, writing that “Religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.” John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which plainly stated: “The Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion.” Even George Washington, who valued religion as a moral compass, refused to tie the republic to a specific church. And Benjamin Franklin, with his Deist leanings, reminded us that ...
