Unitarian/Deist Founding Fathers

[AlBrattOnline]

In a May 5 th 2009 oped, titled “Christianity Makes More Contributions Than Other Religions” Christian Righter, Tim Wildmon, said, “... Christianity teaches charity, love and respect for your fellow man.”(Well, that’s great if one practices what he preaches.)

Both Jefferson and Adams among our Founding Fathers can be given their share of the credit for Freedom of Religion as it exists in America today and as it did on the National Day of Prayer Wildmon describes , or on any other day Americans choose to exercise their constitutional right to worship a religion of choice.

In 1799, Thomas Jefferson said, “ I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.” In other words, Jefferson wanted a level playing field for religion. One religion contributing more than the others was irrelevant. You see, Jefferson and the other Deists/Unitarians were not Christians. America was not founded on Christianity just as our real history books explain.

Thank you Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Adams, for your sane state of mind as you worked with the other Founding Fathers to create our secular American government.

[burning rain]

1. But, they did tend to cloak their inward convictions in an outward Christian observance,

attending church and such. Even Jefferson was not one to court controversy with public denial of Christian beliefs, not that that speared him being harangued as godless. And look what became of the great Thomas Paine after he published The Age of Reason. So the perceived need to dissemble existed even then for rational people who sought political leadership.

[dogsmycopilot]

2. I'm not sure about that.

If you read his letters Jefferson was pretty agnostic/atheist sounding. As were many of the founding fathers. This was also the period of time the Treaty of Tripoli was signed unanimously by the Congress stating that we were not at all in any sense of the word a christian nation. But in the end to me it comes down to what the man himself said and Jefferson definitely advocated questioning of religion.