Here are some quotes and such from our founding fathers:
1) On the
Mayflower Compact
- "Having undertaken, for the glory of GOD, and advancement of the
Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant
the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents
solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another,
covenant and combine our selves together..." [Argument from "No"
Answerer: The Mayflower Compact was written 150 years prior to the
Constitution. The Founding Fathers moved away from that perspective
towards a belief that the country cannot impose one religion]
2) Then,
John Adams
stated "The general principles upon which the [Founding] Fathers
achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity..."
3)
Patrick Henry:
"This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of
Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed" [Argument
from "No" Answerer: Patrick Henry was referring to his own private
faith, not talking about the country as a whole]
4)
1782 Congress
"The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy
Bible for use in all schools." [N.B. The Constitution was written in
1787]
5)
John Quincy Adams - "The United States of
America were no longer Colonies. They were an independent nation of
Christians" [N.B. John Quincy Adams was apprenticed to a lawyer, going
to school at Harvard, and then becoming a member of the bar during the
time in which the Constitution and Bill of Rights were being created --
he is not one of the original founding fathers]
--
Excerpt from
George Washington's Farewell Address:
"The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity,
must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation
derived from local discrimination's With slight shades of difference,
you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles.
...Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain
would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to
subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of
the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the
pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not
trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it
simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for
life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are
the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with
caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without
religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education
on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to
expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious
principle. "
One Nation... Under God?
The Founding Fathers Speak Out on God, Religion and the First Amendment
"In God We Trust"
According to the U.S. Dept. of Treasury, the motto 'In God We Trust' came about not at the
time of the Constitutional Conventions, but due to increased pressures
to recognize God on coins and money during the Civil War. In April
22, 1864, Congress passed an Amendment authorizing the motto to be placed
on the two-cent coin. It appeared on various coins throughout the
years, and appeared on paper money in 1957. The phrase was eventually
printed on all paper bills, superseding the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (From
Many, One) adopted by the Union in 1782.
As we enter the Independence Day weekend, it seems appropriate to examine
some of the freedoms that we in the United States enjoy because of our
Constitution
and our
Bill of
Rights. One of these rights is the Freedom
of Religion - guaranteed to all Americans in the First
Amendment. The wording of the phrase pertaining to religion,
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof", has been the subject of endless
speculation in our country's history. Perhaps these quotes, from
the men who wrote, debated and ultimately adopted the Bill of Rights, can
shed some light on their view of God, religion in general, and the meaning
of the Separation of Church and State.
"I believe in one God, Creator of the universe.... That the most
acceptable service we can render Him is doing good to His other children....
As to Jesus ... I have ... some doubts as to his divinity; though it is
a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think
it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity
of knowing the truth with less trouble."
See
Founding Fathers Religion Debate and Poll
-
Benjamin Franklin (Alice
J. Hall, "Philosopher of Dissent: Benj. Franklin," National Geographic,
Vol. 148, No. 1, July, 1975, p. 94.)
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries,
the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with
which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that
we called it the word of a demon, than the word of God. It is a history
of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind."
-
Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason, 1794-1795.)
Every man "ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according
to the dictates of his own conscience."
-
George Washington (Letter to the United Baptist Churches
in Virginia in May, 1789)
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god."
-
Thomas Jefferson (letter to Peter Carr, 10 August
1787)
"When a Religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when
it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so
that its Professors are obliged to call for help of the Civil Power, it
is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."
-
Benjamin Franklin (from a letter to Richard Price,
October 9, 1780;)
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the
Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant
church, nor by any church that I know of... Each of those churches accuse
the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all."
-
Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason, 1794-1795.)
"Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children,
since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined,
imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What
has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the
other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error
all over the earth."
- Thomas Jefferson
(Notes
on Virginia, 1782; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Quotations, Secaucus,
New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1983, p. 363.)
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity
been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride
and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both,
superstition, bigotry and persecution."
-
James Madison (Memorial and Remonstrance against
Religious Assessments, 1785.)
"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines
and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered
with in these days?"
- John Adams
"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious
belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor
shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any
pretence, infringed.''
- James Madison
(Original wording of the First Amendment; Annals of Congress
434 (June 8, 1789).)
"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 Musselmen; and as
the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against
any Mehomitan 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."
-
(Treaty of Tripoli, 1797 - signed by President John Adams.)
Also see
Treaty of Tripoli
"As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of government
to protect all conscientious protesters thereof, and I know of no other
business government has to do therewith."
-
Thomas Paine (Common Sense, 1776.)
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation
was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but
on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We shall not fight alone. God presides over
the destinies of nations."
- Patrick
Henry
"That religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator, and the manner of
discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force
or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise
of religion, according to the dictates of conscience."
-
Patrick Henry (Virginia Bill of Rights, June 12, 1776.)
Also see
A Letter Concerning Toleration
by John Locke
Thomas Jefferson's Letters on Liberty and Religion
"