Saket Vora

Those who know me are aware of my interest in the mixing of religion and politics. I am also quite fond of the history surrounding the founding of this country; in particular the Founding Fathers. As geeky as it sounds, I have spent many hours reading, pondering, and discussing their remarkable and inspiring accomplishment. The recent surge of political and social activism by the evangelical Christian movement, particularly in the area of science education, revealed that the basis of their stance is that America was founded as a ‘Christian’ nation. This notion contrasted to my previous understanding of the who the Founding Fathers were, so I decided to go further investigate their claim.

I recently completed two works on the subject; The American Gospel by Jon Meacham and Faiths of the Founding Fathers, by David Holmes. American Gospel is a recent work and primarily discusses the influence of religion in the way the Founders went about creating a new nation. The concept of a ‘public religion’ is central to how the Founders addressed the issue of religion. It is important to understand that though all the men were raised in families that belonged to Christian churches, the Founders were not typical ‘Christians’ as a Christian is understood today. The teaches of the Enlightenment and the religion philosophy of Deism was very much in vogue and key figures such as Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Franklin, and later Monroe followed Deistic traditions which placed the highest importance in the use of reason and rational thought. Thus, they were skeptical in the divinity of Christ, the notion of the Trinity, and rejected many of the elaborate rituals that permeated the churches. Jefferson went so far as to take scissors and a razor to his Bible and remove all supernatural or divine references to Christ. The Founders, many of whom were involved in Masonic society, believed in a more general ‘God of Nature’, and referred to this entity as the Creator, Divine Architect, Supreme Being, etc. They believed that this God was the source of fundamental human rights and freedoms and that freedom from tyranny of all sorts was worth fighting for. They valued and respected religion (except Tom Paine, the author of Common Sense and The Age of Reason), for its role in providing people a framework of morals and lessons to lead good lives; many considered the teachings of Christ to be perhaps the best of these moral frameworks. The Founders believed strongly in good works being more important than just pure faith in a savior.

American Gospel points to several instances early in the life of our country that weakens the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation. These are particularly intriguing because of their proximity to the Founding Fathers and the direct legacy of their thoughts and opinions. After discussing the founding of the nation, Meacham moves on to role that ‘public religion’ played at several key points in the history of the United States, with an eye towards the 20th century such as civil rights movement, the Cold War, and the rise of the evangelical Christian movement. The ‘under God’ part of the Pledge of Allegiance and the the ‘In God We Trust’ phrase found on our currency was introduced after World War II by a Congress eager to counter the ‘godless’ Communists. Meacham’s treatment of these eras are not as satisfying as the Founding, and this is the main weakness of this work. However, a comprehensive set of primary sources are included in an appendix so readers can examine the letters, speeches, and texts written by the Founders for themselves.

Faiths of the Founding Fathers by David Holmes immediately establishes itself as a more scholarly work than Meacham’s more contemporary fare. The language, writing style, and historical overview set the tone early on with a detailed look at the various churches and religion groups that were scattered around the original Colonies. Holmes guides the reader as if he was giving a tour of colonial America. Several pages are devoted to explaining the Anglican traditions in America and one of the most in-depth treatments of Deism I’ve ever seen in a book. As the title suggests, Holmes focuses entirely on the religious faiths of six principle founding figures: Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Holmes carefully describes the religious upbringing of each figure, the nature and extent of their church attendance (and painstaking noting which particular churches they attended), as well as key religious opinions or writings they made. Logically, Holmes uses the actual actions and works of the Founders to judge their religion opinions and not merely the associations they kept on paper or in public. Holmes also examines the religion traditions and participating of the Founder’s wives and families for further clues to the faiths of the Founding Fathers. Holmes ultimately concludes that none of the Founding Fathers, save for John Adams (later in life) and John Jay would be considered an orthodox Christian. Towards the end of the book Holmes go on to profile modern presidents such as Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II.

These books reject the notion that America was founded as a ‘Christian’ nation with an emphasis on perserving solely Christian values and perspectives. Evangelical Christians should look to other sources of justification than conscript the Founding Fathers to their cause.