digitalwanderer said:
Joe said:
They were both inspired by "something greater than man".
Nope, that's an opinion and not a fact Joe.
I'm guessing you've never
actually read the works and letters by the Founding Fathers? I mean, to argue from your position stated above you couldn't have. Then again, what did you expect from a country founded by men who were escaping persecution, namely religious persecution?
John Addams. Second Formal President of the United States, eminent American Political Philosopher and Revolutionary.
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John Adams to Thomas Jefferson on June 28 said:
The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity. . . . I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature.
John Adams to Thomas Jefferson on April 19 said:
Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion at all!!!" But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean hell.
John Adams to F.A. Van Der Kemp said:
Jesus is benevolence personified, an example for all men… The Christian religion, in its primitive purity and simplicity, I have entertained for more than sixty years. It is the religion of reason, equity, and love; it is the religion of the head and the heart
Benjamin Franklin. American Statesman, Philosopher, Founder of the United States, Musician, Economist and famous Inventor.
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Benjamin Franklin to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on June 28 said:
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth--that God governs in the affairs of men... If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground unseen by him, is it probable an empire could arise without his aid? I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building not better than the builders of Babel.
Alexander Hamilton. First Secretary of the Treasury. Signer of the Constitution and driving force behind it's ratification. Authored many of the
Fedealist Papers, leader of the Fedearlist party and fierce Patriot
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Alexander Hamilton to James A. Bayard said:
In my opinion, the present consitution is the standard to which we are to cling. Under its banner bona fide must we combat our political foes, rejecting all changes but through the channel itself provided for amendments. By these general views of the subject have my reflections been guided. I now offer you the outline of the plan they have suggested. Let an association be formed to be denominated "The Christian Constitutional Society," its object to be first: The support of the Christian religion. second: The support of the United States.
Samuel Adams. American Revolutionary, Founding Father, Signer of the Decleration of Independence, Politician, and Patriot. Cousin to John Adams.
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Samuel Adams in his will said:
titled "The Rights of the Colonists"
II. The Rights of the Colonists as Christians.
The right to freedom being the gift of the Almighty...The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutions of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.[/quote]
Samuel Adams in his will said:
Principally, and first of all, I resign my soul to the Almighty Being who gave it, and my body I commit to the dust, relying on the merits of Jesus Christ for the pardon of my sins.
John Jay. First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Delegate & elected President of Continental Congress.
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John Jay to Rev. Uzal Ogden said:
I have long been of opinion that the evidence of the truth of Christianity requires only to be carefully examined to produce conviction in candid minds. . . .
John Jay to to John Bristed said:
While in France . . . I do not recollect to have had more than two conversations with atheists about their tenents. The first was this: I was at a large party, of which were several of that description. They spoke freely and contemptuously of religion. I took no part in the conversation. In the course of it, one of them asked me if I believed in Christ? I answered that I did, and that I thanked God that I did.
Thomas Jefferson. Third Formal President of the United States. Writer of the Decleration of Independence. American Politician and strong patriot.
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Thomas Jefferon to Charles Thomson in 1816 said:
I, too, have made a wee-little book from the same materials, which I call the Philosophy of Jesus; it is a paradigma of his doctrines, made by cutting the texts out of the book, and arranging them on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time or subject. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen; it is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.
He compiled the
The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted Textually from the Gospels. which is the bible verse minus any supernatural occurances.
George Washington. First Formal President of the United States. Commander of the Continental Army, delegate to Second Continental Congress. American Politician and patriot.
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George Washigton to Delaware Indian Chiefs said:
You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.
You can also look to Washington's 20-odd page manuscript entitled the Daily Sacrifice which he handwrote around the age of twenty in which he makes many references to prayer, his belief in Christianity and how Jesus's sacrifices for him helped him through his life to that point. Thomas Jefferson and his daughter Nelly Custis-Lewis both have remarked about his devout inner belief in Christianity.
(And I'm respectful as hell of that fact, it's a plus in my book.