What religion were our founding fathers worshipping?

[solarefficiency]

What religion were our founding fathers worshipping? When I say founding fathers, I mean founding fathers of the United States of America - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, etc.? I do not believe it was Christianity. The original Constitution does not mention any specific reference to Christianity being the official religion of the USA. Am I wrong?

 

[Gungnir]

Some (or most) were deist with a Christian background. Jefferson was quite clear about his contempt for the big church organizations of the day. They really tried to obscure the issue as to not provoke intra-Christianity tensions as in Europe. As it so happens that obscurity was later expanded to include non-Christian religions.

 

[manifold]

I'm not aware of any worship of religion by anyone, ever. My understanding is that it is a deity that's being worshipped, not the institution of said worship. Perhaps the difference is more subtle and less obvious than I would've thought. Or maybe you're sharp as a marble. Again, it's hard to tell.

 

[morpheus]

What religion were our founding fathers worshipping? When I say founding fathers, I mean founding fathers of the United States of America - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, etc.? I do not believe it was Christianity. The original Constitution does not mention any specific reference to Christianity being the official religion of the USA. Am I wrong?

The American Revolution was highly influenced by the European Enlightenment, which promoted separation of church and state, and religious moderation particularly in government, culture, and academia. This movement led to the secularization of politics in various degrees, from stricter separation of chuch and state like in the United States, to retaining church-state relations nominally while tolerating religious minorities, as became the case in Britain. At the time of the Revolution, the vast majority of Americans where -then as now- nominal Christians, including the politicians who wrote the Constitution. However, an additional factor that lead to such a separation of church and state was the desire to avoid the inter-Christian sectarian tensions seen in Europe before the Enlightenment. Aside from the fact that -by the time of the Revolution- American society had evolved from the strict theocratic puratinism of the early 17th century, to a more liberal society by the late 18th. Hence religion had a diminished role in contemporary life in the 1770s, relative to the 1600s.

 

[Inferno]

I know Jefferson was Unitarian. I am not certain he practiced it. I am not sure about the rest. They didn't want a religion to run the country so they didn't make a point of talking about it. They didn't put it in the documents what god they may have followed.

 

[morpheus]

Well, we know they were all nominal Christians (whatever the sect), and the term "God" appeared occasionally in official texts/slogans (ie "In God we Trust"). Of course, this could also refer to other monotheistic religions, but none of the politicians of the 1770s were Muslim, and the paradigm of the day was intra-Christian differences.

 

[editec]

The religion of revolution.

It's fallen out of favor, and been replaced with worshipping money and those what's got it, I think.

 

[bobbymcgill]

Interesting to note that the first country to recognize the U.S. was Morocco.

In the treaty signed with them their is a passage clearly stating that the U.S. was a secular nation and had no qualms with Islam.

 

[Gungnir]

I believe most of our early treaties with the Barbary States has America as an nonreligious government.

 

[editec]

The religion the FF really worshiped was rational materialism.

As a reaction to monarchism, it made great sense.

But centuries later we're beginning to realize that this philosophy has its own unique set of problematic outcomes, too.

Time for a new world philosophy for the 21st century, methinks.

 

[Gungnir]

I think we are too overpopulated for anything but an Oligarchy. Herd fascism.

 

[editec]

I think we are too overpopulated for anything but an Oligarchy. Herd fascism.

Well...every nation is really basically an oligarchy pretending to be something other than that, now isn't it?

Doesn't matter what sort of government they have, or what sort of economic or social structure, the people in power become the oligarchy and inevitably that oilgarchy becomes entrenched.

American has never been anything BUT an oligarchy.

 

[Gungnir]

Well oligarchies with varying levels of liberty, there are the rare exceptions of Despots.

But the difference is like that between wealthy citizens Athens and the elites of Sparta. The Athenians would let you work and raise a family and maybe even vote (or at least your grandchildren) but would expect a service. The Spartans used you for target practice when you weren't toiling in serfdom.

Our population density is too dense for troop level sanity. People are going to have to switch over to Herd or Swarm mentality.

Just look how the Automobile screwed up the dating system.

 

[glockmail]

Interesting to note that the first country to recognize the U.S. was Morocco.

In the treaty signed with them their is a passage clearly stating that the U.S. was a secular nation and had no qualms with Islam.

You are referring to Article 11 in the Treaty of Tripoli, that was in a draft that was omitted in the final version.

 

[dilloduck]

You are referring to Article 11 in the Treaty of Tripoli, that was in a draft that was omitted in the final version.

awww don't spoil their fun. The Treaty of Tripoli is one of their favorite. A well known and long respected document too. Ask any school kid.

 

[glockmail]

What religion were our founding fathers worshipping? When I say founding fathers, I mean founding fathers of the United States of America - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, etc.? I do not believe it was Christianity. The original Constitution does not mention any specific reference to Christianity being the official religion of the USA. Am I wrong?

It was Christianity, various denominations. Here's evidence of Washington:

“While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.” Head Quarters, V. Forge, Saturday, May 2, 1778.

“All chaplains are to perform divine service tomorrow, and on every succeeding Sunday…. The commander in chief expects an exact compliance with this order, and that it be observed in future as an invariable rule of practice—and every neglect will be considered not only a breach of orders, but a disregard to decency, virtue and religion.” Head-Quarters, Middle Brook, June 28, 1777.

If anyone is attempting the “deist” argument, it falls flat in light of the public record which includes worship and prayers.

 

[glockmail]

awww don't spoil their fun. The Treaty of Tripoli is one of their favorite. A well known and long respected document too. Ask any school kid.

Yeah, any school kid taught from the revisionist history books. Sadly, that includes most of them.

 

[editec]

I understand that many of them dipped snuff, too.

So?

 

[sealybobo]

What religion were our founding fathers worshipping? When I say founding fathers, I mean founding fathers of the United States of America - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, etc.? I do not believe it was Christianity. The original Constitution does not mention any specific reference to Christianity being the official religion of the USA. Am I wrong?

I have that somewhere. I have an old history book from the 70's. I think some where christians, some free mason's, some didn't believe in religion. If someone didn't already answer you, I'll try to find the list.

 

[sealybobo]

What religion were our founding fathers worshipping? When I say founding fathers, I mean founding fathers of the United States of America - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, etc.? I do not believe it was Christianity. The original Constitution does not mention any specific reference to Christianity being the official religion of the USA. Am I wrong?

ThomHartmann.com - The Founders Confront Judge Moore

Many of the Founders and Framers believed that secular democracy is a more powerful unifying force for a decent and peaceful civil society than any religion ever was or could be. Although most were spiritual in their own ways, and many were also openly religious, as students of history the Founders and Framers knew the damage that organized religion could do when it gained access to the reigns of political power.
While our Founders were well schooled in the history of the Crusades they also knew from first-hand experience how oppressive religious men could be with even small amounts of political power. Ben Franklin fled Boston when he was a teenager in part to escape the oppressive environment created by politically powerful preachers, and for the rest of his life was openly hostile to the idea of secular political power being wielded by those who also hold religious power. Although he was enthralled by the "mystery" of the spiritual experience, Franklin had little use for the organized religions of the day. In his autobiographical "Toward The Mystery," he wrote, "I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."
Franklin - like most of the more well-known Founders - was a Deist, a philosophy made popular by early Unitarians who held that the Creator made the universe long ago and has since chosen not to interfere in any way, that neither Jesus nor anybody else was divine (or, alternatively, that we are all divine and shall all do as Jesus did and said we would), and that there is only one God and not three.
Another founding Deist who resisted giving political power to those with religious power was George Washington.
On the topic of Washington's religious sentiments, Thomas Jefferson wrote in his personal diary entry for February 1, 1799, "when the clergy addressed General Washington on his departure from the Government, it was observed in their consultation, that he had never, on any occasion, said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Christian religion, and they thought they should so pen their address, as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. They did so.