Jefferson believed, and he knew citizens were mostly Christian culturally but the government must not be Christian legally, he knew liberty requires freedom of conscience.
Islam does not accept this Jefferson belief and doctrine.
What the Founders Actually Said About Christianity
1. George Washington Washington was personally respectful of religion but officially neutral.
He refused to take communion, never mentioned Jesus in any official writing, and said: “The Government of the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, 1790
He congratulated Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus equally and refused to endorse Christianity as the national faith.
He also told the Cherokee Nation the U.S. had “no desire to influence any particular form of religion.”
2. John Adams Adams was a Unitarian — he rejected the Trinity and divinity of Jesus.
Most important: As President he signed and enforced the Treaty of Tripoli (1797), ratified unanimously by the Senate, which stated:
“The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
Adams never contradicted this and said his personal beliefs should not shape the government.
3. Thomas Jefferson Jefferson was the strongest advocate of church–state separation.- Rejected the Trinity, miracles, and Jesus’ divinity
- Authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (precursor to First Amendment)
- Coined “wall of separation between Church & State” (letter to Danbury Baptists)
He wrote:
“I am a Christian, in the only sense he wished anyone to be: recognizing him as a great moral teacher, not as a god.”
Jefferson fought against government endorsement of religion in any form.
4. James Madison (Father of the Constitution) Madison was even more strict than Jefferson.
He wrote: “Religion & government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
And:
“The civil government … functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State.”
He opposed:- government-paid chaplains
- “religious proclamations”
- any tax money going to churches
Madison said Christianity does not need government support because it flourishes best without it.
5. Benjamin Franklin Franklin was a Deist. He believed in a Creator but rejected organized Christianity.
His view:
“Lighthouses are more useful than churches.”
He believed morality mattered more than doctrine, and religion was a personal matter, not governmental.
6. Thomas Paine (author of Common Sense) Paine was the most openly anti-clerical.
“My mind is my own church.” — The Age of Reason
He called the Bible:
“fabulous mythology.”
Paine strongly opposed any fusion of government and Christianity.
7. Alexander Hamilton Hamilton was religious in his youth and at the very end of his life, but during the founding era:- He did not promote Christianity as the basis of the Constitution
- He explicitly opposed a national religion
- He supported the secular structure of the Constitution
In the Federalist Papers, Hamilton never claimed Christianity as the foundation of the Republic.
What They Agreed On (despite different beliefs) A. The Constitution is 100% secular - No mention of Christianity
- No mention of Jesus
- No requirement that leaders be Christian
- No religious tests for office
Article VI:
“No religious Test shall ever be required.”
This was radical in 1787 — most countries did require Christian leadership. |
