Debate Desk
Was America Founded as a Secular Nation by Deists Who Rejected Religion?
The founders disagreed about religion, and they wrote no state church; but they publicly relied on a Creator and on religion as a support of morality.
The claim
Some claim that the founders were mostly deists or skeptics who deliberately built a secular government, that the Constitution never mentions God and that the idea of a Christian America is a later invention.
The answer in three points
- The founders held a range of views. Some, like Jefferson and Franklin, were unorthodox in their theology. Others, like Samuel Adams, John Jay and Patrick Henry, were devout. Most were members of churches and many used religious reasoning in public.
- The Constitution is a civil document and leaves religion to the people and states. It bars religious tests for federal office in Article VI and protects free exercise in the First Amendment. At the time, several states had established churches, and Massachusetts kept its church until 1833.
- The public statements of the era invoke God. The Declaration of Independence appeals to "Nature's God," a Creator who endows rights, and to Divine Providence. Washington's Farewell Address in 1796 called religion and morality indispensable supports of political prosperity. These are not the words of men who thought faith had no role in public life.
The founders built a government that is neutral among faiths and friendly to the freedom to believe.
The numbers
- The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, refers to the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, to a Creator, and to Divine Providence.
- Article VI of the Constitution provides that no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
- The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 declared that religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
What they will say next
"Jefferson was a deist." He was unorthodox, and he also wrote the Danbury letter and attended church services in the Capitol as president. His views do not represent the whole.
"The Treaty of Tripoli says the government is not founded on the Christian religion." The treaty of 1797 contains that line, and it was a statement in diplomacy about the government's character. It did not deny the role of faith in the nation's moral life.
"The Constitution does not mention God." It dates itself "in the Year of our Lord," and it was written to establish a government of limited powers, leaving religion to the people.
"Americans today are less religious." Public opinion changes. The argument here is about what the founders thought and did.
The country's record shows that a free nation can be neutral among sects and still welcome faith.
"The founders feared religious tyranny." They did, which is why they barred an established church. They also valued the moral habits that religion taught, and they saw no conflict between the two.