Your take on this ?

[Beachnutt]

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were deists, meaning they believed in God but didn’t subscribe to any holy book. George Washington was an Episcopalian, and John Adams was a Unitarian. Adams even claimed, “the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

If there was any source of faith that had any influence on the founding fathers of the country, it would have to be that of deism. Many of the most notable founding fathers, like Jefferson, Franklin, Madison and Washington, practiced deism, a faith that stresses human reasoning to solve problems in the world rather than looking to a deity.

[LakeArenal]

1. Modern Republicans don't remember what they said in the past,

You can’t expect them to believe what Founders in the past.

[frogmarch]

3. the Jefferson Bible

In a few words, my take is that instead of "May God be with you," Deists, as a pleasantry, might say, "May the Force be with you," all the while knowing that the "Force" is no more personal than is a bolt of lightning.

I should go to Amazon and order a copy of Jefferson's Bible.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

snip:

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, commonly referred to as the Jefferson Bible, is one of two religious works constructed by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson compiled the manuscripts but never published them. The first, The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1804, but no copies exist today.[1] The second, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1820 by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson's condensed composition excludes all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural, including sections of the four gospels that contain the Resurrection and most other miracles, and passages that portray Jesus as divine.

[nuxvomica]

6. IIRC, a copy used to be given to freshman congresspeople

They should start that up again.

[genxlib]

8. I was forty years old when I first learned of the Jefferson Bible

It is a travesty of our education system that we do not get a truer sense of the founding fathers in our civics education.

The Smithsonian had an exhibit when I was there. They had the actual book out on display. You could see the razor cutting and pasting. It was fascinating.

It is an interesting endeavor by itself. Those of us recovering from religious upbringings have come to recognize the difference in tone between the gospels and the parts contributed by Paul. Most of what Jesus was actually supposed to have said fits pretty well within a liberal mindset. Most of what modern Christians fall back on is the doctrine as described by Paul. He really seems to have skewed the fundamental concepts a lot.

But it is even more interesting to consider the act. Can you imagine the outrage if a well know modern politician started EDITING THE BIBLE. Holy shit, brains would explode. There would be death threats and condemnations galore. The flexibility of thought to examine a religious text and evaluate subjectively what is right and wrong is something that seems completely impossible from an elected leader today.

[cilla4progress]

4. Our Unitarian fellowship here is

Looking for quotes to put on a billboard.

Unitarians are known for their liberal views.

This is a good one, thanks!

[treestar]

5. Yes, they lived in the early age of scientific

discovery, and found that exciting, and so became very general about God. Jefferson like Jesus' simple moral system, but did not think he was divine. Franklin liked Jesus too, but had doubts about his divinity.

That era loved "Reason." Thus the generalization about God that led them to use terms like "Divine Providence or just "Providence." "The Creator." To them, there was a God, but one without details to fight and kill over - they'd had enough of that and wanted to stop that from occurring in the US.

[nuxvomica]

7. I tend to view the Enlightenment as Western Civ's adolescence

And adolescence is the time you are supposed to start taking care of yourself and not depend on parental figures so much, like kings or gods. It's no wonder they fashioned a system of government where every adult is considered responsible for their own governance, albeit indirectly, instead of bowing to a king. Science fiction began with Mary Shelley at the same time and it is the genre that asks: "What is the role of humans in a universe without gods?"

[Danascot]

10. Evangelicals? Facts?

(If they accepted facts they wouldn't be Evangelicals.)

[Caliman73]

9. The United States was founded along secular lines...

Insomuch as a country could be at that time. During the period in which the US was founded, the dominant form of government was Monarchy, in which the power of government was in the hands of one person and their decision making power was almost absolute (in the case of England) and absolute in many other countries. Those monarchs were believed to be "ordained by God" to rule, which fused religion and the State into one entity.

The men (and I literally mean men) who represented the various regions of the 13 colonies/States had various degrees of religious faith and practice. The notable representatives as you said, Jefferson, Adams, and Washington were not particularly religious. There were likely others who were devoutly religious and pushed the idea of Christianity having more of a role in American life.

There is a reason why the First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a National religion, but at the same time, limited the ability of the National government to restrict practice of faith traditions. Remember that while the Constitution prohibited a National Religion, the States were not actually barred from declaring such until the 14th Amendment applied the religious prohibitions and freedoms to the States through the Equal Protections Clause, which was set in precedent in 1947 by SCOTUS.

There has always been tension between those who would have us be a Christian Dominionist nation, those who abhor religion, and those who just want to be left alone to practice or not, whatever faith, or none they adhere to.

I grew up Catholic, having gone to Catholic School from 2nd grade through High School. I always questioned and had my problems with the institution of The Church, which grew into questioning and problems with the concept of religion itself. I personally see it as a method of control, but I also understand that people use religious practice for personal growth and fulfillment and it can be very powerful. I can and will say that I am definitively AGAINST the current Conservative movement to impose particular religious ideology on the United States. We are not a "Christian Nation" though we are a nation full of Christians. One of the purposes of the Constitution was to prevent us from being like those "Old World" countries where the monarch was the representative of god on earth. Whether it is a monarch or a group of fundamentalists trying to impose religion on us, it is not the American way. There is basis in history and law, which shows clearly that while Christianity in its many forms, has been a force in shaping the American identity, it has no standing to dictate any laws or impose itself on the populace.