Were the Founding Fathers of America Christians?

There is a popular belief among many in the United States that our country is a Christian nation and that the founding Fathers were all Christians. With the rise of the religious right in the 1980's and now the Tea Party, this view continues to grow. How does this belief correspond with the facts? An excellent book has been written by David L. Holmes, Professor of Religious Studies at William and Mary, entitled: The Faiths of the Founding Fathers (Oxford Press, 2006). He discusses the religious environment of 18th century America and the influence of British deism. He has entire chapters on the religious views of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, as well as others. His conclusion is that the founding fathers could be grouped as follows:

Non-Christian Deists: Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen.

Deistic Christians/Unitarians: Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe.

Orthodox Christians: Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Jay, Elias Boudinot, John Witherspoon.

The difference in the Non-Christian Deists and the Deistic Christians/Unitarians is that the latter believed that many of the teachings of Jesus were worthy of emulation. They gave Jesus a special place in their theology although not the place of God as in orthodox Christianity. Confusion often arises because most of the Founding Fathers mentioned "God," or "the Creator," or "Providence" in their speeches and writings. Yes, they believed in a divine being; they were not atheists (there were very few public atheists at this time).  However, the fact that they mention God does not mean that they are orthodox Christians either.

Politics and Atheism

I have tried to steer clear of politics because this blog's raison d'être is to detail why I am no longer an Evangelical Christian and, frankly, politics had nothing to do with my de-conversion. Many of my readers are probably left of center politically as that that seems to be the case with most atheists. I don't think there is, or that there needs to be, any direct correlation between one's disbelief in god(s) and one's political stance. Yet, some atheist bloggers seem to assume that to be atheist means that one is also a political liberal.

I classify myself as a libertarian, although I don't necessarily agree with every plank of the Libertarian Party platform . I believe in fiscal conservatism but not social conservatism. I think smaller government, lower taxes, and fewer regulations are desirable.

I have discovered that I am not alone. Here are some notable non-believers whose political views are quite similar to mine:

Thomas Jefferson
Ayn Rand
George Will
Christopher Hitchens

Here are some conservative atheist groups on the internet:

Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League

The Atheist Conservative

The Secular Right

The Conservative Humanist Association

The Secular Conservative

Here is an excellent article by Heather McDonald, entitled, "Not all conservatives have a direct line to God, and they don't want one, either," in The Chicago Sun-Times of September 3, 2006. She argues that one does not need to believe in God in order to believe in conservative values and in reality the marriage between religion and conservatism , as exemplified by the religious right,  is destructive to conservative values.

So, if you are a political liberal, I respect your views but please don't make those views a test of "atheist orthodoxy." There is room for us to disagree on political matters while agreeing that there is no reason to believe in god(s).