By Douglas V. Gibbs
This latest "evidence" that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation, and that the Founding Fathers were just a bunch of non-Christian deists, or masons, or whatever else they want to throw into the mix, was offered to me in response to when a student of mine from one of my Constitution Classes posted one of my 25 Myths of the Constitution on her Facebook page. The article she posted is titled, Myth #15: The Founding Fathers were deists.
In the article I present evidence that though the Founding Fathers were not too hip about organized religion, they were indeed men of God. Their faith is what guided them. They believed the founding of this nation was due to Divine Providence.
A.D. means Anno Domini, which is latin for "in the Year of Our Lord." Thomas Jefferson, however, held to using the extended version at the end of every letter, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ"). Adding "Lord Jesus Christ" is a curious thing for a simple deist to do, one would think.
John Adams once wrote, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Benjamin Franklin, who we are told often by the leftists was a deist, and maybe even an atheist, got to the point during the Constitutional Convention that he recommended prayer before each session. Due to the importance of prayer being presented properly, in the opinion of the delegates, they felt a member of the clergy should utter it. Since they didn't have enough money to hire a clergy, they decided not to have the prayers before each session of the convention. However, after the creation of Congress, Franklin's recommendation was honored when it was decided that each session of Congress would begin with a prayer.
In his letter that recommended prayer for the convention, Ben Franklin wrote, "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"
The founders believed that the American Revolution was a miracle. The rebels should not have been victorious, and only by the Grace of God was the drive for independence successful.
During the formation of the new government during the Constitutional Convention the founders referred to the Holy Bible for the framework of our governmental system. The system was largely based on the first chapter of Deuteronomy, and other books written by Moses, and later. The Israeli system from the Old Testament was a system of freemen with the basic tenet that they should "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." (Leviticus 25:10). This inscription also appears on the Liberty Bell.
The people were organized into small manageable units where the representative of each family had a voice and a vote. There was a specific emphasis on strong, local self-government. Problems were solved to the greatest possible extent on the level where they originated. (Exodus 18:13-26).
The code of justice was based on reparation to the victim rather than fines and punishment by the commonwealth. (Exodus chapters 21 and 22). The one crime for which no "satisfaction" could be given was first-degree murder, for which the penalty was death. (Numbers 35:31).
Leaders were elected and new laws were approved by the common consent of the people (2 Samuel 2:4, 1 Chronicles 29:22, 2 Chronicles 10:16, Exodus 19:8).
The accused were presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Evidence had to be strong enough to remove any question of doubt as to guilt. Borderline cases were decided in favor of the accused and he was released (shadow of a doubt).
So if the Founding Fathers felt so strongly about God, His Divine Providence in the sense of His influence on the founding of America, and the promise of His continued guidance, then why would they, in the Treaty with Tripoli, say that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation?
Based on the context of the treaty, this country was not founded as a Christian nation.
Confused?
Let's look at another angle.
The Founding Fathers were men of God. They were Christians, for the most part. But they had a real problem with organized religion, which is why part of the First Amendment disallows the establishment of a State religion. That means that this nation was not founded as a theocracy grounded in any religion, including Christianity. Therefore, the United States was not founded as a Christian nation in the same sense that the Barbary States were founded as Muslim nations.
The early American statesmen were Christians, prayed to God, but did not particularly relish organized religion.
How could that be?
Remember, their frame of reference was the Church of England, and the powerful hold the Catholic Church had over countries like France and Spain. Not exactly something that forms favorable opinions about organized religion. But, though the founders were turned off by organized religion, and they did not want The Church controlling the government, they were also men of God and felt that religion should be able to be practiced without government interference.
That all said, the American system of government was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, it was believed that God's guidance enabled the founding of the nation, and the leaders were Christians that prayed. But, this country was not founded as a Christian nation from the point of view of a theocracy, nor would the founders want it to be. They believed in limiting the power of government, and that would include the powers of a theocracy. The Muslim Barbary States were tyrannies where the political system and the religious hierarchy melded into one. This was the type of system the Founding Fathers abhorred, going back to their frames of reference in Europe. So, when they wrote in the Treaty of Tripoli that this nation was not founded as a Christian nation, that was exactly right. The United States is not a Christian theocracy, nor should it be.
This concept confused Alexis de Tocqueville, too, who visited the United States from France during the 1830s in the hopes of understanding the strange news he kept receiving about how America had politicians that prayed, and pastors that preached politics, yet the church did not control the government, and the government did not control the church. When he came here, however, the truth was clear. The government and the churches were symbiotic. They worked together without controlling each other. A concept that even today's leftists have trouble comprehending.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
America and Israel: W. Cleon Skousen, The 5000 Year Leap, National Center for Constitutional Studies, (1981).
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