{"id":275,"date":"2023-10-01T12:19:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T16:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/growpurpose.com\/skipjack\/?p=275"},"modified":"2023-10-01T13:11:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T17:11:46","slug":"founders-wanted-god-in-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/growpurpose.com\/skipjack\/2023\/10\/01\/founders-wanted-god-in-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Founders Wanted God in State"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Note to readers: The following blog is a column I wrote for The News and Courier and Evening Post on July 16, 1989. It was the first column I wrote after being named the newspapers\u2019 religion editor, and I\u2019m repeating it now because it is more apropos to today than it was the day I wrote it. I lightly edited it for clarity.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Some people think separation of church and state is as important as freedom of religion.<\/p>\n

And some people think it is an ideal written into the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n

Both assumptions are wrong. The Founding Fathers never intended a Godless government, and the Constitution is dead silent on the subject.<\/p>\n

The Founders absolutely did intend to keep the state out of the church (and all other forms of worship). Their experiences in England led them to make freedom of religion a crucial and everlasting part of this nation\u2019s foundation.<\/p>\n

They also absolutely intended to prevent any denomination or school of religious thought (are you listening, MAGA Christians?) from guiding the state.<\/p>\n

But, that did not mean they intended to keep God out of the state. Their written words on the subject make crystal clear they intended God to lead the state forever. Without God\u2019s guidance, they seem to have agreed, the American experiment as they envisioned it would be doomed to failure.<\/p>\n

George Washington was blunt about it when, in his Farewell Address, he said, \u201cOf all the dispositions and habits which led to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports \u2026 And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other Founders would have agreed with that. They wanted all public schools to teach religion and morality, but only those religious tenets that are universally accepted by all major faiths. They understood that all faiths share some fundamental points, such as love thy neighbor.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Franklin said as much in a letter to Yale University President Ezra Stiles when he wrote, \u201cI believe in one God, the creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the foundational points in all sound religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franklin\u2019s colleagues, not all of whom were Christians, seemed to have agreed with him. John Adams called Franklin\u2019s points \u201cthe general principles on which the American civilization has been founded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The writings of other Founders indicate they felt the same.<\/p>\n

None of them wanted to found a religion of state, but neither did anybody want to create a Godless society. Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson were adamant about it. Jefferson summarized his views in these seven points:<\/p>\n