2006-10-11 13:37:32 · 13 answers · asked by Aspurtaime Dog Sneeze 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
none ? "in God we trust"
2006-10-11 13:40:16 · answer #1 · answered by rickysa24 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I doubt that any of them were atheist, or at least would admit that in public. But they weren't all Christian, and in fact many of the most influential were clearly not Christian, and instead were Deists.
"American deists include John Quincy Adams, Ethan Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and (by most accounts) George Washington. Thomas Paine published The Age of Reason, a treatise that helped to popularize deism throughout America and Europe." [wikipedia link below]
Thomas Jefferson edited a version of the New Testament that removed all claims of miraculous events.
Note that many of the original pilgrims to America from Britain were fleeing religious persecution from the Church of England, which is a Christian Church!
2006-10-11 20:43:32 · answer #2 · answered by Jim L 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
None of the Founding Fathers was an atheist. The closest you get is that some were Deists.
2006-10-11 20:44:45 · answer #3 · answered by jakejr6 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The one who wrote the documents on which this country is founded.
Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were both near-atheist deists. That is, they couldn't see a way for the universe to have come into existence without a deity, so they used deity to create the universe then believed he walked away. Thomas Jefferson's view of it was akin to, "So, you created the universe, well you did a pretty FREAKING lousy job of it, screw off and let us fix your mess." Ben Franklin was fond of participating in the black mass whenever he was in Paris, mostly by his own admission for the joys of fornication.
2006-10-11 20:40:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They were not atheists, however they had a strong disapproval for organized religion. That is, they believed in a Supreme Being but not is the indolent, greedy priesthoods of the day (and today!). Religion had interfered to such a great extent in many governments of their time, so they very wisely made separation of church and state a fundemental part of the US Constitution.
2006-10-11 20:44:27 · answer #5 · answered by dwbehrens1 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The founding fathers were a mixture of Deists (belief in a supreme being that created the universe, but NOT god of the bible) agnostics and atheists.
More info on this short video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4fQA9mt-Mg
2006-10-11 20:44:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Thomas Jefferson.
2006-10-11 20:38:33 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
None that I know of, though some were Unitarians and Deists. A number, including Washington, were Freemasons.
2006-10-11 20:49:27 · answer #8 · answered by harridan5 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Originally the reason that U.S. is not base on religious faith has nothing to do with atheism, it is that U.S. wants to protect it's new government from religious wars rivals between Islamic Ottoman empire(Saudi now) and Christian Europe and also to keep good relations with Ottoman( Saudi now).
2006-10-11 22:04:02 · answer #9 · answered by Nabil 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe it was Benjamen Franklin. Thomas Jefferson was actually a deist.
2006-10-11 20:40:43 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of them were.
In fact thier writings clearly show that they had NO use for religion and the church. Check the link below and read for yourself.
2006-10-11 20:49:14 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋