What would insulting atheists say about the enlightened Founding Fathers who made constant reference to God?

Question

Were they crazy and delusional too?

Answer 1

They would probably persecute them also

Answer 2

I would say that they did not make constant reference to God. The U.S. Constitution, for example, does not refer to God at all. They did not require elected officials to swear an oath to God. They did not put God on the money, and did not create a loyalty oath or pledge requiring the nation to be under God.

The Treaty of Tripoli, for example, specifically states that the US government is in no sense founded upon the Christian religion.

The most enlightened of the founding fathers said, "Religions are all alike -- founded upon fables and mythologies” - Thomas Jefferson. He also said "The Christian God is a being of terrific character - cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust” and "I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.” And, he said, " “The authors of the gospels were unlettered and ignorant men and the teachings of Jesus have come to us mutilated, misstated and unintelligible”

Answer 3

In terms of their belief in god, they were either crazy, delusional, or ignorant. What's your point?

You see, unlike xtians, atheists don't categorize everything into black/white absolutes. Therefore, we can see the founding fathers as enlightened framers of government, while still knowing that they are not perfect and can be quite silly, stupid, ignorant, or whatever else at the same time. Did you know that some of them were slave owners! Oh my gosh!

Its like saying, Eddie Van Halen fans, do you still think he's a brilliant guitarist even though he's killing himself with lung cancer because he was stupid enough to smoke like a chimney?

People have many facets to their being and personality.

Answer 4

You mean Thomas Jefferson?

Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.
-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

If we did a good act merely from love of God and a belief that it is pleasing to Him, whence arises the morality of the Atheist? ...Their virtue, then, must have had some other foundation than the love of God.
-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Thomas Law, June 13, 1814

Or John Adams?

God is an essence that we know nothing of. Until this awful blasphemy is got rid of, there never will be any liberal science in the world.
-- John Adams, "this awful blashpemy" that he refers to is the myth of the Incarnation of Christ, from Ira D Cardiff, What Great Men Think of Religion, quoted from James A Haught, ed., 2000 Years of Disbelief

The Treaty of Tripoli
Signed by John Adams

"As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] ... it is declared ... that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever product an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries....
"The United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation."
-- Treaty of Tripoli (1797), carried unanimously by the Senate and signed into law by John Adams (the original language is by Joel Barlow, US Consul)

Answer 5

Darwin hadn't made his amazing discovery yet. Thomas Jefferson was most likely an atheist. Others like Madison, Franklin, Adams & Paine were either very different Christians or agnostics or atheists.

Answer 6

Dunno that it was "constant." Benj. Franklin just about fought a guy over starting the 2nd contiental congress with a prayer!

They were the skeptics of the day. They were Deists, not Christian. For their time, they were enlightened men. You have to read things in the context of the time. They didn't know about germ theory of disease then either. It doesn't mean all their ideas were wrong, however.

Answer 7

When I talk to people who only speak Spanish, I talk to them in Spanish. When the founding fathers talked to people who only spoke God, they talked God.
They also openly criticized religion on a regular basis.

Answer 8

Whats a "founding father"??
Is it a father who founded an online child pornography site in america so americans can try to bring the world down to their level of depravity ??

Answer 9

Thomas Jefferson re-wrote the bible, taking out all off the immoral and illogical pages. there ended up being only around fifty pages left.

Answer 10

I'd say they were men of principle and common sense-the exact opposite of modern evangelical Christians. My Calvinist ancestors whose opinions I have respect for although I'm an atheist would have looked at evangelicals of today with total disgust.

Answer 11

Most Americans are delusional. Why would the early ones be any less so?