Do you have a favorite quote from our founding fathers that relates to RS?

Question

With Independence day coming up I thought it would be neat to post some quotes from our founding fathers.
Here is mine:
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 17, 1782

Wikisidr in the spirit of Independence day I will only sat I am glad to live in a country where one can be so freely ignorant.
Happy 4th.

Answer 1

Jefferson always hits the spot for me:

"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must approve the homage of Reason rather than that of blindfolded Fear."

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."

And just to pre-empt those who are ignorant of our founding history ... some of our Founders were Christian. Many were not. But regardless of their beliefs, they held firm that those beliefs were private and had no business being endorsed by government.

Answer 2

According to the book "Faiths of the Founding Fathers" : Monroe, Madison, Jefferson, and Washington are all of Christian-based faiths, Adams was Unitarian and later Christian-Deist, Franklin and Paine were both Deist. What is the basis of your friends argument? Did he find his information from a reliable source? I agree with another answer here that it would be best to refer to the founding fathers' own works for the best answers, but this may help a bit as well: Holmes, D. L. (2006). The faiths of the founding fathers. Oxford University Press, USA. Edit-Eclipse- the book I have referred to backed-up what you wrote as far as Jefferson being heterodoxic, but it states that he continued throughout life as outwardly Anglican. In this wording it leaves a little room to wonder at whether privately he was largely deistic, but I can't really say that definitively, it's just a supposing. Edit-PopeJewish- Thanks much for the quote from George Washington, I love having names that I can use to search for primary sources, I had not remembered hearing of Tighman before. :)

Answer 3

Benjamin Franklin's words, spoken before the Continental

Congress during the drafting of our Constitution in 1789:

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible

of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection.

Our prayers. Sir. were heard and they were graciously answered.

All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed

frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. . . .

And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend (Jesus)? Or do we

imagine we no longer need His assistance?

“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 man.’ And if a sparrow cannot fail to the ground without His notice,

is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been

assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the

house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe

that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political

building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our

little partial local interest; our projects will be confounded; and we

ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages.

And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate

instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and

leave it to chance, war, or conquest. “I therefore beg leave to move

that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its

blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning

before we proceed to business.”

Benjamin Franklin then proposed that the Congress adjourn for two

days to seek divine guidance. When they returned they began each

of their sessions with prayer. The stirring speech of Benjamin Franklin

marked a turning point in the writing of the Constitution, complete with

a Bill of Rights.

Answer 4

Here are three from Thomas Paine:

"Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing."
Rights of Man, 1791

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
Dissertation on First Principles of Government, December 23, 1791

"It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf. "
The American Crisis, No. 1, December 19, 1776

Answer 5

"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

"Religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies." - Thomas Jefferson

"I looked around for God's judgments, but saw no signs of them."
Benjamin Franklin

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government." - Thomas Jefferson

"In no instance have . . . the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people." - James Madison

" The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity." - John Adams

"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches." - Benjamin Franklin

Historian Barry Schwartz writes: "George Washington's practice of Christianity was limited and superficial because he was not himself a Christian... He repeatedly declined the church's sacraments. Never did he take communion, and when his wife, Martha, did, he waited for her outside the sanctuary... Even on his deathbed, Washington asked for no ritual, uttered no prayer to Christ, and expressed no wish to be attended by His representative."

Answer 6

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."
-- Abraham Lincoln

"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."
-- John Adams

"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."
-- Thomas Jefferson

And there aren't a whole lot of quotes from Washington, but he was most likely a Deist. Washington DID say this, however:
"If they be good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa, or Europe; they may be Mohammedans, Jews, or Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists."

Answer 7

From The Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Signed by 56 "founding fathers"...all who must have believed and agreed that there is indeed a Creator (with a capital "C").

Answer 8

"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish Church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. They found it wrong in Bishops, but fell into the practice themselves both there (England) and in New England."--- Benjamin Franklin

Answer 9

George Washington on the Bible and Government
It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796.

Answer 10

How many observe Christ's birth-day! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.

Benjamin Franklin