Did the founding fathers want all Americans 'to worship Jesus'?

Question

I had a heated debate with a co-worker,who insisted the founding fathers were very religious, and wanted all Americans to 'worship Jesus'. I think they wanted a clear seperation of church and state. Is there any written proof that the founding fathers wanted america to be a nation that required its citizens to be Christians?

Answer 1

The Facts:
1) The founding fathers believed in a higher power. Many were Christians.
2) They did not want all Americans to worship Jesus. They wanted Americans to have the freedom to choose.
3) They did not want an official religion of the United States.
4) There is nothing that says the founding fathers wanted to require its citizens to be Christians.
5) No one person, Congress, President, Judge, Agreement, Treaty, etc. can, has or will determine if America was founded as a Christian nation.

Religion is a very powerful force in someone's life. Christians 'want' others to be Christian. Although difficult, Christians can also 'want' the government to have no say in the matter. It is an incredible testament to the forsight and restraint of our founding fathers (many of whom were Christian), to believe in and demand freedom of religion.

Answer 2

Thomas Jefferson was very outspoken in several letters about how he didn't approve of the way the Christian churches were run and how they should be totally separate from the government.

Also, in a treaty signed by the Senate led by John Adams, while George Washington was president, a treaty signed with Tripoli specifically states "the United States of America is not a Christian nation"

Answer 3

I'm well aware that our founding fathers did not worship Christ, but for all their wise sayings, they were still human. Here's a favorite by Jefferson: "A government big enough to give you everything you ever wanted is big enough to take it away."

Answer 4

The founding fathers saw religion as the best possible means to maintain the healthy and positive moral fiber needed to create a great nation. No where in our constitution does it say that we, as American’s, should "worship Jesus". They fashioned the statement "one nation, under God" in order to create to a mindset were people realized that they had to report to a higher power. America was created on the principles of certain unalienable freedoms so pushing a certain religion on anyone is certainly out of the question. Constant references to God in our history and constitution, in my opinion, are simply meant to establish the presence of a ‘higher power’, someone people can feel indebted to. Nations without a certain measure of moral standing have never succeeded because people don’t feel obligated to anything but themselves.

Answer 5

Your coworker doesn't know what they are talking about. If the constitution and the first amendment weren't clear enough, the Treaty of Tripoli was sent to the senate for ratification by president John Adams. In the treaty it states that the US is not a Christian nation.

Answer 6

Considering that folks left Europe to come to America to be able to be religious in their own way-they left countries in which there was a state religion (Anglican for example from England)-does it make sense that they would create a country when given the opportunity that would put in place what they left their original homes for?

Answer 7

Answer: NO!
First I doubt the disagreement as I doubt the you are actually employed, at least gainfully. Citizens organizing against a British king, making himself the the "Pope" and Head if the Real Church.
Your distortion of history is indicative with contemporary mis-teaching of American history.

Answer 8

Many of the 'founding fathers,' such as Thomas Paine, described themselves as 'deists' rather than Christians. Thomas Jefferson wrote in one of his letters that he would have no problem living next to a 'Hindoo' (as 'Hindu' was spelled at the time) as long as the man was honest in his business dealings.

Answer 9

I think it's possible to want people to worship Jesus while simultaneously wanting the government to have absolutely nothing to do with the matter.

Answer 10

There is a reason they moved to America they wanted religious freedom your co-worker is a moron.