Many founders had lots to say about God

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 20, 2003

In Rich Baldwin’s Nov. 15 letter, “In God we trust: Don’t attribute pledge, sayings to founders” he gave a dissertation on “In God we trust,” the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Ten Commandments in schools and courthouses. He stated that the writing of some of our nation’s founding fathers would be in stark contrast.

It is not unusual for the “least religious,” Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison, to be quoted. However, they are selective quotes. Ignored are the words of the many other founders, many of whom were ministers of the gospel. Nearly four decades after the American Revolution, John Adams declared, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were … the general principles of Christianity … Now I will avow that I then believed and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

Many other founders also declared that America was guided by or founded on Christian principles. U. S. presidents declaring so included John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Zachary Taylor, Harry Truman, Andrew Jackson, William McKinley, Herbert Hoover, Teddy Roosevelt and others. It was because of this strong Christian faith that the founders were willing to welcome those of other faiths to America. They welcomed the presence of numerous religious groups in America, including Buddhists, Muslims and Jews. John Randolph of Roanoke, an early member of Congress from Virginia who served with the Founding Fathers, was a Muslim. Benjamin Franklin stated, “History will also afford frequent opportunities of showing the necessity of a public religion … and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient and modern.”

There are many other quotes from the Founding Fathers that certainly agree with the phrase, “In God we trust.”

Snohomish