Deism and the Founding of the United States

In recent decades, the role of deism in the American founding has become highly charged. Evangelical and/or “traditional” Protestants have claimed that Christianity was central to the early history of the United States and that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. They point to the use of prayer in Congress, national days of prayer and thanksgiving and the invocation of God as the source of our “unalienable rights” in the Declaration of Independence. Secularists respond that large fractions of the principal founding fathers were...

Read More

Ethan Allen * (1738-1789)

"[I demand Fort Ticonderoga] In the name of the great Jehovah, and the Continental Congress." --Ethan Allen in A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity * in 1779 Excerpts from Reason: The Only Oracle of Man * * (1784) I have generally been denominated a Deist, the reality of which I never disputed, being conscious I am no Christian, except mere infant baptism make me one; and as to being a Deist, I know not, strictly speaking, whether I am one or not, for I have never read their writings; mine will therefore determine the matter......

Read More

Ethan Allen Quote

1738-1789 Leader of the Green Mountain Boys Education: mostly self-educated, some informal, private instruction Occupation: farmer, businessman Political Affiliation: republican Organizational Affiliation(s): Mason Religious Affiliation: none Summary of Religious Views: Ethan Allen was a freethinker and critic of Christianity. He wrote Reason, the Only Oracle of Man, in which he espoused natural religion and denied the validity of traditional religions, including Christianity. It is said that he stopped...

Read More

The Connection Between Deism and America's Founding Fathers May Surprise You

There is a belief abroad in many conservative circles that the U.S. is “a Christian nation”. This belief is found in perhaps its most extreme form in the Mormon doctrine that the Constitution of the United States is a divinely inspired document. Less extreme versions hold that Christian piety was an shaping influence on the thinking and writing of the Founding Fathers, and Christianity therefore has (or ought to have) a privileged position in...

Read More