#67 David S: “…stop trying to argue that the Founders were essentially Christian. They weren’t.”
Lets deal in fact. (For the sake of this argument, I’ll accept the broad comments on the Wikipedia regarding our Founders as “facts”).
For background, 55 delegates drafted the 1787 Constitutional convention, 39 of which signed the actual document.
“The 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution included most of the outstanding leaders, or Founding Fathers, of the new nation. Thomas Jefferson, who was in France during the convention, characterized the delegates as an assembly of “demi-gods.”[1]” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Convention
“Lambert (2003) has examined the religious affiliations and beliefs of the Founders. Some of the 1787 delegates had no affiliation. The others were Protestants except for three Roman Catholics: C. Carroll, D. Carroll, and Fitzsimons. Among the Protestant delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 28 were Church of England (Episcopalian, after the Revolutionary War was won), eight were Presbyterians, seven were Congregationalists, two were Lutherans, two were Dutch Reformed, and two were Methodists, the total number being 49. Some of the more prominent Founding Fathers were anti-clerical or vocal about their opposition to organized religion, such as Thomas Jefferson[10][11] (who created the “Jefferson Bible”), and Benjamin Franklin[12]. However, other notable founders, such as Patrick Henry, were strong proponents of traditional religion. Several of the Founding Fathers considered themselves to be deists or held beliefs very similar to that of deists.[13]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States
