PJ Media

When early Americans did something bad, they are automatically referred to as Christians. However, when they did something good–like create a nation–it’s vehemently argued that the Founding Fathers were not Christians but deists. So which one is it folks?

A bit of both. There were Founding Fathers who were deists (Tom Paine), and some who were Christians (John Adams), and some who were sufficiently unclear that it isn’t immediately obvious which category they belong (like Washington and Jefferson). Many of those arguing that the Framers were deists are focusing on what appears to have been a minority (a sizable minority, however)–and ignoring the majority of the leadership who were fairly orthodox Christians.