Yes, although it would be more accurate to say that America was founded by those who believed in Judeo-Christian principals.
All,
or nearly all, of those who signed the Declaration of Independence were
Christians, and all were very familiar with the Bible.
There
were quite a few ministers among the Signers. George Washington and
John Adams, the first two presidents, were devote Christians.
The
main writer of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson. He
admired Christ very much, but did not believe in any of the miracles.
But the most well-known part of the Declaration of Independence states:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This
has been called one of the best-known sentences in the English
language, containing the most potent and consequential words in American
history.
So our country was founded on this
belief that our liberty was endowed to us by God, and therefore there
could be no laws infringing upon our liberties. This is explicitly stated
in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Benjamin
Franklin believed in a Judeo-Christian God. He didn’t seem to belong to
a particular religion, and he donated money to various churches, and at
least one Jewish group. He asked that a prayer be said before the
Continental Congress met to discuss declaring independence from England.
Franklin wrote a letter to the President of Yale University a few weeks
before his death:
"I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him, is doing Good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its Conduct in this one.”
Abraham Lincoln, our
most beloved president, considered the Declaration to be the foundation
of his political philosophy, and argued that the Declaration is a
statement of principles through which the United States Constitution
should be interpreted. He also instituted Thanksgiving as a national
holiday.
The Ten Commandments were known by
all, and was assumed to be the basis of morality. It is etched in many
government buildings, including a number of places in the building that houses the Supreme Court.
The
Founders did not want laws requiring particular religious beliefs. Nor
did they want laws abridging religious liberty or any other liberty.
Therefore, our Constitution prevents Congress from passing laws that
infringe upon our liberties.
But the Founding Fathers also believed that America could not be a great country unless it was a moral country.
John
Adams said,
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Thus,
the Constitution, which defines the powers of government, does not deal
with morality or religion, because these do not come under the purview
of government. This, I believe, is what causes some people to mistakenly
believe that our country was not founded upon Judeo-Christian
principals.
But reading the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution, which contains the Bill of Rights,
along with all the other writings of our Founding Fathers, show that the
creation of our country was guided by Judeo-Christian principles.
Tim
Farage is a Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science Department at The
University of Texas at Dallas. The views expressed herein are those of
the author. One of his main interests is the reconciliation between
science and spirituality. You are welcome to comment upon this blog
entry and/or to contact him at tfarage@hotmail.com. Twitter account: Tim Farage (@TimFarage) | Twitter
