303: A Christian Nation? - The Founders, Part One

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When a religion is good, I conceive that it will

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support itself. And when it cannot support itself,

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and God does not care to take care to support

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it, so that its professors are obliged to call

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for help of a civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend,

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of it being bad. Benjamin Franklin, in a letter

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to Dr. Richard Price, 9 October, 1780. Franklin,

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when writing these words, added that the reason

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religions required support for their message

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from the civil authorities was not due necessarily

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to protect the beliefs of the religion, but to

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provide livings or money to various members of

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the clergy that were affiliated with that religion.

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Welcome to the United States of Amnesia. We are

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the podcast that reminds us of what we have forgotten.

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It is often said that history repeats itself.

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Mark Twain allegedly said that history doesn't

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repeat itself, but it rhymes. But over time,

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many topics have become clouded by biases and

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oversimplifications, or have become mythologized

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and now are misunderstood. Misunderstanding means

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learning the wrong lessons from history, perhaps,

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or even learning nothing at all. And that can

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leave us poorly prepared for history's next rhyme.

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In the last episode we covered the origins of

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the colonies in great detail. In this episode,

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we're going to cover the Founding Fathers and

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what they believed in, what their religious affiliations

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were, what their belief system was at the time

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of the Founding. Set the table for that discussion.

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We need to at least discuss the Age of Enlightenment,

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which was going on in the background at the time.

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The Age of Enlightenment, in very broad brush

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summary, was a European movement. Primarily French

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and British, and especially Scottish. There you

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go. Because there's a lot of Scottish Enlightenment

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thinkers coming over to Virginia to sort of promote

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their belief systems. University of William and

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Mary. I think you meant the College of William

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and Mary. It was, yes, a European intellectual

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movement of the late 17th up to the late 18th

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centuries that emphasized reason, individualism,

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and skepticism of tradition, challenging religious

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and political authority. It was influenced by

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the scientific revolution, which was going on.

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Thinkers of the day promoted ideas like natural

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rights, liberty. constitutional government, and

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importantly, the separation of church and state,

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which inspired revolutions, including both the

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American and French revolutions, and laid the

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groundwork for modern democratic societies. Key

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leaders of the Age of Enlightenment include,

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importantly, John Locke and the Baron de Montesquieu,

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as well as Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant, Goethe,

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David Hume, Adam Smith, and even Benjamin Franklin.

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We can also probably include Thomas Paine. We'll

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get to Thomas Paine in a moment. In the context

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of the Age of Enlightenment, in the background,

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something else was going on as well. And this

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was the First Great Awakening. It occurred in

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approximately the 1730s into the 1740s and a

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little bit beyond that. It was a massive Protestant

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religious revival that swept American colonies,

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emphasizing personal faith, emotional experience,

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and new birth conversion over rigid doctrines.

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Led by figures like George Whitefield and Jonathan

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Edwards, and I'll throw in John Wesley and Charles

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Wesley, brothers at Oxford originally, who kind

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of kicked it off. It democratized religion, split

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churches, spurred the growth of denominations

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like Baptist and Methodist, and helped foster

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a shared American identity. Benjamin Franklin

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and George Whitefield were actually good friends,

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even though they represent opposite ideas of

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the spectrum. In fact, Franklin was Whitefield's

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publisher in the United States. And I would argue

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that the Great Awakening was somewhat of a counterbalance

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to the Age of Enlightenment, which was going

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on at the same time, as I mentioned, in different

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circles, but contemporaneous forces that helped

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shape the United States as it was conceived at

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its founding. I also want to say one other thing

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that occurred to me in my research, and that

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is that at this time, It was not really socially

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acceptable for anyone to really come out publicly

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and call themselves an atheist. That was really

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not... That was frowned upon. Yes. So everyone

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kind of had some... To conform to societal norms,

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people did have a... Did need to kind of... Have

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an official religion. Have something, yes. I

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mean, and that makes sense. That makes absolute

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sense in that people felt the need to identify

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in some sort of spiritual movement of one sort

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or the other during the period. I mean, it's

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social, but it's also a matter of conscience.

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And it kind of shows that you're thinking about

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this stuff. You're not just outright dismissing

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it, which is what an atheist was kind of. an

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insult which we see hurled against numerous founding

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fathers at one time or another, generally for

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political purposes. We still see that hurled

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at people today. Yes, we do. We're going to go

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into the founding fathers now. And we're going

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to discuss each of them individually and what

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their beliefs were at the time. We're going to

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start with Benjamin Franklin. Okay, Benjamin

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Franklin is probably familiar to many people

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just because of his various accomplishments,

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but he was born in 1706. He is the oldest of

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the founding fathers. He was born actually, even

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though he's associated with Philadelphia, he

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was actually born up in Boston and later migrates

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down to Philadelphia where he becomes a huge

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success as a printer. But he was an American

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polymath, a writer, a statesman. a scientist.

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We all know the story about Benjamin Franklin's

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experiments with electricity. He was a diplomat,

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definitely a printer and publisher of a variety

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of works, including George Whitefield, as I mentioned

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before, and a political philosopher. He could

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be regarded as the patriarch of the American

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Revolution and also the establishment of the

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Constitution because Franklin is actually present

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at both the meetings in Philadelphia that resulted

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in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

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He was considered to be America's leading citizen

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and a representative of the European Enlightenment.

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Both Locke and Montesquieu were two leading philosophers

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of the movement, as Blake mentioned. And the

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crux of their belief system was civil power was

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based on an inherent contract between the people

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and the government. And this is something that

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Franklin embraced here. Previously, the notion

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was... And until the French Revolution, this

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idea was commonplace. God chose the leadership

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of the government, the king, for want of a better

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term. And that was kind of what provided legitimacy.

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Franklin and all the other founding fathers would

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ascribe to this theory of government, which would

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also impact how religion was viewed in its relationship

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to the state. ascribed to the whole notion, just

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to be clear here, of the social contract. In

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England in the 17th century, this had been marked

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by a contest between high church Anglicans who

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supported the king or the queen and low church

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Anglicans and Puritans who sought a more authentic

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religious position. And this took the form of

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political discourse and political debate during

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the 17th century. There were also Catholics who

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were treated as kind of interlopers. Catholics

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in 17th century England and even beyond were

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regarded somewhat like the way extreme Republicans

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regard Muslims today, as somewhat traitorous,

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alien, not really part of the social fabric,

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but there to be regulated as such. imposed an

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alien doctrine on Britain. They still existed

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and regarded with great hostility and were subject

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to all sorts of penalties. Franklin was a deist.

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Now, deist is an interesting term, and we're

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going to encounter this a lot during the course

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of our discussions. And let's just agree to understand

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this. There is no deist doctrine that people

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ascribe to. People self -identify as a deist,

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but they're not necessarily all. part of a similar

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belief structure. Did they even call themselves

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deists? Some of the founding fathers are going

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to call themselves deists. And we'll get to some

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of those. I mean, like Thomas Paine called himself

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a deist and said deism was superior to Christianity.

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He viewed it as a higher, closer relationship

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to God, even though he was referred to as an

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atheist as a result of this. But there's no,

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the thing to keep in mind here, there is no deism.

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liturgy or doctrine. There's no guidebook to

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deism. You just kind of, you ascribe to a certain

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mindset about religion. But it doesn't necessarily

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mean that everybody took this on in the same

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way. Say, like, Jefferson's going to say, I don't

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believe in miracles here. And, you know, people

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talk about the afterlife. It was an outgrowth

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of the Age of Reason, the Age of Enlightenment.

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It's an outgrowth, and people would kind of come

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to certain conclusions on their own, but they

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would retain certain other vestiges of Orthodox

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Christianity of one sort or another. in their

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belief structure. I think we discussed in an

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earlier episode some of the features of deism,

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because you're saying it's a mindset. It's a

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mindset. It's an attitude. It does have characteristic

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features if you're a deist. You do believe in

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a creator who set the universe in motion, but

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you don't believe that that creator intervenes

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in human affairs. You don't believe in miracles.

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You don't believe in anything that would be considered...

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maybe superstitious. You might not even believe

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in the divinity of Christ. You don't believe

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in the divinity of Christ. Now, that is pure,

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if I want to say it like pure deism. Right. But

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like Marshall is alluding to, when you look at

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the founding fathers, they did not see a big

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contradiction between being deist, deist principles

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of those kinds, and being Christian. Right. And

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a lot of them tend, well, some of them anyway,

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tended to merge those two to create what's been

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called Christian rationalism or Christian deism.

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We'll get into that, I think, as we go along

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in this discussion. But it's not exclusive the

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way people nowadays might make it seem in their

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minds. There's no cookie -cutter deist. There's

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no cookie -cutter deist. And there's no necessarily

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contradiction in their minds between deism and

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at least some Christian belief. And that's important

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to keep in mind. It's not the way people would

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think about it now, I'm sure. There's Christian

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morality, which they would certainly, I would

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say all of the founding fathers would embrace

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the moralities. morality that's expressed by

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Jesus there. But you have some who believe in

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the power of prayer, which implies that you have

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a God who will intervene in human affairs. And

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we see this in some cases with people who are

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self -identifying as deists or even Unitarians.

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So one should keep in mind, when we say deist,

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we kind of need to define things further when

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we're speaking of the various founding fathers

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here. Just as there is, as we discovered last

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time, there is no Christian religion. There's

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Christianity, but there's no single doctrine

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that unites all Christians with few exclusions.

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There's all sorts of disputes over things like

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infant baptism and transubstantiation and things

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like that. that help define differences between

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various Christian faiths here. And it's the same

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with deism. Let's talk about Franklin here. Franklin

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was part of the Puritan context. He grew up with

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a Puritan heritage. He was brought up as a Puritan.

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And Franklin, even though Franklin's kind of

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a free thinker, he was able to sustain a relationship

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with his very religious sister. who was a congregationalist,

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Jane McComb of Boston, and also, as I mentioned

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previously, George Whitefield, one of the preachers

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of the Great Awakening. Whitefield is a more

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doctrinaire Christian, but he was opposed to

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an established church, which lines up with the

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whole kind of personal relationship with God,

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you know, kind of making... church, not a bureaucratic

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or government experience, which it kind of had

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become over in Britain at this point throughout

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the 17th century. I mean, it was a matter of

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patriotic loyalty almost to the queen or the

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king, whoever was in charge of things there.

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And probably the same was true of the Anglican

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church in the colonies at the time. Yes, yes.

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I mean, that's kind of what he is. He represents

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a kind of, breakdown of the sort of like automatic

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alliance. If you're British, you have to be,

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or if you're English, you have to be Anglican.

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If you're Scottish, you have to be Presbyterian.

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What he's looking for is he's arguing for a rebirth,

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you know, spiritual rebirth. This is Whitfield.

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This is Whitfield. And, again, this is leading

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to the erosion of a state -sponsored religion,

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you know, because if it's all about you, it's

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not about the institution. It's a personal relationship.

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It's a personal relationship. You don't need

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the structure. You don't need the structure.

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And so this is kind of why he appealed to Franklin.

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And Franklin also saw a lot of profit to be made

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here. I always remember Franklin looking at ways

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to make money here. This is why he was able to

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retire at like 35 or 40 very early on in life.

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Franklin's position, which was different from,

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say, the 17th century controversies, was that

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in no system of thought. It was wholly right

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or wrong. So this is totally at odds with, say,

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like the prevailing sentiments in Britain and

00:15:54.509 --> 00:15:56.889
in the colonies in certain places. We think about

00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:00.610
Massachusetts, which is constantly exiling people

00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:05.129
like Roger Williams because their belief system

00:16:05.129 --> 00:16:08.090
is the wrong belief system for theirs. Franklin

00:16:08.090 --> 00:16:14.259
is taking a more tolerant approach or more— approach

00:16:14.259 --> 00:16:17.860
that basically minimized religious differences.

00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:23.639
And it didn't matter regarding marriages or other

00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:27.200
institutions as they were more or less the same

00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:28.899
as far as he was concerned. We're talking about

00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:31.159
very... Among the different denominations. Among

00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:33.299
the different denominations. I mean, you know,

00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:37.620
he's... He's trying to minimize the differences

00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:39.960
between them because he sees a lot of common

00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.159
ground there. Franklin is always looking throughout

00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:46.039
his life for common ground. This is what made

00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:49.659
him a success as a diplomat. Morality is the

00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:52.500
primary element, and we'll see this in other

00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:55.360
founding fathers. in Franklin's interpretation

00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.539
of religion. Like other deists, Franklin believed

00:16:58.539 --> 00:17:00.860
that humans serve God best when they perform

00:17:00.860 --> 00:17:03.879
good works on behalf of humanity and society.

00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:08.269
And we're going to see that. as a kind of common

00:17:08.269 --> 00:17:10.529
theme here. I was going to say the same. We're

00:17:10.529 --> 00:17:13.309
going to see that over and over again. Yes. And

00:17:13.309 --> 00:17:16.410
I mean, when you think about kind of the sort

00:17:16.410 --> 00:17:19.829
of Calvinist position that, you know, that tended

00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:23.109
to minimize things like good works, this is kind

00:17:23.109 --> 00:17:26.690
of a bit of a revelation or revolution in how

00:17:26.690 --> 00:17:30.349
one approaches spiritual matters there. This

00:17:30.349 --> 00:17:34.000
idea is is at odds with most organized sects

00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.019
of Christianity in the colonies as it completely

00:17:36.019 --> 00:17:39.240
ignores the importance of faith in terms of salvation

00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:43.119
and matters pleasing to God. Franklin's views

00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:45.319
on religion, if understood today, would probably

00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:48.259
prevent him from playing any active role in public

00:17:48.259 --> 00:17:51.779
life in most of the United States. And I would

00:17:51.779 --> 00:17:54.420
add that Franklin also tended to be a little

00:17:54.420 --> 00:17:57.680
cagey about expressing his religious beliefs.

00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.380
There are lots of letters, but they're letters.

00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:03.640
Franklin is more than capable about publishing,

00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:06.119
you know, if he wanted to put out a tract on

00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:08.460
this is what I believe religiously, he could

00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:11.339
do it. He was a publisher. It wasn't like he

00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:14.240
had difficulty with this, but he tended to confine,

00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:17.319
based on my research, a lot of these statements

00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:21.640
that we look at today to letters to trusted friends.

00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:31.019
Now we're going to cover George Washington. George

00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:33.480
Washington, the father of our country. He's an

00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:35.640
enigmatic figure when it comes to his religious

00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:37.740
views or philosophies because he rarely discussed

00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:39.960
them. And he left very little in writing about

00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:42.660
what he thought about religion in the public

00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:46.359
sphere or in his own private life. So most of

00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:49.519
what we know about his religious views are inferred

00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.680
based on observations of his habits and his practices

00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:55.660
other than anything that he said or wrote. And

00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:58.240
there's a debate over this among historians.

00:18:59.710 --> 00:19:01.890
religious scholars that's gone on for, well,

00:19:01.970 --> 00:19:03.809
ever since George Washington was alive. Yes.

00:19:04.230 --> 00:19:06.630
So let's see what we can figure out about George

00:19:06.630 --> 00:19:08.950
Washington. So Virginia's official religion,

00:19:09.089 --> 00:19:11.369
as we discussed in earlier episodes, was the

00:19:11.369 --> 00:19:14.569
Church of England, which you can also call Anglicanism.

00:19:14.849 --> 00:19:17.849
Anglicanism just means of England. That church

00:19:17.849 --> 00:19:20.269
became known after independence as the Episcopal

00:19:20.269 --> 00:19:24.329
Church of the United States, which just means

00:19:24.329 --> 00:19:26.589
governed by bishops. And it gets rid of any reference

00:19:26.589 --> 00:19:29.730
to England or Anglican meaning of England. Because

00:19:29.730 --> 00:19:32.069
the church is governed by bishops. Not by the

00:19:32.069 --> 00:19:34.500
queen. Not by the queen. And not by the Pope

00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:36.480
either. The Pope is recognized as the Bishop

00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:38.299
of Rome, but he's not, there is no such thing

00:19:38.299 --> 00:19:41.019
as a Pope in the Episcopal or Anglican Church.

00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:44.799
Anyway, so Washington was from Virginia. So he

00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:47.480
was baptized as an infant in the Anglican, later

00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:50.660
Episcopalian, Episcopal Church. And he attended

00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:53.039
Anglican or Episcopalian services all his life.

00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:56.039
He held office in the church. He was a vestryman

00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:59.440
and a warden. in his congregation. These are

00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:02.980
non -clerical appointments, which involve practical

00:20:02.980 --> 00:20:05.759
governance of the congregation. They're expected

00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:08.400
to set a good example for others, maintain order,

00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:10.599
things like that. They're not clergy, but they

00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:12.980
are obviously involved in the church. More like

00:20:12.980 --> 00:20:16.119
administrative. Administrative, sergeant at arms,

00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:19.779
those types of things. In colonial era Virginia,

00:20:20.410 --> 00:20:23.930
And in fact, until 1786, 10 years after independence,

00:20:24.069 --> 00:20:25.829
when the Commonwealth of Virginia, the state,

00:20:25.910 --> 00:20:29.730
finally eliminated it, the Church of England,

00:20:29.890 --> 00:20:32.210
Anglicanism, Episcopal Church being the official

00:20:32.210 --> 00:20:36.309
church, imposed office -holding qualifications

00:20:36.309 --> 00:20:38.210
at all levels if you're going to hold public

00:20:38.210 --> 00:20:40.869
office, including the House of Burgesses, to

00:20:40.869 --> 00:20:44.329
which Washington was elected in 1758. And this

00:20:44.329 --> 00:20:46.329
is consistent with what was going on in England

00:20:46.329 --> 00:20:48.650
at the time. Yes. When we talked about Virginia,

00:20:48.849 --> 00:20:51.170
the colony, in a previous episode, we talked

00:20:51.170 --> 00:20:53.230
about how what they had basically done in Virginia

00:20:53.230 --> 00:20:55.809
is just imported their religious practices of

00:20:55.809 --> 00:20:57.990
England with them. They were English people living

00:20:57.990 --> 00:21:00.470
in North America now in Virginia. They did the

00:21:00.470 --> 00:21:02.690
same thing in Virginia that they did back in

00:21:02.690 --> 00:21:04.089
England. Same rules and everything. Yeah, same

00:21:04.089 --> 00:21:06.829
rules and everything. So to hold office, public

00:21:06.829 --> 00:21:08.710
office, required affiliation with the current

00:21:08.710 --> 00:21:11.930
state religion, Anglicanism. and an undertaking

00:21:11.930 --> 00:21:14.970
that one would neither express dissent for church

00:21:14.970 --> 00:21:17.710
doctrine nor do anything that did not conform

00:21:17.710 --> 00:21:20.970
to church doctrine. So he did that in order to

00:21:20.970 --> 00:21:24.910
hold office. It wasn't until 1786 the Virginia

00:21:24.910 --> 00:21:27.849
Statute for Religious Freedom disestablished

00:21:27.849 --> 00:21:30.069
the then Episcopal Church as a state church.

00:21:30.289 --> 00:21:34.009
So Washington therefore had a legal requirement

00:21:34.009 --> 00:21:36.750
for some kind of church association and church

00:21:36.750 --> 00:21:39.269
involvement with specifically the Anglican later

00:21:39.269 --> 00:21:42.539
Episcopalian Church. As did all of the Virginians

00:21:42.539 --> 00:21:44.299
that we're going to be talking about, too. Yes,

00:21:44.299 --> 00:21:46.839
yes. So his attendance, his involvement in the

00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:49.880
Church, may have been a practical matter rather

00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:53.200
than one of conviction. Who can tell, right?

00:21:53.259 --> 00:21:55.140
All we know is that he swore he would uphold

00:21:55.140 --> 00:21:57.480
Church doctrine, and then he participated in

00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:00.059
Church activities. But he didn't take communion.

00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.619
Well, we're going to come to that. Okay. So,

00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:05.640
yeah, let's get into his activities. What did

00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:07.440
he do, then? What can we discern about his beliefs?

00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.880
So at Mount Vernon... He spent most Sundays writing

00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.420
letters, conducting business, fox hunting, doing

00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:16.140
other things related to running the plantation.

00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:18.920
Apparently, they've done some—he kept a diary,

00:22:19.059 --> 00:22:21.019
where and how my time is spent, I guess is what

00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:23.180
he called it, according to what I've seen. And

00:22:23.180 --> 00:22:24.819
in that, he tells how often he attended church,

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:26.920
so whatever that tells you. So in the year 1760,

00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:30.000
he went to church 16 times out of 52 Sundays.

00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:33.750
In 1768, he went 14 times. Out of 52 Sundays.

00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:35.730
So he went about a third of the time. Now, it's

00:22:35.730 --> 00:22:38.289
going to be a trip for him. Yeah, you're taking

00:22:38.289 --> 00:22:40.490
the words out of my mouth. Yeah, exactly. Because

00:22:40.490 --> 00:22:43.450
even though this is like 20 minutes now. Yeah,

00:22:43.490 --> 00:22:47.289
his first parish was Pohick Church. That was

00:22:47.289 --> 00:22:49.829
seven miles away from Mount Vernon. His second

00:22:49.829 --> 00:22:52.289
parish was up in Alexandria, Virginia. That was

00:22:52.289 --> 00:22:56.309
nine miles away. Christ Church. And I read somewhere

00:22:56.309 --> 00:22:58.470
along the lines here that a ride to Pohick Church

00:22:58.470 --> 00:23:01.559
one way was three hours. Yeah. Really? A ride

00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:05.079
up to Alexandria was four hours. Yeah. That is

00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:07.359
quite a ways. Yeah. That's a commitment. Yeah.

00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:08.839
That is a commitment. So it's a commitment. That's

00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:11.900
why you didn't stay for communion. Well, you

00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:13.640
could probably... No, I'm joking. I'm joking.

00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:15.960
Well, inclement weather would probably put you

00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:17.940
off from having to take a four -hour journey

00:23:17.940 --> 00:23:20.319
to Alexandria or to Pohick. Right. And also,

00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:22.410
just the... The time consumption. You know, the

00:23:22.410 --> 00:23:23.950
idea of having a two -day weekend came along

00:23:23.950 --> 00:23:25.569
later. I think Sunday was probably your only

00:23:25.569 --> 00:23:27.349
day of rest. Yeah, right. So you spend your whole

00:23:27.349 --> 00:23:28.910
day off. What do you do? You spend the entire

00:23:28.910 --> 00:23:31.049
day going to church, being at church, coming

00:23:31.049 --> 00:23:32.650
back from church, and your day is shot. You know

00:23:32.650 --> 00:23:34.769
what I mean? Let's be practical about this. So

00:23:34.769 --> 00:23:37.309
it was an investment of time to go to church

00:23:37.309 --> 00:23:38.910
for him. So he only went about a third of the

00:23:38.910 --> 00:23:42.170
time when he was at Mount Vernon. When traveling,

00:23:42.369 --> 00:23:43.829
particularly when he was traveling on political

00:23:43.829 --> 00:23:45.609
business, however, he was more likely to attend

00:23:45.609 --> 00:23:48.230
church services. So when he was at the First

00:23:48.230 --> 00:23:50.829
Continental Congress in Philadelphia, There were

00:23:50.829 --> 00:23:52.890
seven Sundays during that conference, and he

00:23:52.890 --> 00:23:55.750
went to church on three occasions. And when he

00:23:55.750 --> 00:23:58.150
went, he attended Anglican, Quaker, and Catholic

00:23:58.150 --> 00:24:00.869
services. Good for him. Not just Anglican. So

00:24:00.869 --> 00:24:04.609
why, he didn't say. Trying to set an example?

00:24:05.269 --> 00:24:08.009
Probably. Maybe interest? Maybe interest, or

00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:09.630
perhaps also to set an example of inclusion?

00:24:10.049 --> 00:24:12.430
Yeah. We don't know. He didn't say. While he

00:24:12.430 --> 00:24:15.430
was president, he served two terms, 1789 to 1797.

00:24:16.549 --> 00:24:19.660
He made tours of the country. And when he did,

00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:21.559
he attended religious services in each city that

00:24:21.559 --> 00:24:23.640
he visited, sometimes as frequently as three

00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:25.839
services in a single day. Well, it's certainly

00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:29.000
easier in some of these towns than from Mount

00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:31.700
Vernon to attend services. It's easier. The other

00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:33.339
aspect of it, too, is, well, why did he do it

00:24:33.339 --> 00:24:38.420
on these political occasions? Again, maybe he

00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:39.740
wanted people to think he was more religious

00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:41.720
than he was. That's possible. Maybe he wanted

00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:44.079
to set an example of inclusion. Again, you know,

00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:46.079
we'll get into a little bit more of that as we

00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:48.940
go along, too. of some of the possibilities there.

00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.900
As you said, Blake, he was not a communicant,

00:24:52.019 --> 00:24:54.339
meaning that he rarely, if ever, took communion.

00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:56.740
And in fact, he usually left religious services

00:24:56.740 --> 00:24:59.119
just before the taking of communion began. Which

00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:02.579
was at the end of services. When it happened.

00:25:02.680 --> 00:25:06.180
It didn't happen every service like it does today

00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:09.640
in many... Yes, but it usually does take place

00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:12.319
at the end, doesn't it? Yes, it's usually at

00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:15.059
the end. But it should be noted that in the late...

00:25:16.429 --> 00:25:18.490
18th century and the late 18th century when he

00:25:18.490 --> 00:25:20.309
was president, it was a common practice among

00:25:20.309 --> 00:25:24.390
churchgoers to leave before communion. It wasn't

00:25:24.390 --> 00:25:27.329
a very unusual thing to do that. He was among

00:25:27.329 --> 00:25:29.289
the ones who left. Martha, his wife, she stayed

00:25:29.289 --> 00:25:32.170
for communion, but George left. He apparently

00:25:32.170 --> 00:25:34.410
thought that taking communion would be hypocritical.

00:25:34.829 --> 00:25:36.769
During the Revolutionary War, especially then,

00:25:36.930 --> 00:25:39.549
he believed his mindset in fighting a war and

00:25:39.549 --> 00:25:41.390
being a military leader did not meet the requirements

00:25:41.390 --> 00:25:44.009
of a communicant. I guess because he's busy trying

00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:47.880
to kill people. Yeah. So, you know, that would

00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:48.980
be why he felt he was hypocritical. I hadn't

00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:50.500
thought of that. That's interesting. Yeah, that

00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:52.720
is interesting. And then later in life, when

00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.240
he was a major public figure as president and,

00:25:55.299 --> 00:25:56.759
you know, other things that he did after the

00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:59.180
war, he thought it would be hypocritical then

00:25:59.180 --> 00:26:00.779
as well, because he thought it would be merely

00:26:00.779 --> 00:26:04.200
an ostentatious display of religiosity. He was

00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:06.779
a member of a congregation whose preacher, whose

00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:09.380
pastor criticized parishioners for leaving before

00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:12.380
communion at one point. The pastor worded it

00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:14.220
in terms of criticizing just everybody who left,

00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:16.000
but it was... kind of clear that he was also

00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:18.440
saying quietly, I'm looking at you, George, right?

00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:21.339
And Washington's response was to quit the congregation.

00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:28.279
Yes. Washington comes off in American mythology

00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:32.059
as kind of like a marble figure, like the statue

00:26:32.059 --> 00:26:37.099
of him in the Smithsonian or elsewhere. But it's

00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:40.759
like you can see Washington had definite principles

00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:46.559
that he was going to adhere to. And even though

00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:50.220
these don't necessarily—they are his own. They

00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:52.140
are something that he has figured out on his

00:26:52.140 --> 00:26:54.559
own, and they are very much something that he

00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:58.319
identifies with. You can see from this that communion

00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:01.079
meant something to him. He understood the meaning

00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:03.720
of it, and he felt it would be hypocritical for

00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:07.619
him to take communion, given what he was doing

00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:10.779
in life. So he did understand communion, and

00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:12.960
he respected it in a way. He didn't take it because

00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:15.799
he respected it, not because he didn't approve

00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:17.220
of it or something like that, I think is the

00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:22.160
way I would interpret his behavior. I don't want

00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:23.940
to get into a lot about this. Maybe you guys

00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:25.420
want to say something about it, but he became

00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:28.079
a Freemason as a young man. I don't much understand

00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.799
anything about Freemasonry. I don't either. I

00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:34.900
really don't. It is associated with, okay, I

00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:38.630
understand this. Okay. It is definitely something

00:27:38.630 --> 00:27:41.069
different than it is now. Now it is merely a

00:27:41.069 --> 00:27:45.349
fraternal organization, the Masons. And back

00:27:45.349 --> 00:27:51.150
then, it is kind of a gateway. It's still a fraternal

00:27:51.150 --> 00:27:54.190
organization, but it's a gateway to kind of free

00:27:54.190 --> 00:27:57.230
thinking. And this gets into the whole idea of

00:27:57.230 --> 00:28:00.839
works. the necessity of doing good works. And

00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:03.619
this is an important part of Masonic doctrine

00:28:03.619 --> 00:28:07.079
during this period. And this is kind of at odds

00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:09.500
with the whole notion and the importance of faith

00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:14.660
or some of the even more Puritan or Calvinist

00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:18.039
doctrine about people being predetermined for

00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:20.460
salvation here. There's nothing they can do about

00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:23.809
it. Masons are supposed to be going off and doing

00:28:23.809 --> 00:28:26.650
good works throughout the community. And by this

00:28:26.650 --> 00:28:29.269
way, sort of like Franklin, who is also a Mason,

00:28:29.470 --> 00:28:32.509
it's about how they relate to God here. There

00:28:32.509 --> 00:28:37.490
is a divine part of this in terms of how that

00:28:37.490 --> 00:28:42.500
works. Interestingly, looking at Masonic doctrine,

00:28:42.660 --> 00:28:45.140
it is not just limited to Protestant countries

00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:48.819
as it is now. It's actually limited mainly to

00:28:48.819 --> 00:28:52.220
Protestant members. But it's like back in the

00:28:52.220 --> 00:28:57.079
period that we're talking about, there are Masonic

00:28:57.079 --> 00:28:59.859
lodges in Catholic countries such as France and

00:28:59.859 --> 00:29:04.460
Austria and even Orthodox countries such as Russia.

00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:07.960
Is it intrinsically Christian in any way or is

00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:10.500
it? Does it have religious elements, but it's

00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:12.400
not really Christian? There are religious elements,

00:29:12.619 --> 00:29:16.440
but it's mainly focused on works, as I understand

00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.559
it. Wasn't there an engineering focus? That is

00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:25.380
a metaphor. There is over in Alexandria, not

00:29:25.380 --> 00:29:27.779
too far from here, not too far from the church

00:29:27.779 --> 00:29:31.019
that Washington attended, there is the Masonic

00:29:31.019 --> 00:29:33.779
Memorial, which kind of dominates the Alexandria

00:29:33.779 --> 00:29:38.680
skyline. And if you go through it, which I have

00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:41.819
done, they do emphasize, you know, the notion,

00:29:42.059 --> 00:29:44.259
my father was a Mason. My father would say that

00:29:44.259 --> 00:29:47.180
this is doctrine that goes back to Egypt, which,

00:29:47.299 --> 00:29:50.240
you know, it was underground for a number of

00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:52.680
years and there's plenty of other beliefs that

00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:55.779
we can document that were not quite as dynamic

00:29:55.779 --> 00:29:59.400
as the Masonic. which kind of comes along in

00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:02.339
the 17th century all of a sudden. But it's like

00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:06.420
they claim that the symbols that are used in

00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:09.640
the Masonic belief system, there's a hearkening

00:30:09.640 --> 00:30:13.059
back to builder's tools. People that designed

00:30:13.059 --> 00:30:15.640
the pyramids were probably the first Masons.

00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:21.019
And so there is a sort of attempt to legitimize

00:30:21.019 --> 00:30:23.819
the movement by making it kind of this eternal

00:30:23.819 --> 00:30:29.920
historical notion about. And the building of

00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.240
things and the engineering of things. And this

00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:35.579
is kind of a metaphor for how you live your life.

00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:38.420
You structure it appropriately. So it stands

00:30:38.420 --> 00:30:41.680
alongside religion. Yes, I would say it does.

00:30:42.259 --> 00:30:47.019
And at some point, it becomes impossible to be

00:30:47.019 --> 00:30:51.430
a Mason and be Catholic. Okay. And this is why

00:30:51.430 --> 00:30:54.470
I am told there is a Knights of Columbus. That's

00:30:54.470 --> 00:30:56.769
the sort of Catholic version of the Masons. Because

00:30:56.769 --> 00:31:02.069
at this point, it evolves into a kind of more

00:31:02.069 --> 00:31:05.210
fraternal organization. But it is about works.

00:31:06.130 --> 00:31:10.509
That's the main thing. So Washington was one

00:31:10.509 --> 00:31:12.849
of those. He became one as a young man and remained

00:31:12.849 --> 00:31:15.920
one apparently for the rest of his life. There

00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:20.140
are stories about his religiosity, most of which

00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:23.079
appear not to be true. There is a story that

00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:26.220
a Continental Army Baptist chaplain baptized

00:31:26.220 --> 00:31:29.720
him at Valley Forge, or maybe not, maybe in the

00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:31.920
Hudson River, or maybe in the Potomac River.

00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.839
So the story changes depending on who's telling

00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:36.579
you the story. And there's no documentation,

00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:38.920
not adequate one anyway, that the chaplain in

00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:42.400
question ever was even at Valley Forge. So it

00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:45.759
looks like he was not baptized. by a Baptist

00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:48.839
minister anywhere, as far as anybody can tell.

00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:52.440
All of these stories emerge after he died. There

00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:55.279
is another story, limited to Catholic sources,

00:31:55.619 --> 00:31:58.279
that he underwent a deathbed conversion to Catholicism

00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:01.619
in 1799, but historians have deemed that one

00:32:01.619 --> 00:32:04.740
improbable. We do know that he was buried with

00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:08.400
Episcopal rites, and that his Masonic lodge also

00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:10.880
performed Masonic rites for him upon his passing.

00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:13.339
There is a story that he inserted the phrase,

00:32:13.460 --> 00:32:15.380
so help me God, into the presidential oath of

00:32:15.380 --> 00:32:19.440
office. He did not. The first time that was used

00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:22.019
was when Chester Arthur was sworn in. He inserted

00:32:22.019 --> 00:32:24.980
the phrase, and that wasn't until 1881. So that's

00:32:24.980 --> 00:32:27.819
82 years after Washington died. So what did George

00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:31.599
Washington think? Anglican clergymen of that

00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:34.779
era rarely invoked the name of Jesus Christ.

00:32:35.500 --> 00:32:37.539
I don't know what the reasoning is behind that

00:32:37.539 --> 00:32:38.900
or the history of that, but they rarely did.

00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:42.519
He did not either. there's very little evidence

00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:45.920
that he invoked Jesus for anything. There are

00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:48.299
apparently a couple of proclamations he issued,

00:32:48.460 --> 00:32:49.839
like when he was commander of the Continental

00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:51.880
Army during the Revolutionary War, or when he

00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:53.759
was president, a proclamation to the whole country,

00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:57.500
in which Jesus is mentioned. But scholars think

00:32:57.500 --> 00:32:59.900
that that was an aide who wrote it for him, and

00:32:59.900 --> 00:33:01.859
he just said fine and signed off on it. It wasn't

00:33:01.859 --> 00:33:03.920
him writing about Jesus. So he appears not to

00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:07.619
have invoked Jesus generally. He did, however,

00:33:07.740 --> 00:33:10.750
often invoke the role of providence. or the providence

00:33:10.750 --> 00:33:13.230
of Almighty God, or the blessings of heaven,

00:33:13.329 --> 00:33:15.549
as he would put it. Deism terms. These are deism

00:33:15.549 --> 00:33:19.210
terms. And he would invoke the role of providence,

00:33:19.269 --> 00:33:21.170
some people would say then divine providence,

00:33:21.289 --> 00:33:23.609
with reference to the Continental Army, when

00:33:23.609 --> 00:33:26.450
he was commander -in -chief, or with, as president,

00:33:26.569 --> 00:33:28.410
reference to the United States as a whole. So

00:33:28.410 --> 00:33:32.529
he... thought that God did intervene to help

00:33:32.529 --> 00:33:34.910
benefit the Continental Army, which won a victory

00:33:34.910 --> 00:33:37.569
over one of the largest, best armies in the world.

00:33:37.670 --> 00:33:39.829
It actually won. That's kind of miraculous as

00:33:39.829 --> 00:33:42.089
far as he was concerned. And also just the founding

00:33:42.089 --> 00:33:43.849
of the United States, which in his view had so

00:33:43.849 --> 00:33:46.250
much going against it, but it wound up succeeding

00:33:46.250 --> 00:33:48.950
as a country, at least in his lifetime early

00:33:48.950 --> 00:33:52.410
on. So he did think that divine providence was

00:33:52.410 --> 00:33:54.609
involved in that. As president, he called upon

00:33:54.609 --> 00:33:57.549
Americans to thank Almighty God for wartime success,

00:33:57.869 --> 00:34:02.210
for peace, liberty, tranquility, rationality

00:34:02.210 --> 00:34:04.849
in the creation of the Constitution, he thanked

00:34:04.849 --> 00:34:07.690
God for that, and to ask God to forgive America

00:34:07.690 --> 00:34:11.070
its transgressions and to allow the national

00:34:11.070 --> 00:34:14.170
government to be wise and just, to, quote, protect

00:34:14.170 --> 00:34:18.670
and guide all nations, to promote what he called

00:34:18.670 --> 00:34:21.050
true religion and virtue and the increase of

00:34:21.050 --> 00:34:24.130
science, and grant mankind the prosperity that

00:34:24.130 --> 00:34:28.369
he, meaning God, alone knew to be best. So he

00:34:28.369 --> 00:34:29.989
called on God for a lot of things, but you notice

00:34:29.989 --> 00:34:32.369
he called on him for help with science. He called

00:34:32.369 --> 00:34:33.929
on him for help with rationality. He thanked

00:34:33.929 --> 00:34:35.449
him for the rationality of the Constitution.

00:34:36.070 --> 00:34:38.610
That's an interesting way of putting a lot of

00:34:38.610 --> 00:34:40.909
those things. He often used the term great architect

00:34:40.909 --> 00:34:43.269
or great architect of the universe in Masonic

00:34:43.269 --> 00:34:46.170
correspondence. And that's consistent with their

00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:49.130
belief system. Scholars think that Washington's

00:34:49.130 --> 00:34:52.360
God was not a warm, loving, personal God. as

00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:54.900
described by, say, modern evangelical Protestants,

00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:58.739
but rather a more remote deity who controlled

00:34:58.739 --> 00:35:00.880
the universe and intervened in human affairs

00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:04.199
from time to time. So his beliefs, and we talked

00:35:04.199 --> 00:35:06.199
about this just a little while ago, his beliefs

00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:08.219
appear to have lain somewhere in between Christianity

00:35:08.219 --> 00:35:11.219
and deism. He has been described as a Christian

00:35:11.219 --> 00:35:13.559
deist and as a Christian rationalist by some

00:35:13.559 --> 00:35:16.880
scholars. And he perhaps combines the clockmaker

00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:20.239
model of the deity that deists use. with the

00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:22.960
moral and ethical teachings of Jesus, but without

00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:25.860
believing in the divinity of Jesus or believing

00:35:25.860 --> 00:35:29.679
in religious revelation through Scripture. But

00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:31.760
he did believe in providence, divine providence.

00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:34.380
So he did believe in the God of the Bible's intervention

00:35:34.380 --> 00:35:37.719
in human affairs. So you have a kludge of Christianity

00:35:37.719 --> 00:35:40.340
and deism there. And apparently this mix of Christianity

00:35:40.340 --> 00:35:43.739
and deism was common among... religious people

00:35:43.739 --> 00:35:46.079
in the late 18th century. They saw no reason

00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:48.500
to make a strong distinction between the two

00:35:48.500 --> 00:35:51.760
sets of beliefs. He believed that all religions

00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:54.599
and religious practices benefited humans. He

00:35:54.599 --> 00:35:56.840
was a proponent of religious toleration and of

00:35:56.840 --> 00:36:00.260
freedom of religion. At Mount Vernon, he expressed

00:36:00.260 --> 00:36:02.239
the view that people of all racial backgrounds,

00:36:02.539 --> 00:36:03.920
whether they were Christian, he specifically

00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:07.579
said Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or atheist, could

00:36:07.579 --> 00:36:09.880
be good workmen, and that all that mattered was

00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:11.380
that they were good workmen as far as he was

00:36:11.380 --> 00:36:15.639
concerned as an employer. Now, his slaves, one

00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:18.920
woman in particular who was an enslaved person

00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:20.639
at Mount Vernon, had a rather different view

00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:22.719
of him, said he just played cards and drank and

00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:26.119
he wasn't a very good guy at all, which is to

00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:28.139
be understood if you're being held in bondage

00:36:28.139 --> 00:36:30.039
by somebody, you probably are going to have a

00:36:30.039 --> 00:36:32.420
pretty dim view of the man. And there's some

00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:34.280
truth to that, too, probably, that he probably

00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:37.219
did drink and play cards at times. And if you

00:36:37.219 --> 00:36:39.949
were an enslaved person. Sweating away watching

00:36:39.949 --> 00:36:41.769
that, you wouldn't have a very positive view.

00:36:41.789 --> 00:36:45.630
He had a recipe for bourbon. It was a rye bourbon,

00:36:45.650 --> 00:36:50.630
I think, that's been revived. Are these practices,

00:36:50.869 --> 00:36:53.809
just because I think this might make an interesting

00:36:53.809 --> 00:36:56.730
distinction, were these things that the enslaved

00:36:56.730 --> 00:36:59.849
woman was reporting him doing on Sundays? I don't

00:36:59.849 --> 00:37:01.949
remember. Okay, all right. Maybe, because that

00:37:01.949 --> 00:37:03.789
would kind of be his day off, wouldn't it? Yeah,

00:37:03.809 --> 00:37:06.230
that would be his day off, and the fact that

00:37:06.230 --> 00:37:09.969
you're doing card playing and drinking on the

00:37:09.969 --> 00:37:13.670
Sabbath would be offensive to some people. We

00:37:13.670 --> 00:37:15.150
have to note, though, that he wrote a very famous

00:37:15.150 --> 00:37:17.570
letter to the Hebrew congregation in Newport,

00:37:17.670 --> 00:37:21.210
Rhode Island in 1790, in which he proclaimed

00:37:21.210 --> 00:37:23.630
that the United States, quote, gives to bigotry

00:37:23.630 --> 00:37:26.750
no sanction, to persecution no assistance. This

00:37:26.750 --> 00:37:29.630
was at a time... in between the Constitution

00:37:29.630 --> 00:37:31.650
having been written and then the actual ratification

00:37:31.650 --> 00:37:33.789
of the Constitution with the Bill of Rights included,

00:37:34.090 --> 00:37:37.150
which was a big issue at the time. Some scholars

00:37:37.150 --> 00:37:39.050
say that his letter to the Hebrew congregation

00:37:39.050 --> 00:37:41.849
was one of the foundations of the First Amendment.

00:37:42.269 --> 00:37:45.090
Certainly, it was influenced by and influenced

00:37:45.090 --> 00:37:46.809
the First Amendment, the idea of no establishment

00:37:46.809 --> 00:37:50.369
of religion and freedom of religion. He appeared

00:37:50.369 --> 00:37:51.909
to think, and I think this is very important,

00:37:52.030 --> 00:37:54.150
he appeared to think that religious beliefs helped

00:37:54.150 --> 00:38:11.619
to maintain national tranquility. And we find

00:38:11.619 --> 00:38:14.320
this with others as well. This seems to be not

00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:17.670
just a unique Washington position, but a... a

00:38:17.670 --> 00:38:21.309
commonly shared position amongst the founding

00:38:21.309 --> 00:38:24.170
fathers, that this is the role of religion. Morality.

00:38:25.869 --> 00:38:28.170
Morality, and the idea that that will lead to

00:38:28.170 --> 00:38:31.010
political and social tranquility. And Marshall,

00:38:31.090 --> 00:38:33.710
you talked in a previous episode about they were

00:38:33.710 --> 00:38:35.690
reacting to the English Civil War, the Thirty

00:38:35.690 --> 00:38:37.590
Years' War, all the terrible religious wars that

00:38:37.590 --> 00:38:40.690
had gone on in the 17th century. Tranquility

00:38:40.690 --> 00:38:42.349
is big for the founding fathers. It comes up

00:38:42.349 --> 00:38:44.309
over and over again. They think religion is important

00:38:44.309 --> 00:38:47.280
to tranquility. But he said that regardless of

00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:49.840
one's faith, he asked only that one comport oneself

00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:52.500
as a good citizen who is obedient to the government.

00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:55.500
That was big to him. He may have thought that

00:38:55.500 --> 00:38:57.539
any focus on religious doctrine or denomination

00:38:57.539 --> 00:39:00.210
would disturb the national tranquility. So therefore,

00:39:00.389 --> 00:39:02.309
he preferred a more generalized belief in the

00:39:02.309 --> 00:39:04.730
value of religion as a whole to society without

00:39:04.730 --> 00:39:07.409
concern over doctrinal specifics. So basically,

00:39:07.610 --> 00:39:10.030
let's not argue about over -denominational issues.

00:39:10.130 --> 00:39:12.550
Who cares, right? The important thing is, you

00:39:12.550 --> 00:39:14.489
have your beliefs, it teaches you a moral position,

00:39:14.769 --> 00:39:17.070
it keeps things tranquil, it teaches you to be

00:39:17.070 --> 00:39:19.329
obedient to the state, it teaches you to be good

00:39:19.329 --> 00:39:21.500
to other people. Let's leave it at that and not

00:39:21.500 --> 00:39:23.679
argue about the details. And I would argue that

00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:27.460
this is, again, a reaction to kind of the controversies

00:39:27.460 --> 00:39:32.320
that are brewing in 17th century England, which

00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:34.219
all the founding fathers are going to be familiar

00:39:34.219 --> 00:39:36.780
with. And some of them are actually—some of the

00:39:36.780 --> 00:39:39.679
colonists are coming over to escape these things.

00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:42.739
But there is a definite pecking order, and this

00:39:42.739 --> 00:39:46.119
disturbs the tranquility. It is a major factor

00:39:46.119 --> 00:39:48.599
in the disturbance of tranquility by trying to

00:39:48.599 --> 00:39:51.159
basically say there is only— one faith, Anglican

00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:53.059
or Presbyterian, depending on what part of Britain

00:39:53.059 --> 00:39:57.400
you're in. And all the rest of you, low church

00:39:57.400 --> 00:40:01.400
folks for the Anglican church, dissenters who

00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:04.780
believe things that are not Anglican, or Catholics,

00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:09.619
you're all just outside of the magic circle here.

00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:12.960
He did advise young people that truth, character,

00:40:13.039 --> 00:40:15.880
and honesty were important, but he did not discuss

00:40:15.880 --> 00:40:18.159
specific religious practices with them. Again,

00:40:18.219 --> 00:40:25.539
morality. Now we're going to move on to Thomas

00:40:25.539 --> 00:40:30.500
Jefferson, the founder of UVA in 1819. Shout

00:40:30.500 --> 00:40:33.179
out to my alma mater. Thomas Jefferson held very

00:40:33.179 --> 00:40:36.099
complex views on religion that strongly influenced

00:40:36.099 --> 00:40:39.380
the development of the new nation. Jefferson

00:40:39.380 --> 00:40:42.260
believed in God, and he admired the moral teachings

00:40:42.260 --> 00:40:45.739
of Jesus. But he rejected many of the traditional

00:40:45.739 --> 00:40:48.860
Christian doctrines. He was skeptical of miracles.

00:40:49.219 --> 00:40:52.199
He was skeptical of the divinity of Jesus, the

00:40:52.199 --> 00:40:55.780
Trinity. and other supernatural elements of Christianity.

00:40:56.320 --> 00:40:59.460
Instead, he embraced ideas often associated with

00:40:59.460 --> 00:41:03.219
enlightenment and deism, the belief that reason

00:41:03.219 --> 00:41:05.940
and observation, rather than religious authority,

00:41:06.340 --> 00:41:09.460
should guide understanding of God and the world.

00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:12.519
One of the clearest examples of his beliefs was

00:41:12.519 --> 00:41:15.940
his book, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,

00:41:16.099 --> 00:41:19.909
often called the Jefferson Bible. in which he

00:41:19.909 --> 00:41:23.250
removed miracles and supernatural events from

00:41:23.250 --> 00:41:25.690
the Gospels and kept in what he considered Jesus'

00:41:25.949 --> 00:41:29.730
ethical teachings. He actually cut out the miracle

00:41:29.730 --> 00:41:34.389
stories. Yes. So there are pages that have holes

00:41:34.389 --> 00:41:37.869
cut out. Jefferson believed that religion was

00:41:37.869 --> 00:41:40.730
a matter of individual conscience and that government

00:41:40.730 --> 00:41:44.420
should not favor or establish any religion. He

00:41:44.420 --> 00:41:46.619
argued that citizens should be free to worship

00:41:46.619 --> 00:41:50.659
as they chose, or not worship at all. His most

00:41:50.659 --> 00:41:53.280
important contributions in this area was the

00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:56.480
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which

00:41:56.480 --> 00:42:00.739
he authored in, what was it, 1786, I believe?

00:42:01.849 --> 00:42:05.130
And it's on his, when you go to Monticello, there's

00:42:05.130 --> 00:42:07.929
the graveyard for the family. And Jefferson has

00:42:07.929 --> 00:42:10.269
like this big obelisk. And there are three things

00:42:10.269 --> 00:42:13.010
that he has on there. One of them is the Declaration

00:42:13.010 --> 00:42:15.429
of Independence. Another one is University of

00:42:15.429 --> 00:42:18.030
Virginia. So shout out to your alma mater. And

00:42:18.030 --> 00:42:22.309
then the third one is this particular act that

00:42:22.309 --> 00:42:24.869
was passed. Which was a big deal at the time.

00:42:24.889 --> 00:42:28.360
Big deal. So the... Virginia's statute for religious

00:42:28.360 --> 00:42:31.260
freedom ended government support for the Anglican

00:42:31.260 --> 00:42:34.239
Church in Virginia. It guaranteed freedom of

00:42:34.239 --> 00:42:37.179
religious belief and practice. It prohibited

00:42:37.179 --> 00:42:40.960
religious tests for civil rights and public participation.

00:42:41.400 --> 00:42:43.699
And as you said, Jefferson considered this one

00:42:43.699 --> 00:42:46.059
of his major achievements in life. Not being

00:42:46.059 --> 00:42:49.199
president. Yeah, exactly. Not being ambassador

00:42:49.199 --> 00:42:51.320
to France, not being vice president or secretary

00:42:51.320 --> 00:42:54.949
of state. Now, Jefferson is also famous for advocating

00:42:54.949 --> 00:42:58.150
a wall of separation between church and state.

00:42:58.269 --> 00:43:01.909
He used this phrase in an 1802 letter to the

00:43:01.909 --> 00:43:05.530
Danbury Baptist Association. By this, he meant

00:43:05.530 --> 00:43:07.329
that the government should neither interfere

00:43:07.329 --> 00:43:10.869
with religion nor promote a particular faith.

00:43:11.449 --> 00:43:13.730
He believed that government should protect religious

00:43:13.730 --> 00:43:16.849
liberty and that churches should operate independently

00:43:16.849 --> 00:43:19.869
of state control. Or funding. Or funding, correct.

00:43:20.639 --> 00:43:23.019
And that citizens should not be compelled to

00:43:23.019 --> 00:43:25.599
support religion through taxes or laws. Yes.

00:43:25.699 --> 00:43:29.000
Yes. I mean, the big thing with him that seems

00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:33.239
interesting, you know, like we do see that religion

00:43:33.239 --> 00:43:36.300
is supposed to be like a critical element for,

00:43:36.340 --> 00:43:38.760
say, like Jefferson. And we'll see it with others.

00:43:39.099 --> 00:43:41.920
But it's like with Jefferson, you can have no

00:43:41.920 --> 00:43:44.400
religion. That seems to be like an important

00:43:44.400 --> 00:43:47.539
distinction worth calling out. You do not need

00:43:47.539 --> 00:43:51.619
to support any religion to be a fully fledged

00:43:51.619 --> 00:43:55.059
citizen, and you can lead a perfectly moral life

00:43:55.059 --> 00:43:58.539
without religion. And it's kind of like Jefferson

00:43:58.539 --> 00:44:01.960
kind of gets into trouble, say, in the election

00:44:01.960 --> 00:44:06.360
of 1800, where he is accused of atheistic practices.

00:44:07.769 --> 00:44:10.210
And this seems to be perhaps the distinction

00:44:10.210 --> 00:44:13.349
here, not that Jefferson doesn't believe in God,

00:44:13.469 --> 00:44:17.070
but that Jefferson permits the non -belief in

00:44:17.070 --> 00:44:22.610
God to exist without comment or coercion. And

00:44:22.610 --> 00:44:25.769
he was a man of many books, and he actually had

00:44:25.769 --> 00:44:29.929
a copy of the Koran. Yes. And he called Muslims

00:44:29.929 --> 00:44:33.369
Mohammedans. Yes. Which I get a kick out of.

00:44:33.489 --> 00:44:36.570
Well, yeah, there were terms back then in that.

00:44:36.909 --> 00:44:41.210
That makes sense for the time and period there.

00:44:41.550 --> 00:44:43.989
Jefferson's ideas obviously helped shape American

00:44:43.989 --> 00:44:47.190
understandings of the United States Bill of Rights,

00:44:47.309 --> 00:44:49.469
especially the First Amendment protections for

00:44:49.469 --> 00:44:52.849
religious freedom. Although Americans have continued

00:44:52.849 --> 00:44:55.110
to debate the exact meaning of church -state

00:44:55.110 --> 00:44:57.650
separation, Jefferson's vision established a

00:44:57.650 --> 00:45:00.789
strong tradition of religious liberty and government

00:45:00.789 --> 00:45:09.380
neutrality toward religion. Now we're going to

00:45:09.380 --> 00:45:15.119
talk about Samuel Adams, 1722 to 1803. In regard

00:45:15.119 --> 00:45:18.179
to religion, mutual toleration in the different

00:45:18.179 --> 00:45:21.119
professions thereof is what all good and candid

00:45:21.119 --> 00:45:24.099
minds have ever practiced, and both by precept

00:45:24.099 --> 00:45:28.019
and example indicated on mankind. Samuel Adams.

00:45:28.599 --> 00:45:30.880
Before he was the namesake of a well -known brand

00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:34.019
of beer originally made in Boston, Samuel Adams

00:45:34.019 --> 00:45:36.519
was an American statesman, political philosopher,

00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:40.340
and founding father. His reputation was more

00:45:40.340 --> 00:45:43.500
local than national. He was eventually mayor

00:45:43.500 --> 00:45:48.099
of Boston and the highest elected post he ever

00:45:48.099 --> 00:45:52.150
held. Though a graduate of Harvard, which nowadays

00:45:52.150 --> 00:45:54.849
is seen to be kind of the golden ticket to success,

00:45:55.309 --> 00:45:58.730
he was not a successful businessman, and his

00:45:58.730 --> 00:46:02.590
focus became politics, mainly in opposition to

00:46:02.590 --> 00:46:04.750
the efforts of the British Parliament to tax

00:46:04.750 --> 00:46:06.789
the colonies without their consent throughout

00:46:06.789 --> 00:46:10.949
the 1760s and 1770s. These efforts reached a

00:46:10.949 --> 00:46:13.670
kind of crescendo with the Boston Tea Party where

00:46:13.670 --> 00:46:16.170
colonists disguised as Indians hurled caskets

00:46:16.170 --> 00:46:19.369
of tea into Boston Harbor. This and other efforts

00:46:19.369 --> 00:46:22.550
were spearheaded by Adams and his Sons of Liberty

00:46:22.550 --> 00:46:26.130
at the Green Dragon Tavern as befits a person

00:46:26.130 --> 00:46:29.469
associated with beer. A version of this tavern

00:46:29.469 --> 00:46:32.449
still exists on 11 Marshall Street in Boston,

00:46:32.590 --> 00:46:36.030
and I've been there. Though an advocate of toleration,

00:46:36.639 --> 00:46:39.260
Adams was no deist, so we're going to look at

00:46:39.260 --> 00:46:42.940
some people that aren't deists now. And he favored

00:46:42.940 --> 00:46:45.940
a legally and constitutionally required established

00:46:45.940 --> 00:46:50.139
religion, as we shall see. Adams was a religious

00:46:50.139 --> 00:46:52.739
congregationalist as well as a follower of John

00:46:52.739 --> 00:46:56.320
Locke, so he didn't see any inconsistency with

00:46:56.320 --> 00:46:59.840
being a congregationalist and supporting the

00:46:59.840 --> 00:47:03.909
belief system of someone who is... a deist, you

00:47:03.909 --> 00:47:07.829
know, inspiring deist professions. And the Congregationalists

00:47:07.829 --> 00:47:09.530
are the descendants of the Puritans. They are

00:47:09.530 --> 00:47:11.769
the descendants of the Puritans, but they're

00:47:11.769 --> 00:47:15.530
also going to, one liberal sect of the Congregationalists

00:47:15.530 --> 00:47:20.949
is going to evolve into Unitarians. Adams, Samuel

00:47:20.949 --> 00:47:23.590
Adams, does not go in that direction. He remained

00:47:23.590 --> 00:47:28.050
a bedrock member. of the second Congregationalist

00:47:28.050 --> 00:47:31.570
church in Boston his entire life. If you can

00:47:31.570 --> 00:47:35.150
say the two things, the two central institutions

00:47:35.150 --> 00:47:40.650
in his life, they are opposition to British taxation

00:47:40.650 --> 00:47:43.949
and the second Congregationalist church. So he

00:47:43.949 --> 00:47:47.630
is a vowed Congregationalist. Now, weren't the

00:47:47.630 --> 00:47:49.670
Congregationalists the ones that believed in

00:47:49.670 --> 00:47:53.460
predestination? Some of them did. Yes. Like with

00:47:53.460 --> 00:47:55.519
everything, I think, and this is something we're

00:47:55.519 --> 00:48:00.500
discovering, there is a scale of Congregationalists.

00:48:00.900 --> 00:48:03.079
And there are conservative Congregationalists,

00:48:03.099 --> 00:48:05.800
there are moderates, and there are people who

00:48:05.800 --> 00:48:08.699
become Unitarians. And they're the more liberal

00:48:08.699 --> 00:48:12.159
members of the faith. So the conservatives are

00:48:12.159 --> 00:48:14.480
closer to the original Puritanism. Yes. All right.

00:48:14.500 --> 00:48:19.340
Yes. What sort of practices did Adams indulge

00:48:19.340 --> 00:48:22.840
in? Well, he said grace before meals. He engaged

00:48:22.840 --> 00:48:26.139
in family Bible readings. He had morning and

00:48:26.139 --> 00:48:29.199
evening devotions and was strict about keeping

00:48:29.199 --> 00:48:32.119
the Sabbath. So this is kind of at odds with,

00:48:32.179 --> 00:48:35.139
say, the whiskey drinking and card playing on

00:48:35.139 --> 00:48:37.099
the Sabbath, which Washington may or may not

00:48:37.099 --> 00:48:40.440
have indulged in. His language regarding religion

00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:43.760
was unquestionably orthodox, referring to Christ

00:48:43.760 --> 00:48:48.519
as our divine redeemer. Post -Revolution, Adams

00:48:48.519 --> 00:48:52.019
attempted to revive a kind of Puritan covenant

00:48:52.019 --> 00:48:55.159
theology, meaning that the people of Massachusetts

00:48:55.159 --> 00:49:00.400
had a divine covenant from God for their state

00:49:00.400 --> 00:49:05.019
and their existence here, and that the God of

00:49:05.019 --> 00:49:08.139
the Puritans had granted Massachusetts to them,

00:49:08.219 --> 00:49:12.059
and everyone needed to be worthy, and this was

00:49:12.059 --> 00:49:14.840
part of the price of maintaining a godly society.

00:49:15.949 --> 00:49:18.750
As an heir to the Puritan tradition, Adams believed

00:49:18.750 --> 00:49:23.030
that God rewarded or chastened a society according

00:49:23.030 --> 00:49:26.849
to the morality it exhibited and despaired in

00:49:26.849 --> 00:49:29.289
his belief that morality was in a state of collapse.

00:49:29.769 --> 00:49:31.530
Now, I'm just going to say this. This is a common

00:49:31.530 --> 00:49:34.590
Adams belief that everything is just on the verge

00:49:34.590 --> 00:49:38.190
of collapse because change is always bad. So

00:49:38.190 --> 00:49:42.070
in this sense, this is kind of a typical mindset.

00:49:42.449 --> 00:49:46.500
Sounds rather modern. Well, yes. Sounds like

00:49:46.500 --> 00:49:48.820
a lot of people in 21st century America are saying,

00:49:49.059 --> 00:49:52.059
actually. Well, you do have pessimists with this,

00:49:52.119 --> 00:49:55.340
but I mean, you know, the entire family, like

00:49:55.340 --> 00:49:58.559
Brooks Adams is actually, he wrote a book about

00:49:58.559 --> 00:50:01.300
the degeneration of society due to democracy,

00:50:01.579 --> 00:50:04.940
the degenerative qualities of democracy in the

00:50:04.940 --> 00:50:08.679
early 20th century. The reason I mention that

00:50:08.679 --> 00:50:10.159
is it's curious to me, because as you're saying

00:50:10.159 --> 00:50:12.159
this, right, I am seeing parallels to what a

00:50:12.159 --> 00:50:15.170
lot of particularly conservative Christians seem

00:50:15.170 --> 00:50:18.050
to be saying nowadays, or evangelical Christians.

00:50:18.949 --> 00:50:21.010
There's an idea that society is on the brink

00:50:21.010 --> 00:50:23.989
of collapse around them because of all the immorality

00:50:23.989 --> 00:50:26.989
and whatever that they're upset about. But there's

00:50:26.989 --> 00:50:30.130
also an idea in evangelical Christianity, at

00:50:30.130 --> 00:50:33.469
least in some of it, that God founded the United

00:50:33.469 --> 00:50:37.130
States to carry out his... You know, it was created

00:50:37.130 --> 00:50:40.550
as this special place, you know, by God to carry

00:50:40.550 --> 00:50:42.769
out, I guess, his will or something. You know,

00:50:42.789 --> 00:50:45.329
I mean, there is an idea of that, that there

00:50:45.329 --> 00:50:49.469
is a godly mission to the United States and its

00:50:49.469 --> 00:50:51.469
creation. And it sounds like Samuel Adams already

00:50:51.469 --> 00:50:54.699
was. On that pathway back then. Am I wrong to

00:50:54.699 --> 00:50:57.079
say that? It wouldn't be the United States. It

00:50:57.079 --> 00:50:58.880
would be Massachusetts. Well, okay, Massachusetts.

00:50:59.039 --> 00:51:01.400
But I'm saying the roots of it are coming from

00:51:01.400 --> 00:51:04.420
there, from that way of thinking. Yes. It may

00:51:04.420 --> 00:51:05.719
have come from elsewhere, too. I don't know.

00:51:05.800 --> 00:51:07.380
But I'm just saying, you can see it already there.

00:51:07.440 --> 00:51:11.099
He had an idealized vision of his Puritan ancestors.

00:51:12.519 --> 00:51:15.679
And he was part of that, you know, that family

00:51:15.679 --> 00:51:18.119
was part of that tradition. The Adamses include

00:51:18.119 --> 00:51:21.440
not only the people that are coming over with

00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:25.139
the Puritans, they're also coming over. They

00:51:25.139 --> 00:51:27.659
are descendants of John and Priscilla Mullins,

00:51:27.820 --> 00:51:30.719
you know, who, you know, of the courtship of

00:51:30.719 --> 00:51:34.880
Miles Standish fame. They are very much imbued

00:51:34.880 --> 00:51:38.500
with the whole traditions of Massachusetts and

00:51:38.500 --> 00:51:41.300
the religious beliefs of the people who originally

00:51:41.300 --> 00:51:43.960
settled. there. And also the pilgrim myth that

00:51:43.960 --> 00:51:45.760
they came over to have religious freedom that

00:51:45.760 --> 00:51:47.940
we talked about earlier. Yes. Very much that

00:51:47.940 --> 00:51:51.739
too. Yes. We're going to talk about this when

00:51:51.739 --> 00:51:54.820
we get to the person who actually wrote the Massachusetts

00:51:54.820 --> 00:51:59.300
Constitution of 1780. This was actually authored

00:51:59.300 --> 00:52:03.179
by Adams' second cousin, John Adams. Article

00:52:03.179 --> 00:52:07.780
3 summed up Adams' views and it's not clear what

00:52:07.780 --> 00:52:12.860
his role was in the actual authorship of this,

00:52:13.039 --> 00:52:15.940
but he might have had an influence. But the quote

00:52:15.940 --> 00:52:19.019
is, the citizens of Massachusetts had a duty

00:52:19.019 --> 00:52:23.500
to worship the supreme being. As religion preserved

00:52:23.500 --> 00:52:26.900
morality and was essential to society. We'll

00:52:26.900 --> 00:52:28.960
get into some of the rationale behind this when

00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:31.739
we get to John Adams, but I just figured it's

00:52:31.739 --> 00:52:34.980
worth noting that this was something that definitely

00:52:34.980 --> 00:52:39.159
summed up how he viewed things. Now, to discuss

00:52:39.159 --> 00:52:42.179
some of the beliefs that he exhibited towards

00:52:42.179 --> 00:52:45.280
other founding fathers who we will also get into,

00:52:45.420 --> 00:52:49.059
the last public statement that Adams made regarding

00:52:49.059 --> 00:52:52.960
religion was addressed when he was 80 in 1702

00:52:52.960 --> 00:52:57.139
to Thomas Paine. And when he learned that Paine,

00:52:57.239 --> 00:53:04.000
who he'd known since 1775— 1802. 1802. 1802.

00:53:04.119 --> 00:53:07.519
I'm sorry, 1802. was going to publish his anti

00:53:07.519 --> 00:53:10.739
-religious classic, The Age of Reason. When I

00:53:10.739 --> 00:53:12.800
heard that you had turned your mind to a defense

00:53:12.800 --> 00:53:15.860
of infidelity, I felt myself much astonished

00:53:15.860 --> 00:53:19.340
and much grieved at your attempt, attempted a

00:53:19.340 --> 00:53:23.019
measure so injurious to the feelings and so repugnant

00:53:23.019 --> 00:53:25.860
to the true interest of the United States of

00:53:25.860 --> 00:53:29.559
America. Do you think that your pen or the pen

00:53:29.559 --> 00:53:32.400
of any other man can unchristianize our citizens,

00:53:32.739 --> 00:53:36.239
or have you hopes of converting a few of them

00:53:36.239 --> 00:53:40.380
to assist you in so bad a cause? We'll get into

00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:42.500
this when we talk to Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine

00:53:42.500 --> 00:53:45.380
viewed deism as a superior religion to Christianity,

00:53:45.619 --> 00:53:48.940
and his denunciations of Christianity are probably

00:53:48.940 --> 00:53:52.519
what's setting off Adams in these remarks here.

00:53:53.099 --> 00:53:56.380
Within the context of New England and congregationalism,

00:53:56.539 --> 00:53:58.139
Samuel Adams followed many of the conventional

00:53:58.139 --> 00:54:01.309
beliefs and was to and was put out to see these

00:54:01.309 --> 00:54:03.849
beliefs challenged, considering them to be necessary

00:54:03.849 --> 00:54:06.289
for social harmony. So again, we're getting into

00:54:06.289 --> 00:54:09.769
the whole issue of social harmony and the importance

00:54:09.769 --> 00:54:14.929
of religion with regard to that and the importance.

00:54:15.070 --> 00:54:17.949
Now, one distinction I think we should make here,

00:54:18.449 --> 00:54:22.070
Adams is not advocating with the national government,

00:54:22.090 --> 00:54:26.099
and he didn't really have that much. to do with

00:54:26.099 --> 00:54:28.599
events outside of New England, as far as I could

00:54:28.599 --> 00:54:32.840
tell. He was mainly focused on Boston and Massachusetts.

00:54:32.960 --> 00:54:36.320
He was the mayor. There's a statue of him, and

00:54:36.320 --> 00:54:39.920
he's identified as a former mayor of Boston.

00:54:40.760 --> 00:54:45.079
If he was going to try and effect any sort of

00:54:45.079 --> 00:54:49.539
efforts to impose a sort of religious conformity,

00:54:49.659 --> 00:54:52.650
they are going to be limited to Massachusetts

00:54:52.650 --> 00:54:58.190
and Boston to enhance those sorts of traditions

00:54:58.190 --> 00:55:01.130
that he felt were important to the preservation

00:55:01.130 --> 00:55:03.949
of the state, not necessarily the national government.

00:55:04.190 --> 00:55:07.050
He did draw a line when you're basically preaching

00:55:07.050 --> 00:55:10.130
that Christianity is a bad religion, as we saw

00:55:10.130 --> 00:55:22.780
in his letter to Thomas Paine. And now Marshall

00:55:22.780 --> 00:55:26.480
is going to move from Sam Adams to his cousin

00:55:26.480 --> 00:55:29.820
and more famous founding father, John Adams.

00:55:30.300 --> 00:55:32.719
As the government of the United States of America

00:55:32.719 --> 00:55:35.500
is not in any sense founded on the Christian

00:55:35.500 --> 00:55:39.219
religion, as it has in itself no character of

00:55:39.219 --> 00:55:42.980
enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility

00:55:42.980 --> 00:55:47.719
of Muslims, and as the said states never entered

00:55:47.719 --> 00:55:50.699
into any war or act of hostility against any

00:55:50.699 --> 00:55:58.010
Mohammedan Islam, nation, it is declared by parties

00:55:58.010 --> 00:56:00.750
that no pretext arising from religious opinions

00:56:00.750 --> 00:56:04.010
shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony

00:56:04.010 --> 00:56:07.889
existing between the two countries. This is John

00:56:07.889 --> 00:56:12.250
Adams, Article 11, the Treaty of Tripoli, 1796.

00:56:12.869 --> 00:56:16.590
And I think it's important to note that all of

00:56:16.590 --> 00:56:19.030
the founding fathers are still alive at this

00:56:19.030 --> 00:56:21.230
point, and they could have raised any sorts of

00:56:21.230 --> 00:56:25.840
objections to this statement. So this was a treaty

00:56:25.840 --> 00:56:28.679
that was signed between the United States and

00:56:28.679 --> 00:56:31.639
Tripoli to protect U .S. merchantmen against

00:56:31.639 --> 00:56:34.219
pirates. It didn't quite work out that way because

00:56:34.219 --> 00:56:37.780
we ended up going to war with them under Jefferson.

00:56:38.320 --> 00:56:40.840
With the exception of the founding fathers, like

00:56:40.840 --> 00:56:43.079
I said, most were still alive and all were free

00:56:43.079 --> 00:56:45.019
to object to this characterization. None did,

00:56:45.219 --> 00:56:47.880
nor did they wish to express a hatred of Muslims,

00:56:48.179 --> 00:56:51.440
even though none of them actually professed that.

00:56:52.670 --> 00:56:55.250
The religious preferences of John Adams are very

00:56:55.250 --> 00:56:59.130
individualistic, which is kind of consistent

00:56:59.130 --> 00:57:04.809
with his just life story. It is difficult for

00:57:04.809 --> 00:57:07.829
people to characterize him much like the man

00:57:07.829 --> 00:57:10.070
himself. It is important to bear in mind that

00:57:10.070 --> 00:57:11.829
both Christianity and Enlightenment thought,

00:57:12.050 --> 00:57:14.849
both of which Adams ascribed to in various degrees,

00:57:15.210 --> 00:57:17.949
are very broad categories, as we said before.

00:57:19.150 --> 00:57:21.369
Adams approached both in a way that he did most

00:57:21.369 --> 00:57:23.909
things in his own particular fashion, making

00:57:23.909 --> 00:57:26.570
him at the same time paradoxically the most orthodox

00:57:26.570 --> 00:57:29.389
and least orthodox Christian of the first four

00:57:29.389 --> 00:57:32.010
presidents of the United States. Why is that?

00:57:32.230 --> 00:57:37.030
Well, he did believe in Christianity, considered

00:57:37.030 --> 00:57:40.099
himself... as a Unitarian to be a Christian,

00:57:40.239 --> 00:57:43.460
but he's a Unitarian, and so he's totally opposed,

00:57:43.659 --> 00:57:45.619
you know, he is making a public profession that

00:57:45.619 --> 00:57:47.840
he does not believe in the Trinity, which goes

00:57:47.840 --> 00:57:50.980
a lot further than a lot of the other founding

00:57:50.980 --> 00:57:53.119
fathers would be prepared to do, even though

00:57:53.119 --> 00:57:57.219
privately, they might be more, I mean, you know,

00:57:57.239 --> 00:57:59.719
if we look at the source information we have

00:57:59.719 --> 00:58:03.420
on a lot of them, it's Franklin writing letters,

00:58:03.559 --> 00:58:05.500
it's Washington writing letters, it's Jefferson

00:58:05.500 --> 00:58:08.079
writing letters, they're not necessarily, going

00:58:08.079 --> 00:58:12.420
out and proclaiming this stuff loudly. Adams

00:58:12.420 --> 00:58:15.239
is saying, I'm a Unitarian. That's my belief

00:58:15.239 --> 00:58:19.059
system. And we're going to get into what that

00:58:19.059 --> 00:58:21.869
kind of meant politically. to briefly review

00:58:21.869 --> 00:58:25.750
the career of John Adams. He is a lawyer by profession,

00:58:25.869 --> 00:58:28.730
and the law is very important to him in terms

00:58:28.730 --> 00:58:32.630
of his worldview and kind of how he approached

00:58:32.630 --> 00:58:34.969
the trajectory of the American Revolution. He

00:58:34.969 --> 00:58:38.349
famously defended the British officers who were

00:58:38.349 --> 00:58:40.949
engaged in the Boston Massacre and managed to

00:58:40.949 --> 00:58:44.670
get acquittals for them, even though he was...

00:58:45.150 --> 00:58:48.210
opposed to heavy -handed British actions. He

00:58:48.210 --> 00:58:51.590
felt that everybody deserved a fair trial. He

00:58:51.590 --> 00:58:53.750
was highly influential in the passage of the

00:58:53.750 --> 00:58:56.110
Declaration of Independence. Jefferson might

00:58:56.110 --> 00:58:58.769
have written it, but Adams got it through the

00:58:58.769 --> 00:59:00.889
various wickets that needed to get it approved

00:59:00.889 --> 00:59:04.849
by the various states. He also was involved in

00:59:04.849 --> 00:59:07.429
getting George Washington named. He thought it

00:59:07.429 --> 00:59:10.739
was a good idea to have a Virginian. as the commander

00:59:10.739 --> 00:59:13.519
-in -chief of the American military. He and Franklin

00:59:13.519 --> 00:59:15.500
kind of cooked this up together between them.

00:59:15.599 --> 00:59:18.679
They collaborated very strongly before they had

00:59:18.679 --> 00:59:20.940
a falling out when they were both in France together.

00:59:21.699 --> 00:59:25.619
He was the author of the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution,

00:59:25.719 --> 00:59:29.360
which we'll get into, as promised. He served

00:59:29.360 --> 00:59:32.119
as a diplomat to France, where he was remarkably...

00:59:33.500 --> 00:59:37.380
and the United Kingdom, but also to the Netherlands,

00:59:37.460 --> 00:59:40.260
where he was very effective in getting loans

00:59:40.260 --> 00:59:43.599
from bankers in the Netherlands that helped support

00:59:43.599 --> 00:59:46.880
the American revolutionary effort. He was also

00:59:46.880 --> 00:59:49.960
our first vice president, a job he hated. And

00:59:49.960 --> 00:59:51.820
the second president of the United States, a

00:59:51.820 --> 00:59:54.659
job he performed admirably, but he's not considered

00:59:54.659 --> 00:59:57.380
in the top tier. He's actually considered to

00:59:57.380 --> 01:00:02.619
be in the top 20, but not in the top 10. This

01:00:02.619 --> 01:00:06.260
is mainly due to his own acerbic personality,

01:00:06.400 --> 01:00:10.539
his frankness, and Alexander Hamilton's machinations.

01:00:11.099 --> 01:00:15.300
Adams retained Washington's cabinet, and these

01:00:15.300 --> 01:00:18.460
were all Hamilton's creatures. He did appoint

01:00:18.460 --> 01:00:21.739
John Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1800, and

01:00:21.739 --> 01:00:23.579
spent his retirement reading Roman classics,

01:00:23.679 --> 01:00:28.880
mainly Cicero, who he admired immensely. He kept

01:00:28.880 --> 01:00:31.840
a lively correspondence with Jefferson after

01:00:31.840 --> 01:00:34.139
they mended their political differences. Both

01:00:34.139 --> 01:00:38.760
men died in 1826 on the 50th anniversary of July

01:00:38.760 --> 01:00:42.760
4th. So, like his cousin, he is a product of

01:00:42.760 --> 01:00:46.420
New England's Puritan pilgrim tradition. As such,

01:00:46.420 --> 01:00:48.880
he was imbued with the teachings of the congregationalist

01:00:48.880 --> 01:00:52.360
belief system from an early age. He trained at

01:00:52.360 --> 01:00:54.619
one point to be a minister and married the daughter

01:00:54.619 --> 01:00:57.380
of a minister. So religion was very much a part

01:00:57.380 --> 01:01:01.239
of his life there. It was not a remote thing.

01:01:01.760 --> 01:01:05.340
And I mean, unlike, say, Washington and perhaps

01:01:05.340 --> 01:01:09.280
even Jefferson, he certainly had access to going

01:01:09.280 --> 01:01:12.840
to religious services, which he did twice, three

01:01:12.840 --> 01:01:17.059
times a day sometimes on Sundays. He gradually

01:01:17.059 --> 01:01:19.139
fell under the influence of the Enlightenment,

01:01:19.179 --> 01:01:22.500
and his beliefs evolved into Unitarianism, or

01:01:22.500 --> 01:01:25.219
the belief that there is only one God, there

01:01:25.219 --> 01:01:31.460
is no trinity, or in the sense that God created

01:01:31.460 --> 01:01:34.739
both Christ and the Holy Spirit, and these are

01:01:34.739 --> 01:01:36.860
subordinate entities, they're not co -equals

01:01:36.860 --> 01:01:39.420
with him. That is the important distinction to

01:01:39.420 --> 01:01:42.559
be made. You know, it's funny to me that talking

01:01:42.559 --> 01:01:45.340
earlier here about how for at least some of the

01:01:45.340 --> 01:01:47.420
founding fathers, they didn't have a big problem

01:01:47.420 --> 01:01:51.360
with mixing deism with Christianity. Yeah. Yet

01:01:51.360 --> 01:01:54.599
here we do have some kind of a boundary they're

01:01:54.599 --> 01:01:57.420
not willing to cross where they're mixing deism,

01:01:57.440 --> 01:02:01.599
which says there's a creator who doesn't intervene

01:02:01.599 --> 01:02:04.139
and Christ isn't divine and all of that, right?

01:02:04.679 --> 01:02:07.420
They're willing to say that. but they're not

01:02:07.420 --> 01:02:10.519
willing to cross the line from Trinitarian Christianity

01:02:10.519 --> 01:02:13.539
into Unitarianism. Yeah, I mean... To me, it's

01:02:13.539 --> 01:02:15.820
just kind of odd that they've already accepted

01:02:15.820 --> 01:02:19.199
a belief system, at least in part, that almost

01:02:19.199 --> 01:02:22.980
rejects much of the idea of the divine in Christianity,

01:02:23.000 --> 01:02:26.440
yet still the Trinitarian aspect is so important

01:02:26.440 --> 01:02:29.159
to them that they make that distinction. Yeah,

01:02:29.159 --> 01:02:31.699
it would seem like the deism would be more...

01:02:32.739 --> 01:02:35.079
Problematic. Than Unitarianism. Than Unitarianism.

01:02:35.079 --> 01:02:36.659
But it isn't. But it isn't. And I don't know

01:02:36.659 --> 01:02:38.920
why that is, but I'm just noting it. It's curious

01:02:38.920 --> 01:02:41.780
to me. And you see, this I think is what we're

01:02:41.780 --> 01:02:45.820
discovering. This is a scale that people, you

01:02:45.820 --> 01:02:48.019
know, since religion is very much a private thing,

01:02:48.179 --> 01:02:51.920
private matter, and they all ascribe to this.

01:02:51.960 --> 01:02:54.500
They all felt it was a private matter, not a

01:02:54.500 --> 01:02:56.639
civic matter, which was kind of what. created

01:02:56.639 --> 01:02:59.900
all the problems in the 17th century, that they

01:02:59.900 --> 01:03:02.500
could come up with individual approaches to religion

01:03:02.500 --> 01:03:06.739
that may or may not conform to established customs.

01:03:07.599 --> 01:03:10.480
And they were free to do so. And there were to

01:03:10.480 --> 01:03:12.980
be no civil penalties, say, like what would happen

01:03:12.980 --> 01:03:15.219
in Britain. Sure, sure. But I'm just kind of,

01:03:15.219 --> 01:03:17.519
Blake. put it best, you know, it's like you'd

01:03:17.519 --> 01:03:19.420
think that being deist at all would automatically

01:03:19.420 --> 01:03:21.219
take you way beyond the issue of whether you're

01:03:21.219 --> 01:03:23.440
Trinitarian or Unitarian. It seems like a step

01:03:23.440 --> 01:03:25.480
beyond Unitarianism. Yeah, but somehow or another

01:03:25.480 --> 01:03:28.480
it doesn't. It's deism plus Christianity, but

01:03:28.480 --> 01:03:31.079
the Christianity must be Trinitarian. I just

01:03:31.079 --> 01:03:33.719
find that to be an odd juxtaposition there. Washington

01:03:33.719 --> 01:03:36.519
is going, you know, there were other churches

01:03:36.519 --> 01:03:38.820
around. Washington was going to the Episcopalian

01:03:38.820 --> 01:03:41.960
Church, you know. He went to Quaker Church. He

01:03:41.960 --> 01:03:45.559
went to Quaker Church. He went to Catholic. But

01:03:45.559 --> 01:03:49.739
to define oneself as an atheist would have been

01:03:49.739 --> 01:03:53.159
just completely out of bounds. Yes, it is completely

01:03:53.159 --> 01:03:56.039
out of bounds for everybody. Absolutely intolerable.

01:03:56.059 --> 01:03:58.559
But Unitarian is very close to being out of bounds

01:03:58.559 --> 01:04:01.179
for a lot of people, too, though. Yes. In a way

01:04:01.179 --> 01:04:04.280
that deism somehow isn't. Right. Well, you see,

01:04:04.440 --> 01:04:07.300
here's an interesting point. I'm going to bring

01:04:07.300 --> 01:04:10.780
up something that's current events. But recently,

01:04:10.960 --> 01:04:14.000
in the Department of Defense, which is its legal

01:04:14.000 --> 01:04:18.260
name, they decided to go after certain religions,

01:04:18.420 --> 01:04:21.039
certain chaplains, certain types of chaplains,

01:04:21.059 --> 01:04:22.619
certain belief structures that they're willing

01:04:22.619 --> 01:04:27.300
to recognize and treat as officially regarded

01:04:27.300 --> 01:04:30.820
religions, which I think is kind of wrong from

01:04:30.820 --> 01:04:34.400
a constitutional perspective. And Unitarianism

01:04:34.400 --> 01:04:38.000
was actually read out. I mean, the two controversial

01:04:38.000 --> 01:04:40.239
things is they said, We're not going to recognize

01:04:40.239 --> 01:04:43.239
Unitarianism. There will be no clergy for Unitarianism

01:04:43.239 --> 01:04:46.900
in this particular order of things. And then

01:04:46.900 --> 01:04:51.079
there's also the fact that Mormons are thought

01:04:51.079 --> 01:04:55.699
to be no longer Christians. Which they took offense

01:04:55.699 --> 01:04:59.559
to. They took major offense to. They took major

01:04:59.559 --> 01:05:03.090
offense to because... And this is the thing.

01:05:03.210 --> 01:05:05.329
It's like Mike and I had a discussion with a

01:05:05.329 --> 01:05:08.349
friend of ours the other day who was insisting

01:05:08.349 --> 01:05:11.170
that Unitarians were not Christians, absolutely

01:05:11.170 --> 01:05:13.349
adamantly insisting that this is the case. And

01:05:13.349 --> 01:05:16.829
this is not a crazy idea. A lot of people do

01:05:16.829 --> 01:05:19.269
believe that. Yeah, I didn't mean to wander too

01:05:19.269 --> 01:05:22.969
far down this whole path, but I just found that

01:05:22.969 --> 01:05:25.230
aspect of it curious. I'm thinking we can just

01:05:25.230 --> 01:05:29.199
say that. To many Christians, maybe the vast

01:05:29.199 --> 01:05:31.280
majority of them, the Trinitarian part of it

01:05:31.280 --> 01:05:33.619
is an extremely important component of Christianity,

01:05:33.880 --> 01:05:35.679
and if you're not willing to accept that, then

01:05:35.679 --> 01:05:38.619
it somehow makes you unchristian in their minds,

01:05:38.820 --> 01:05:41.820
and it appears to have been quite a, what's the

01:05:41.820 --> 01:05:43.960
right word, a stigma, even back in the Founders'

01:05:43.980 --> 01:05:47.539
days, to go that far, even though deism wasn't

01:05:47.539 --> 01:05:51.059
necessarily going too far. As far as the Mormonism

01:05:51.059 --> 01:05:55.059
goes, Mormonism comes later, but the argument

01:05:55.059 --> 01:05:57.940
that... the other Christians, the mainline Christians,

01:05:58.099 --> 01:06:00.500
whatever term you want to use, would make is

01:06:00.500 --> 01:06:03.840
that they accept another book as a holy book

01:06:03.840 --> 01:06:07.380
beyond the Bible, and they also accept a later

01:06:07.380 --> 01:06:09.800
prophet than Jesus, and so both of those things

01:06:09.800 --> 01:06:11.840
disqualify them as Christians. That's the argument

01:06:11.840 --> 01:06:14.699
there. They would say no, they're Latter -day

01:06:14.699 --> 01:06:16.659
Saints and such, right? That's where that debate

01:06:16.659 --> 01:06:18.840
comes from. The Episcopalian Church does have

01:06:18.840 --> 01:06:21.900
the Book of Common Prayer, which is... post -Bible.

01:06:22.480 --> 01:06:26.480
It's written during the Reformation, and they

01:06:26.480 --> 01:06:29.300
do have in the Episcopal Church, as anyone who's

01:06:29.300 --> 01:06:31.820
been to Episcopal services, they do have the

01:06:31.820 --> 01:06:33.679
Apostles' Creed, which is regularly read out

01:06:33.679 --> 01:06:37.380
at services, which does insist on the Trinitarian

01:06:37.380 --> 01:06:40.440
approach to religion in there. So something to

01:06:40.440 --> 01:06:43.360
keep in mind that anybody who's going to Episcopalian

01:06:43.360 --> 01:06:46.300
services of our Founding Fathers group, they're

01:06:46.300 --> 01:06:49.079
going to be reciting that when they go to church,

01:06:49.199 --> 01:06:52.409
just as a matter of course. Adams, in the meantime,

01:06:52.849 --> 01:06:55.429
is brought up with the culture of Calvinism,

01:06:55.429 --> 01:06:57.909
and though he rejected many theological tenets

01:06:57.909 --> 01:07:00.570
of it, he said that there were no better people

01:07:00.570 --> 01:07:02.809
than Calvinists, even though he didn't consider

01:07:02.809 --> 01:07:06.349
himself one. Adams embraced throughout his life

01:07:06.349 --> 01:07:08.570
the importance of good works as opposed to a

01:07:08.570 --> 01:07:11.519
focus on faith alone. and free will as opposed

01:07:11.519 --> 01:07:14.099
to predestination, both of which run counter

01:07:14.099 --> 01:07:17.400
to fundamental Calvinist beliefs. So he thought

01:07:17.400 --> 01:07:20.619
the Calvinists were the best people, but he disagreed

01:07:20.619 --> 01:07:22.460
with them. He disagreed with them. He didn't

01:07:22.460 --> 01:07:25.260
see a problem. I mean, there's kind of like,

01:07:25.400 --> 01:07:28.639
just think about this. He has a choice between

01:07:28.639 --> 01:07:31.440
rejecting his whole heritage to embrace the new,

01:07:31.639 --> 01:07:34.780
or he can kind of come up with sort of a cognitive

01:07:34.780 --> 01:07:37.380
dissonance approach of... Calvinists are good

01:07:37.380 --> 01:07:39.519
people. They mean well. They're good people.

01:07:39.639 --> 01:07:41.119
They're wrong. I don't believe it. But that's

01:07:41.119 --> 01:07:43.960
fine. Yeah, that's fine. And I mean, again, this

01:07:43.960 --> 01:07:45.920
is about toleration. We're talking about people

01:07:45.920 --> 01:07:49.219
that are tolerant. Not all founding fathers were,

01:07:49.380 --> 01:07:52.019
as we've discussed, or could be completely open

01:07:52.019 --> 01:07:55.360
about the extent of their belief system. Adams,

01:07:55.539 --> 01:07:59.119
as was typical of the man, was quite open in

01:07:59.119 --> 01:08:01.820
his religious preferences, which, as we said,

01:08:01.940 --> 01:08:03.920
were at odds with most Christians in America

01:08:03.920 --> 01:08:08.340
at the time. Although Unitarian's disbelief in

01:08:08.340 --> 01:08:10.679
the Trinity was at odds with prevailing Orthodox

01:08:10.679 --> 01:08:13.880
Christianity, Adams never faced any criticism

01:08:13.880 --> 01:08:17.060
for his beliefs in either of the national elections

01:08:17.060 --> 01:08:20.560
where he sought the presidency. Jefferson did.

01:08:20.800 --> 01:08:23.960
Jefferson was considered a dirty little atheist

01:08:23.960 --> 01:08:27.699
in some circles. Even though he and Adams, their

01:08:27.699 --> 01:08:30.159
belief systems are not totally at odds with each

01:08:30.159 --> 01:08:32.960
other. So the second president of the United

01:08:32.960 --> 01:08:35.199
States is never critiqued at all for being a

01:08:35.199 --> 01:08:38.420
Unitarian. I looked and looked and looked for

01:08:38.420 --> 01:08:40.720
this. I couldn't find anything that's indicated

01:08:40.720 --> 01:08:44.020
that he came into any sort of disrepute for this.

01:08:44.140 --> 01:08:47.699
Now, later, when his son, John Quincy Adams,

01:08:47.840 --> 01:08:51.460
is running, his religious beliefs were seen as

01:08:51.460 --> 01:08:54.939
evidence of the alleged sin of elitism. You know,

01:08:54.979 --> 01:08:57.159
this is an elite religion. That was in what year?

01:08:57.319 --> 01:09:01.319
That would have been 1824 and 1828, you know,

01:09:01.319 --> 01:09:04.180
depending on which year you're looking at. So

01:09:04.180 --> 01:09:07.859
Unitarianism suddenly becomes post -Second Great

01:09:07.859 --> 01:09:11.039
Awakening problematic. More on that later. Yeah,

01:09:11.079 --> 01:09:14.350
more on that later. He wasn't shy about his beliefs,

01:09:14.489 --> 01:09:17.649
penning the following to John Quincy Adams in

01:09:17.649 --> 01:09:21.310
1816, describing his horror at Trinitarian theology.

01:09:21.970 --> 01:09:25.489
And an excerpt of this goes, An incarnate God?

01:09:25.789 --> 01:09:29.510
An eternal, self -existent, omnipresent, omnificent

01:09:29.510 --> 01:09:32.710
author of the stupendous universe suffering on

01:09:32.710 --> 01:09:36.510
a cross? My soul starts in horror at the idea,

01:09:36.710 --> 01:09:44.619
and it has stupefied the Christian world. Unitarianism

01:09:44.619 --> 01:09:48.239
had its roots in the 4th century. This is basically,

01:09:48.420 --> 01:09:51.859
there was a controversy. At one time, Unitarianism

01:09:51.859 --> 01:09:54.300
was the official belief system, that God was

01:09:54.300 --> 01:09:57.220
supreme and that Christ and the Holy Spirit were

01:09:57.220 --> 01:09:59.619
subordinate. But then the Council of Nicaea came

01:09:59.619 --> 01:10:02.600
in and changed all of that. Unitarianism made

01:10:02.600 --> 01:10:04.939
a comeback in the 18th century. When was the

01:10:04.939 --> 01:10:08.779
Council of Nicaea? 325. And this is also included

01:10:08.779 --> 01:10:11.460
in the Book of Common Prayer. that I mentioned

01:10:11.460 --> 01:10:14.680
earlier. Which, what is? The Nicene Creed. Nicene

01:10:14.680 --> 01:10:19.060
Creed. The Trinity. Yes, the Trinity. Adams was

01:10:19.060 --> 01:10:23.699
influenced by these Unitarian beliefs from the

01:10:23.699 --> 01:10:27.000
earlier time, but like his fellow founders, he

01:10:27.000 --> 01:10:28.760
was also influenced by the Enlightenment. Generally,

01:10:28.760 --> 01:10:30.899
this meant the teachings of Locke and Montesquieu

01:10:30.899 --> 01:10:33.439
and other English figures who took legalistic

01:10:33.439 --> 01:10:37.000
views of societal reform, emphasizing the importance

01:10:37.000 --> 01:10:41.220
of property. The Enlightenment was not an encompassing

01:10:41.220 --> 01:10:45.560
philosophy. Opinions ranged, as we've seen so

01:10:45.560 --> 01:10:48.460
far. For Adam, this meant a rejection of doctrines

01:10:48.460 --> 01:10:50.439
like original sin, predestination of the Trinity,

01:10:50.640 --> 01:10:53.760
and based of a rational and liberal religion,

01:10:53.939 --> 01:10:56.220
and respecting and following the moral teachings

01:10:56.220 --> 01:10:58.699
of Jesus Christ in an ethical and philosophical

01:10:58.699 --> 01:11:02.489
manner. Adams regarded Christianity as the most

01:11:02.489 --> 01:11:05.130
perfect of religions, even though there were

01:11:05.130 --> 01:11:07.029
and are some people in the United States who

01:11:07.029 --> 01:11:09.250
do not regard Unitarianism as part of Christianity.

01:11:09.930 --> 01:11:12.289
Many of his beliefs and practices were consistent

01:11:12.289 --> 01:11:14.350
with the followers of the more orthodox sects

01:11:14.350 --> 01:11:17.569
of Christianity. Like Franklin, Adams believed

01:11:17.569 --> 01:11:19.569
in a Christian God who could intervene in human

01:11:19.569 --> 01:11:23.090
affairs. This isn't at odds with the idea of

01:11:23.090 --> 01:11:26.699
like... God being a clockmaker or a supreme architect

01:11:26.699 --> 01:11:31.500
who sort of took a hands -off view of humanity.

01:11:32.239 --> 01:11:34.800
As president, Adams was not adverse to declaring

01:11:34.800 --> 01:11:38.399
national days of prayer and fasting. These proclamations

01:11:38.399 --> 01:11:40.920
tended to be generically monotheistic with calls

01:11:40.920 --> 01:11:44.800
on a higher power with no mention of Jesus. In

01:11:44.800 --> 01:11:46.819
contrast with some of his fellow founding fathers,

01:11:47.119 --> 01:11:50.380
Adams did not oppose the state's support of churches.

01:11:50.800 --> 01:11:54.300
And note that it's plural. Though he was opposed

01:11:54.300 --> 01:11:56.659
to establishment of a national religion at the

01:11:56.659 --> 01:11:59.460
federal level, Christian or otherwise, at the

01:11:59.460 --> 01:12:02.840
state level he felt accommodation with various

01:12:02.840 --> 01:12:06.659
religions within a state, meaning that they could

01:12:06.659 --> 01:12:11.020
receive tax money. And again, plural. Whereas

01:12:11.020 --> 01:12:12.819
his cousin would have been more than happy to

01:12:12.819 --> 01:12:14.699
see this limited just to the Congregationalist

01:12:14.699 --> 01:12:18.060
Church, in the 1780 Constitution, state funds

01:12:18.060 --> 01:12:20.000
were directed towards the support of churches.

01:12:20.260 --> 01:12:23.029
All towns and parishes were required to levy

01:12:23.029 --> 01:12:25.649
taxes, to construct and repair churches, and

01:12:25.649 --> 01:12:28.449
to pay the salaries of ministers. People could

01:12:28.449 --> 01:12:31.510
designate which church would receive their own

01:12:31.510 --> 01:12:35.050
personal support, but you're not allowed to opt

01:12:35.050 --> 01:12:37.869
out of the whole process. You have to have some

01:12:37.869 --> 01:12:40.550
religion. Again, we're getting into the stigma

01:12:40.550 --> 01:12:43.810
that we would see associated with atheism. Well,

01:12:43.850 --> 01:12:46.050
it also reflects the emphasis that we're seeing

01:12:46.050 --> 01:12:48.270
as a pattern here, I think, on the necessity

01:12:48.270 --> 01:12:51.539
of religion. for morality. Yes. It doesn't matter

01:12:51.539 --> 01:12:53.380
that much which religion you're ascribed to.

01:12:53.420 --> 01:12:55.520
Any religious practice is beneficial because

01:12:55.520 --> 01:12:58.659
it will give you a model of morality to practice.

01:12:59.039 --> 01:13:01.619
And then practicing that morality is important

01:13:01.619 --> 01:13:05.039
because that helps create tranquility in the

01:13:05.039 --> 01:13:07.800
society, in civil society, because people are

01:13:07.800 --> 01:13:10.119
treating each other well and all of that. So,

01:13:10.119 --> 01:13:12.800
again... But they're not talking about Islam

01:13:12.800 --> 01:13:16.489
here. No, they're... Well, but... They're talking

01:13:16.489 --> 01:13:20.270
about their own traditions. Yes. Which are Christian.

01:13:20.890 --> 01:13:24.829
There's no Islamic person to basically designate

01:13:24.829 --> 01:13:26.869
funds to go to a local mosque, either. True.

01:13:27.090 --> 01:13:29.569
Fair enough. What I'm saying, though, is that

01:13:29.569 --> 01:13:31.289
I'm just seeing a pattern here, right? Sure,

01:13:31.430 --> 01:13:34.050
not too much worried about Muslims, because are

01:13:34.050 --> 01:13:36.180
there very many? No. You know, running around

01:13:36.180 --> 01:13:38.000
in the United States at this time, right? Not

01:13:38.000 --> 01:13:39.500
many at all. It's not really much of an issue

01:13:39.500 --> 01:13:41.619
for them. But among all the different Christian

01:13:41.619 --> 01:13:44.159
denominations, which caused a lot of wars in

01:13:44.159 --> 01:13:46.779
Europe in the 17th century, right? Among those

01:13:46.779 --> 01:13:48.560
various denominations, they're just saying, ascribe

01:13:48.560 --> 01:13:50.539
to one of them. That's a good thing. I don't

01:13:50.539 --> 01:13:52.979
care which one. And then in some cases, like

01:13:52.979 --> 01:13:55.479
Adam's here, he's saying, and you should support

01:13:55.479 --> 01:13:57.560
those with money. You get to choose the one.

01:13:57.800 --> 01:14:00.180
State money. You get to choose the one, but they're

01:14:00.180 --> 01:14:03.060
important to civic society and therefore to civic

01:14:03.060 --> 01:14:06.060
tranquility. Right. Because they do win. They

01:14:06.060 --> 01:14:07.800
serve a useful purpose. They serve a useful purpose

01:14:07.800 --> 01:14:10.579
by creating a moral framework in which to live

01:14:10.579 --> 01:14:12.680
your life. Now, Patrick Henry had the same view.

01:14:12.939 --> 01:14:14.399
Exactly. We'll get to him. And we're going to

01:14:14.399 --> 01:14:17.560
get to him. We're going to get to him. This was

01:14:17.560 --> 01:14:22.579
the law in Massachusetts until 1833, when this

01:14:22.579 --> 01:14:25.939
whole notion of state support to churches was

01:14:25.939 --> 01:14:30.340
revised. So compare Virginia, which is 1786,

01:14:30.420 --> 01:14:34.079
when something like this gets passed. So it persists

01:14:34.079 --> 01:14:37.100
in Massachusetts for a somewhat longer period.

01:14:37.300 --> 01:14:40.060
Let's be clear, though. 1786 was Virginia doing

01:14:40.060 --> 01:14:42.640
away with having an established church. Yes.

01:14:43.039 --> 01:14:45.380
Now, the Massachusetts situation is they're doing

01:14:45.380 --> 01:14:48.750
away with... Taxation in support of a church.

01:14:48.949 --> 01:14:51.470
Of any church. Of any church, right. Any church.

01:14:51.789 --> 01:14:53.350
But they're doing away with that. Yes. So it's

01:14:53.350 --> 01:14:54.989
actually two a little bit different things. Yes.

01:14:55.029 --> 01:14:56.569
That's all I'm saying. But it's still funding,

01:14:56.770 --> 01:14:59.970
it's still state funding of religion. And it's

01:14:59.970 --> 01:15:02.550
still 47 years later. Yes. Is the difference,

01:15:02.670 --> 01:15:07.310
yeah. Okay. So in this, and again, to get into

01:15:07.310 --> 01:15:11.470
the nitty gritty of beliefs. talking about Washington

01:15:11.470 --> 01:15:14.149
playing cards and drinking whiskey, Adams tried

01:15:14.149 --> 01:15:16.529
to avoid transacting business or traveling on

01:15:16.529 --> 01:15:18.949
Sundays, and he also believed in an afterlife.

01:15:19.390 --> 01:15:23.130
He felt that when he died, he would be reunited

01:15:23.130 --> 01:15:27.170
with his wife, Abigail. He believed that he enjoyed

01:15:27.170 --> 01:15:29.270
going to church. He went sometimes two or three

01:15:29.270 --> 01:15:32.510
times a day on Sundays, and he believed that

01:15:32.510 --> 01:15:36.989
religion in general civilized society. suppressing

01:15:36.989 --> 01:15:39.989
barbarism, and promoted moral behavior and making

01:15:39.989 --> 01:15:43.050
more competent citizens in the sense that they

01:15:43.050 --> 01:15:47.390
would be observing moral teachings here. He did

01:15:47.390 --> 01:15:50.890
not approve, and this would be interesting when

01:15:50.890 --> 01:15:53.430
we think about what was going on in our China

01:15:53.430 --> 01:15:56.529
series, he did not approve of missionaries or

01:15:56.529 --> 01:15:58.630
the practice of sending Bibles overseas, notions

01:15:58.630 --> 01:16:03.529
that would put him at odds with a lot of people

01:16:03.529 --> 01:16:07.590
that would be of the sort of Second Great Awakening

01:16:07.590 --> 01:16:12.430
persuasion. He felt that the effort should be

01:16:12.430 --> 01:16:15.050
better spent on purifying Christianity than spreading

01:16:15.050 --> 01:16:17.890
further errors around the world. And by that,

01:16:17.890 --> 01:16:21.250
he's probably talking about Trinitarianism. In

01:16:21.250 --> 01:16:24.350
short, Adams hated organized religion's tendency

01:16:24.350 --> 01:16:27.149
to squelch rational thought, but approved of

01:16:27.149 --> 01:16:30.010
it as a force for instilling morality and social

01:16:30.010 --> 01:16:35.039
harmony. Those are the religious views of five

01:16:35.039 --> 01:16:37.739
of the more prominent founding fathers. In the

01:16:37.739 --> 01:16:40.939
next episode, we'll cover the views of five more.

01:16:43.300 --> 01:16:45.920
That's it for this episode of the United States

01:16:45.920 --> 01:16:49.079
of Amnesia. Thank you for listening. We hope

01:16:49.079 --> 01:16:51.140
you learned something, and we hope you discovered

01:16:51.140 --> 01:16:53.420
new ways of looking at things you had already

01:16:53.420 --> 01:16:56.600
heard or thought about, or perhaps hadn't heard

01:16:56.600 --> 01:16:59.520
about. If you enjoyed it, that's great. If we

01:16:59.520 --> 01:17:03.060
made you mad, that's okay too. Either way, Email

01:17:03.060 --> 01:17:07.439
us at usa .amnesia at gmail .com and let us know

01:17:07.439 --> 01:17:09.939
what you think. Also, let us know about anything

01:17:09.939 --> 01:17:12.340
you think we missed or got wrong. We'd like to

01:17:12.340 --> 01:17:15.560
know about that too. And of course, please like

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01:17:17.680 --> 01:17:21.140
know about us. We also have a website. It's www

01:17:21.140 --> 01:17:27.880
.usofamnesia .com. For Marshall, Mike, and myself,

01:17:28.279 --> 01:17:30.159
Blake Hinke. Till next time.