Which is more patriotic?

[Colin]

option 1.  Amer. was founded on God--if you disagree, get over it.  Bring it up w/ George Washington.

Yes bring it up with George Washington, a man who never used the word God in any of his speeches, refused to take communion for most of his adult life and was a practicing freemason who said he only believed in the, deistic, Grand Architect of the Universe.

Or maybe our second president, Adams whose personal writings were so vehemently anti-clerical and against the teachings of the church he was born into, the Church of Christ (Congregationalist), that he almost seems like a broken record. He later became a Unitarian along with Washington and Jefferson. Also a strong proponent of latitudinarianism, which is the belief that if there is a God he will reward people based on the good works that they do rather than on the beliefs they have.

I believe our third president goes without saying that he was not Christian by any means and, in his spare time, actually created a bible with all the miracles, mentions of God, and other unreasonable, to him, passages taken out, along with the entire old testament. Plus the huge evidence that we have of his views on religion, which wavered between atheism, agnosticism, and deism.

Alexander Hamilton was completely non-religious and is reported to actually never had attended Church after coming to America at age 18. He seems to have nothing to say on religion and his beliefs were probably along the lines of Secular Humanism.

Benjamin Franklin was a Presbyterian who became a Unitarian. While he believed in God he did not believe in the devinity of Jesus and, like Adams and Jefferson, believed that organized religions had corrupted the morals and teachings of Jesus into the Christian religion. He also believed in latitudinarianism, which was very popular among Enlightenment thinkers.

These are just a few examples. The US Constitution, as well, never once states the words God, Providence, Creator or anything of the such while many other major documents of the era, as well as most state constitutions, do. This was not just a minor absence but a major statement that the rule of law was based off of secular principals. The United States is a country with a population that is majority Christian but its not a Christian nation.

[Colin]

It was meant as the Founding Fathers in general--not specifically necessarily Wash'ton, but Jefferson said that the Bible should be used as a text book (while president and superintendent of D.C. schools)

Jefferson also said this when he was discussing the departments that should be available at UVA, the school he founded and built. "A professorship of theology should have no place in this institution."

I believe that Jefferson was probably stating that the bible should be read as English literature since it is an integral part of much of modern literature. That doesn't mean he supported its message or believed in it.

I am currently reading the Aeneid in Latin. One of the most widely known stories of the Classical Age. In it it often includes figures such as Neptune, Jupiter, Venus, Juno and Vulcan, all deities and figures in religion. However in reading this text I of course do not really take from it a belief in Roman polytheism. I believe the same is true of what Jefferson is trying to say when he believes that the bible should be taught. Although it is a religious text it is also a basis for a good amount of English literature, just as Classical Age epics like the Aeneid are, however you do not need to believe nor force belief in something onto a person in order for them to appreciate it.

Don't try to debate that Jefferson is a bible-thumping Christian because its a fool's errand.

[Colin]

To interject my opinions on Jefferson... I believe Colin has it mostly right, but also remember, the bible was one of the few pieces of literature that average American families owned... Clearly... It was more about literacy than religion.

Very true and an excellent point. You could safely say that in 1800 the only piece of fine English literature that the average American family had was the King James Version of the Holy Bible, if it was not the only book that the family had.