The Founding Fathers vs the theocracy brigade

I don't subscribe to the 'we must be enslaved to everything the Founding Fathers thought now and forever more' school of thought so popular nowadays. But those who get apoplectic at people who don't say "America is a Christian nation" every 3.2 seconds should read this article.

[T]he 1796 Treaty of Tripoli - initiated by George Washington and signed into law by John Adams - proclaims: "The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion."

Thomas Paine wrote, "I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church."

George Washington never once mentioned the name of Jesus Christ in any of his thousands of letters, and pointedly referred to divinity as "It." Whenever he (rarely) attended church, Washington always deliberately left before communion, demonstrating disbelief in Christianity's central ceremony.

John Adams wrote, "I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved - the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!" adding that "It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service [forming the U.S. government] had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven..." [George W. Bush take note]

Thomas Jefferon noted that common law "is that system of law which was introduced by the Saxons on their settlement in England ...about the middle of the fifth century. But Christianity was not introduced till the seventh century. ...We may safely affirm (though contradicted by all the judges and writers on earth) that Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."

James Madison said, "During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."

As I said, I don't accept that we must be shackled to the Founding Fathers' beliefs from here to eternity, but those that do should recognize that they weren't quite as in-your-face about Christianity as today's popular myth would have you believe.