W.W.T.J.D?

I've never totally understood the argument that America was founded on Christianity, or Judeo-Christian values. I've never understood the obsession with the religious beliefs of the men who declared America an independent nation and wrote its Constitution.

What do people mean when they talk about the "Founding Fathers," anyway? Fifty-six people signed the Declaration of Independence. There were 55 delegates to the 1787 convention where the U.S. Constitution was drafted, and then that Constitution had to be ratified by each state. So, if we're talking about the people who are directly responsible for creating America, that's a pretty large group, and I seriously doubt they all had the same exact views on faith.

Let's talk about Thomas Jefferson, for instance. The man who authored Virginia's Statute on Religious Freedom wanted that and the fact that he'd founded UVa on his tombstone, but not the fact that he'd been the third president. He's also the man who wrote in 1803, "I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others."

But really, what difference does any of this make in 2010? We're arguing about the church habits of men who a) put freedom of religion in the very first slot in the Bill of Rights, b) risked execution for treason to get away from a country with an official state religion, and c) have all been dead for nearly 200 years.

What, we're supposed to live life just like the Founding Fathers? They were all rich white men, many of whom owned slaves and none of whom drove cars, flew in space or had iPhones. No more brain surgery - it's trepanning from now on!

I don't know what Jefferson's relationship with God was like. It's interesting trivia... Except when history is used by people with an agenda to try and convince you that things were always one way until the evil feminists/civil rights activists/etc. came along and ruined everything, or try to tell you that in an America as a historically Christian nation, people who aren't Christian don't belong.

Here's what I know. The Founders were pretty smart guys. They had a chance to create a government from scratch, and if they'd wanted to designate an official religion, language or anything else, they would've done it. What they DID do was write a Constitution that could grow and change with America, and it's done so successfully for 223 years.

Another thing I know: Jesus Christ preached that, above all other commandments, Christians should love others and treat others as they would want to be treated.