Actually it was Joel Barlow who translated that from the treaty of Tripoli. The statement was inserted into the treaty to appease the muslim pirates we had just defeated. Washington never said it, he wasn't even President when the statement was made. Washington himself was deeply religious.
Ah... fair 'nuff. Hadn't heard about the misquote (thanks for the heads up :-)).
Washington was certainly religious... but he certainly wasn't a devout "Christian". A rabidly loyal freemason certainly, and a relatively competent Deist most likely.
Nobody remembers Barlow, he was a mid-level diplomat settling a minor skirmish. The actual quote was an attempt to not start a religious war in a police action against pirates.
Washington's religion is fairly well chronicled, he attended church regularly, maintained a chaplain in his army. Most of the founding fathers were religious, exception Thomas Paine was a flaming atheist. That got Paine into a lot of trouble later since he was very militant about it. Nearly got him killed in France during the Reign of Terror. More because Robespierre thought him a political threat than a religious one.
Comments 4
- George Washington
You sing it, George. ;-)
Reply
Reply
Washington was certainly religious... but he certainly wasn't a devout "Christian". A rabidly loyal freemason certainly, and a relatively competent Deist most likely.
Reply
Washington's religion is fairly well chronicled, he attended church regularly, maintained a chaplain in his army. Most of the founding fathers were religious, exception Thomas Paine was a flaming atheist. That got Paine into a lot of trouble later since he was very militant about it. Nearly got him killed in France during the Reign of Terror. More because Robespierre thought him a political threat than a religious one.
Reply
Leave a comment