A broad survey about the beliefs of some of the original Founders of the US and how they'd have a difficult time getting elected today.
To add a bit of nuance, it's not always clear what some individuals believed. Washington, in particular, was notably close-lipped about his faith. In some cases, that was specifically for political cover: Jefferson was frequently attacked as an atheist, for example (and thus his attempts to keep his abridged New Testament out of the public eye).
It's also worth noting that religious opinions held by the Founders changed over the years — from young adulthood to their old age. Some became more outwardly religious. Others became (we know through their writings) more skeptical.
And, of course, there were some Founders who wore their religion on their sleeves and were boosters for Christianity and, often, their particular denomination within it.
The bottom line of the article, though, is correct: in an era where presidential candidates (and presidents as well) are expected to be cheerleaders for their religious beliefs (especially Christians), these gents would have a hard time being elected. #ddtb
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5 Founding Fathers Whose Skepticism About Christianity Would Make Them Unelectable Today | | AlterNet
Thomas Jefferson believed that a coolly rational form of religion would take root in America. Was he ever wrong.
Good reading–have bookmarked it for later use in civilized arguments.
Marina, I’d whole-heartedly recommend Founding Faith by Steven Waldman for a more in-depth and nuanced presentation of this info. He does a great job looking at several of the Founders and discovering that blanket easy statements as to their godliness/godlessness are vast oversimplifications (as one might imagine in dealing with a group of different people). Good stuff, and well-documented.