Putting A Founding Father Back In Context

[madwriter]

Every now and then I get mass mails with supposed quotes about religion from Founding Fathers. These messages are usually trying to put forth the idea that the Founders really intended to create America as a wholly (fundamentalist) Christian nation. Most are from the big names: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams.

And in almost every case the quotes are false. Some are misquotes or taken out of context, some are paraphrases, but nearly all are outright inventions from the 1980s. The most prominent of these, some variation of George Washington saying that the best government is the kind that answers to God and the Bible, was invented in the 1930s.

Then I started getting e-mails with a quote from a lesser-known founder named Dr. Benjamin Rush. It runs as follows:

"...The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments."

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that for once, the e-mails had a genuine quote. It comes from his essay "Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic", printed in a collection called Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical.

Of course, then you get to the next paragraph, which the e-mails ignore:

"Such is my veneration for every religion that reveals the attributes of the Deity, or a future state of rewards and punishments, that I had rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mahomed inculcated upon our youth, then see them grow up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles."

Yet there is no doubt as to Rush's sentiments. He finishes the above paragraph with "But the religion I mean to recommend in this place, is that of the New Testament."

Rush's religious beliefs are strong ones. In this essay and others he lays out his arguments for the truth of Christianity; he advocates the Bible for use as a schoolbook; he talks often about morals in a religious context. But before anyone decides to start using Rush as an example of a Christian Founder, they also need to take into account some other ideas Rush espoused which many modern fundamentalists might take issue with:

He was against the death penalty. A primary reason for this was the same as many hold now: That if the executed person turns out to be innocent, you can't withdraw the punishment.

He was in favor of the government paying young Americans' college tuition. He shared this belief with James Madison, who considered federally-funded tuition as part of his definition of "the general welfare".

For all that, Rush believed that a liberal education--his words--was critical to the health and soundness of the American republic.

Like the other Founders, Rush had no concept of the idea of an illegal immigrant, but welcomed everyone who wanted to come to America if they were law-abiding and would work. He thought that anyone who wanted to be a U.S. citizen should be offered citizenship after two years of residency. Rush specifically, like Benjamin Franklin and others, wanted to offer America as a haven for those persecuted by tyrannical governments.

This isn't so much an issue nowadays, but Rush also advocated liberal education for women. He thought literature was especially important. His arguments here boil down to the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats--the way he put it was that America, both at the local level and the country in general, would be made more prosperous if women were educated too.

So, that is Dr. Benjamin Rush. To sum up the highlights of what I've learned about the Founders so far based on their actual writings, which don't have a wide e-mail circulation:

George Washington was a religious man in the general sense, but only once in all of his thousands of writings did he use Jesus' name. That was in a speech to the Delaware Indians.

Benjamin Franklin was almost certainly an Epicurean Deist.

Thomas Jefferson denied the divinity of Christ and edited his own Bible to remove Jesus' miracles.

John Adams believed in God and Heaven, but not Hell.

James Madison was a devout Christian--as far as anyone can tell, which is difficult since he was very private about his own religious beliefs. He was also nearly what we would call a Humanist today, arguing repeatedly for the uplifting of humankind through human efforts.

In fact, there are plenty of genuine quotes about Christianity from the Southern Founders apart from Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. I suspect, however, that these don't get much play not just because most people won't recognize their names, but also because (like the aforementioned big three) they were slave owners. (Benjamin Rush, by the way, was anti-slavery.)

As for me, I self identify as a Methodist and an historian; in certain quarters both are interpreted to mean "trouble".