Founding Fathers were religious liberals

At least by the standards of their time, it seems. I've not read "Founding Faith," the new book by our Big Cheese Editor Steven Waldman, which he wrote after spending years hearing culture warriors of the left and right cherry-pick Founding Fathers' quotes to support their position on this or that contemporary contentious issue. But I did hear Steve's Fresh Air interview, and was surprised to learn from him how much religious intolerance and violence there was in colonial America. (Had I forgotten what I learned in school? Had I ever learned it?) Yes, religious pilgriims came to America to worship God as they desired ... and often to prevent the other pilgrims, especially those dirty rotten papists! -- from worshiping God as they desired.

Here's something else I learned from Steve's work. Here's a bit from Michael Dirda's review in the WaPo:

Religious fervor pervaded early American life, and church leaders, even more than today, wielded considerable political clout. Yet none of our history-book heroes of the Revolution could be viewed as anything but heterodox in his creed.

Franklin, we learn, believed that God created the universe, then gave over its governing to various minor gods. (Waldman describes this as a form of deism, though it strikes me as vaguely Gnostic.) John Adams's "disdain for Calvinists was surpassed only by his contempt for Catholics," and he appears to have been equally disgusted with many facets of orthodox Christian theology. For instance, he refused to accept that one bite from an apple "damned the whole human Race, without any actual Crimes committed by any of them." Eventually, Adams joined a liberal Unitarian church, which emphasized Christ's teachings rather than his divinity.

George Washington was raised as an Anglican but seldom went to Sunday service, refused to kneel and never took communion. In many ways, he was more active as a freemason than as a Christian. But he spoke up strongly for religious tolerance, even during the Revolution: "While we are contending for our liberty," he wrote, "we should be very cautious of violating the Rights of Conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the Judge of the Hearts of men, and to him only in this Case, they are answerable." Waldman describes Thomas Jefferson as a "pious infidel" and James Madison as a "radical pluralist." Jefferson viewed Jesus as a moral teacher and nothing more: He actually cut up a copy of the Gospels, removing all references to miracles and any claims that Jesus was more than human.

Madison appears to have respected religion without being seriously attached to any sect in particular. But, like his fellow Virginians, he did feel strongly the need for tolerance, and it is to him that Waldman believes we owe our freedom of conscience. He helped frame the Constitution, which mentions neither Jesus nor God, and later the First Amendment.

But lest liberals take comfort in the idea that the Founding Fathers were Deists or secularists, Steve has news for you: there were limits to their religious liberalism.

Additionally here's Steve's explanation for how America's idea of religious freedom did develop from the Founders' ideas.