Jefferson on Washington’s Disbelief and Religious Closets:
Jonathan Rowe on Nov 25th 2005 03:28 pm |
The following is taken from the notes of Thomas Jefferson on February 1, 1800, and the subject is George Washington’s lack of belief in the Christian religion.
Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Asa Green that when the clergy addressed Genl. Washington on his departure from the govmt, it was observed in their consultation that he had never on any occasion said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Xn religion and they thot they should so pen their address as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. They did so. However he observed the old fox was too cunning for them. He answered every article of their address particularly except that, which he passed over without notice. Rush observes he never did say a word on the subject in any of his public papers except in his valedictory letter to the Governors of the states when he resigned his commission in the army, wherein he speaks of the benign influence of the Christian religion.
I know that Gouverneur Morris, who pretended to be in his secrets & believed himself to be so, has often told me that Genl. Washington believed no more of that system than he himself did.
That little passage is very telling and hopefully sheds light on the Christian v. Deist controversy about our Founding. As I’ve discovered in researching this issue over the past few years, both sides posit myth. The secular side argues, “our founders were almost all Deists” and the other side, “our founders were almost all orthodox Christians.” The truth is far more nuanced and lies somewhere in between.
We know from their writings that founders like Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin explicitly rejected the tenets of orthodox Christianity. However, their most anti-clerical and radical rejection of orthodoxy came from their private correspondence. Thomas Paine was very public about his unorthodoxy and was personally ruined for it. Jefferson was almost ruined by the tamer stuff (than what we see in his personal letters) he wrote about religion in Notes on the State of Virginia. And Adams’s Federalist clergy supporters in the 1800 election (Jefferson’s enemies) apparently were completely unaware of Adams’s unorthodox beliefs and would have flipped out if they were privy to the anti-clerical content in the letters he wrote to Jefferson (later in their lives).
Back then one could not get in social or legal trouble for publicly affirming the tenets of orthodox Christianity, but one likely would get in trouble for publicly denying such tenets. We even see from the above passage that, if one was silent as to one’s religious beliefs, there was strong social pressure to affirm publicly one’s orthodoxy. And that’s something neither George Washington nor James Madison did.
In my humble opinion (and apparently in Jefferson’s and Morris’s), Washington’s (and Madison’s) silence on their personal religious beliefs points in the direction of their belief in the deistic-unitarian natural religion in which Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin believed.
Understanding this helps to demonstrate the main flaw in the late M.E. Bradford’s categorization method where he notes that only three of the signers of the Constitution were “Deists,” the rest professed orthodox Christianity. This is so misleading that it becomes factually false. Bradford simply looked at those founders who were open “Deists” and had no connection with any Christian Church and put them in the Deist box. All of the other Founders were in some way connected to a Christian Church. Bradford’s “Deists” were Hugh Williamson of North Carolina, James Wilson and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. So men like Washington, Madison, and Morris, because they were in some way affiliated with “Christian” Churches, were “orthodox Christians.” Were Jefferson a signer of the Constitution, he too would have been put in Bradford’s “orthodox Christian” box.
There is simply no credible historical evidence that “Christians” like Washington, Madison, Morris, and many other signers of the Constitution had personal religious beliefs that differed in any meaningful way from Jefferson’s and Franklin’s. In short, Bradford’s analysis fails to deal with the fact that many Founders whom he categorizes as “orthodox Christians,” were exactly like Jefferson: They only nominally belonged to their Churches, privately rejected the tenets of orthodox Christianity, and otherwise possessed unorthodox beliefs. They were, “in the closet,” so to speak, about their unorthodoxy.
Not intending to make an analogy to homosexuality, but whenever there is social and/or legal pressure against X, those who are involved with X tend to “be in the closet.” Washington and Madison, and to a lesser extent, Adams, were closet heretics. Jefferson was less so but not as “out” as some people think he was. Thomas Paine was totally “out” and had his public reputation ruined for his candor.
And these founders didn’t approve of the way in which the forces of “religious correctness” could exert such power. They looked forward to the day where not only could people wear their religious unorthodoxy on their sleeve but when their unorthodox heretical beliefs would transform the Christian religion itself. As Jefferson wrote in 1822, “I trust that there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian.”
While Jefferson was wrong in the speed in which unorthodoxy would replace orthodoxy, there certainly was a kernel of reality to his prediction. Think about how many orthodox religions have now incorporated unorthodox beliefs. Think about how many Christian Churches now have openly gay ministers and would perform same-sex weddings. Even in Jefferson’s time, think about how the Puritan Congregational Churches of Massachusetts became Unitarian Congregations.
We have those Founders to thank for such changes.
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Jonathan,
It’s quite an interesting topic to take up. I would suggest that the issue of the “Founding Fathers’” belief systems are fairly nuanced and individual, both in their Christianity and in their deism, and may not have been consisent over their lives.
Two examples that come immediately to mind are Paine and Jefferson. Paine’s early beliefs are fairly orthodox and, up until Common Sense, were reflections of his father and mother’s, Quaker and Anglican, respectively. Following this, he began to read the English radical deists such as Thomas Chubb (many of his comments are lifted from Chubb) and became the most famous and popular deist of his generation until his death,
Jefferson was a deist early in life (probably through the influence of Thomas Young) but would become more radical in his views begininng with his association with French ideologues (Destutt de Tracy, mainly) and was most likely an atheist at the end of his life.
Deism itself is a range of beliefs and the more moderate, or Christian, deists, believed in a heavenly afterlife, and followed a Christian ethical system. The radicals were much closer to atheism or closet atheists.
Just a thought.
Just Ken
kgregglv@cox.net
Interesting stuff Rowe, good post!
This research of your’s has been fascinating and invaluable. Keep up the good work!
Very interesting. I have often heard those who dislike the changes that have occurred in this country over the last 50-100 years or so exclaim “the founders would never have meant things to be this way” or something similar. Or if they propose an extreme legal response such as banning gay marriage they say “it is not unconstitutional because the founders were Christians and would have meant things to be this way” or something similar. Perhaps you can expand on this idea that the founders would have approved of many of the changes that have taken place that many stereotypical religious conservatives oppose if the mood takes you. It would sure be a useful source of information for someone like me.
This was a really interesting read. Thanks!
Excellent work. It’s always a pleasure to read someone whose thinking is not held hostage by emotions.
Thanks all!
JR
How the founders, at least the most notable of them, would have reacted to the subsequent history of the U.S. is an interesting question.
Jefferson expected something like the Civil War, but would have been horrified by economic developments thereafter. He would have liked Robert Ingersoll and Louis Brandeis, I suspect, but detested most recent R’s and probably a lot of D’s as well. He would have liked Darwin but disliked Social Darwinism.
Madison would have wanted James Polk impeached and probably hung for starting the Mexican war in the way he did, if we take seriously what he said about the purpose of the clause in the Constitution giving Congress the authority for declaring wars. And likewise, for George W. Bush, and the other “imperial presidents”, since the point of that clause, according to Madison in the Federalist, was precisely to prevent such an aggrandizement of executive power.
Actually, most of the founders would have been disgusted by Andrew Jackson, so for them, the rot would would have set in rather early.
People who know more about the others, can probably think of lots more suggestions than my poor efforts here.
Franklin came to his Faith late in life. Here’s what he said:
“I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live,
the more convincing proofs I see of this truth–that God
Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall
to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an
empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that
‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that
build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that
without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this
political building no better than the builders of Babel…
I therefore beg leave to move–that henceforth prayers
imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our
deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before
we proceed to business…”
(Benjamin Franklin, speaking to the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787)
-Dave
dave at burtonsys dot com but please no spam
And George Washington wrote:
“It is the duty of nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour.”
-Dave
dave at burtonsys dot com but please no spam
[...] The context of the time was that people generally and public figures particularly were expected to affirm or otherwise pay homage to orthodox Christianity. And such a system back then had far greater social and legal entrenchments. Some pious folks tried to corner Washington into admitting whether he really believed in orthodox Christianity, and Washington basically dodged the question. Later Jefferson commenting on how how Washington avoided answering the question called him a “cunning old Fox.” Here is Jefferson’s testimony: Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Asa Green that when the clergy addressed Genl. Washington on his departure from the govmt, it was observed in their consultation that he had never on any occasion said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Xn religion and they thot they should so pen their address as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. They did so. However he observed the old fox was too cunning for them. He answered every article of their address particularly except that, which he passed over without notice. Rush observes he never did say a word on the subject in any of his public papers except in his valedictory letter to the Governors of the states when he resigned his commission in the army, wherein he speaks of the benign influence of the Christian religion. [...]