Category: Utah Humanist

President’s Message

I hope that this finds you well and happy. This year is offering a hopeful perspective in terms of rising from the ashes of the previous couple of years of chaos and turmoil. We have all experienced heavy things and persevered. We have all learned much. To add to your learning, I want to offer a bit of interesting information about who we are and what/why we believe the way we do. The humanistic perspective is a psychological approach that values human potential, creativity, and free will. It emerged in the mid-20th century as a reaction to deterministic views of psychoanalysis and behaviorism. It was influenced by philosophers like Sartre and existentialism, and by human rights and social justice movements. It was pioneered by psychologists like Maslow and Rogers, who proposed theories of self-actualization and client-centered therapy. This is where Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs was born. The theory states that there are certain needs that we must meet to grow and develop It emphasizes empathy, respect, and unconditional positive regard for each individual as a unique and holistic person. It has applications in education, counselling, health, and social work, as well as in personal growth and development. It is critical thinking like this that enables individuals to grow in their lives, to self-regulate in ways that contribute their world both on a personal level, a familial level, a community level and ultimately on a global level for the betterment of all.

To some, this may seem like simplistic beliefs and that “it can’t be THAT simple”. Actually, yes it can. It is a foundation of thought that you build on in your lives. Yes, there is so much more, but this is how it all starts. For each of us. It starts accountability for yourself. You, and you alone are responsible for your life. Yes, there are variables and not everything is in your control from outside stimulus. However, YOU are able to decide how you want to feel, want to respond (or don’t), what you choose to believe (or not believe) and how you want to present yourself into your life. The best part is that this can always change, whenever you want to. It’s so wonderfully empowering. The most difficult part is just learning how to drive your life with these basic thought processes in place. That is the real adventure.

This year is going to be full of growth, adventure and rising from the ashes for our group. The world is a different place than it was pre-pandemic. It is critical to keeping this in mind as we re-evaluate how we want to present to you, to each other, to the community and to the world. Welcome to the new year of growth and prosperity. We are excited you are here with us and can’t wait to see you soon.

—Melanie White-Curtis
HoU President

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Why Doesn’t Humanism Work Better?

What does humanism have that religion doesn’t? YOU! At least kind of, since you are reading this column…

There are lots of playful answers we could give to this question. Lies, stupid people, ghosts… (unfortunately, humanism does indeed have a fraction of that list). Why don’t more humans call themselves humanists? Sometimes I call humanism the coolest worldview people have never heard of, similar to how I call Chaplaincy the coolest job people have rarely thought of. I’m not asking why more humans aren’t humanists, because they are!

I am fascinated by this puzzle, about how almost every human is a humanist but doesn’t think to admit it, and why, with all of its problems, religion remains so powerful. Virtually every human being in 2023 is a humanist. How can I know? Because virtually every current global institution is humanist. The core idea of humanism is a human-centered approach to life. If you are asking yourself “Um, what else would we center life around, other than humans?” that shows just how deeply humanism has saturated our world and worldviews. Politics, the Arts, Economics, Education, Business… every one of our cultural institutions (other than religion) is human-centered, and therefore humanist. Ergo, we are all humanists. So why aren’t more of us excited about being humanists? Why don’t more of us claim humanism?

Let’s talk about religion for a minute. Religion is weird. Religion is powerful. Religion is powerful in part because it is weird. Religion is powerful because it is both comprehensive and implicit. It impacts every part of believers’ lives, and they take for granted that their beliefs are real. Other cultural institutions are explicitly human. Religion is the only human institution that pretends it isn’t a human institution. Religion is taken for granted internally, and creates friction externally, which then triggers tribalism. It’s a powerful and often terrifying recipe.

Religion is also a reason why humanism isn’t more powerful and organized. Many of us are responding to or reacting against religion. We are humanists precisely because we don’t like religion. We’ve been burned by religion and burned by cultural institutions. In addition, we are constantly being told what to do, what to like, and so current humanism often has an independent, anti-joining flavor.

Unitarian Universalism provides a fascinating bridge between religion and humanism. In fact, the UU humanists are likely the largest group of congregational humanists in existence. It’s fitting that Humanists of Utah has met at the local UU building. UU benefits from its religious history and organization, including the humanists, but it also illustrates the limits of this type of humanism. There’s nothing to fight about, not much specificity.

So, what’s the key to being a better humanist? One idea is to not make yourself a humanist, but to make humanism yours. Get specific. Get neurotic if that’s your thing. Figure out what you are already passionate about and claim that as your humanist beliefs and rituals. For example, I have created my own Pantheon (I’m dramatic like that), and it’s been a powerful practice to meditate and reflect on the principles of Life, Elegance, Expedience, and Integrity (My Pantheon personifies my value of prioritizing elegant efficient approaches to well-being).

And as you figure out what kind of humanist you are, what makes you a passionate human, join the conversation. From this point of authenticity, we can create a sustainable community, at whatever level you choose to engage.

—Jared Anderson
HoU Chaplain

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Territories

Last October I included the lyrics of a song by the rock group Rush titled “Witch Hunt” which is a song with a message. I decided to expand on my love of music and especially message songs this month. Do you ever think about what group, album, or songs you would put on your top 10 or even top 20 lists? I do, and the Rush album “Power Windows” is right up there for me. The titles of some of the songs give a hint as to the message, like “The Big Money” which speaks to how big money goes around the world doing good and bad, or the track “Manhattan Project” which is about the beginning of the atomic age, with a passage that says, “The big shots—try to hold it back, fools try to wish it away.” But My favorite on this album is “Territories.” For me it speaks to the fact that humanity is so fearful and warlike. I am going to transcribe the lyrics here for you to read through a time or two. Click here to see a YouTube video of the song.

Territories

I see the Middle Kingdom between Heaven and Earth
Like the Chinese call the country of their birth
We all figure that our homes are set above
Other people than the ones we know and love
In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs

(refrain)

The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse
Don’t feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can’t really feel
What international means
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles
We keep spinning round and round

We see so many tribes—overrun and undermined
While their invaders dream of lands they’ve left behind
Better people better food—and better beer
Why move around the world when Eden was so near?
The bosses get talking so tough
And if that wasn’t evil enough
We get the drunken and passionate pride
Of the citizens along for the ride

(refrain)

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled

Before I bid you ado, can we talk politics for a minute? I’m sure I’m not the first to see in such simple terms, but I was thinking of how to describe the difference between Democrats and Republicans without writing a book. While I know that generalizing about groups of people is troublesome, I put it this way. Republicans do things to people. Democrats do things for people. If you think about it, you can come up with many examples. Just one big example is healthcare where democrats gave us the affordable care act and republicans continue to try to take it away. Of course, the list is very long.

I am hoping we will be scheduling a discussion group get together soon. It has been far too long since we’ve had any kind of meeting. I have suggested we meet at Holiday city hall where they have several meeting rooms of various sizes and plenty of parking. There are also outdoor facilities for a barbeque when weather permits. I am looking forward to springtime and getting together with some rational free thinking folks.

—Robert Lane
HoU Board member

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Hag-Seed

~Book Review~

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author with more than 35 volumes of fiction, poetry, children’s literature, and non-fiction to her credit. She is perhaps most famous for her Handmaid’s Tale.

Hag-Seed is a retelling of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest; indeed, the story is retold several times through the eyes of different characters of the novel. Felix, the book’s main character, is shocked when his planned production of Tempest at a Theater Festival is cancelled with political machinations at his longtime employer. He goes incognito, adopts a second persona, and contacts a local prison and uses inmates to film a production of Shakespeare’s farewell play.

The Tempest is among my favorites of Shakespeare’s plays, I’ve seen it many times over the years. I really enjoyed this book; while I no longer read books, I listened to it on Audible narrated by R.H. Thompson who does an amazing job of reading. Felix and other characters have active, some extremely active, imaginations and Thompson’s characterizations add a great deal of context to the novel.

The title Hag-Seed means the progeny of a witch. Caliban was birthed by Sycorax, is one of the leading characters in the story. He is a monster that Prospero, the main character who has been exiled to an island with his young daughter Miranda enslaves. Caliban, I learned in my class at university in 1972 and 73, may have been inspired by early17^th century explorers returning to England from the New World who brought Native Americans with them to display in Court. Besides Caliban there is a spirit character named Ariel who was imprisoned within a tree by Sycorax who does not actually appear in the play. Ariel was released from the tree by Prospero but had to serve him to earn freedom. It is Ariel who created the tempest and directed much of the confusion among the other characters.

A New York Times book review says, “A marvel of gorgeous yet economical prose, in the service of a story that’s utterly heartbreaking yet pierced by humor, with a plot that retains considerable subtlety even as the original’s back story falls neatly into place.” If you decide to read this book and are not familiar with the play, I suggest you start with the Epilogue (chapter 50 in Audible version) which as a succinct summary of Shakespeare’s story) which will help you follow the sometimes rambling development of the story’s many threads.

—Wayne Wilson
HoU Board Member

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Let Your Resolutions Be

Dissatisfaction is the American religion, or at least a key tenet of doctrine (gun worship is a different topic for another time). My general summary of the global religion is consumerist death cult. We exchange our life for stuff, waste our time for and with stuff, and throw it all away, too often throwing ourselves away in the process.

This is why wellness is an act of revolution. Contentment is an act of revolution. When we are well, when we are at peace, we become heretics. It is true that drive and dissatisfaction also improve lives and change the world, but perspective and framing matter tremendously.

That is why in this January column I urge you to let your New Year’s Resolutions be. Let your goals be. Let yourself be.

The secret to change is to realize that no change is needed.

See, heresy. We all need to change, to be better! we protest. We also need to buy more and debt more. In fact, we could call the current approach to wellness emotional and existential debt. We are supposed to feel like we never have enough and never are enough.

This becomes the most ironic when applied to the wellness industry, supposedly designed to help us become simultaneously more peaceful and successful. The problem is, since most consumerism is based on dissatisfaction, if we become more peaceful and successful, we will become worse wellness customers. The wellness industry is dependent on us not getting well! Or at least relapsing. But we need to remain dependent to the products and programs pitched our way.

So, what does this have to do with New Year’s Resolutions? Let’s get practical. I have found it powerful to differentiate our dreams, our goals, our intentions on one hand and our actions, behavior, and patterns on the other. With our every thought, word, and action, we are training ourselves and those around us. Our bodies notice the patterns. So, around this time, our bodies might say, “Oh right! It’s time to join a gym or say we are going to change our diet! Then we will work for two weeks, then we get to go back to what we are doing now!”

A key step around this self-defeating pattern is to bring our goals and actions into alignment. And that doesn’t always mean push harder and do more. We can get honest and serious about what we really want. Within the overwhelming systems of which we are a part (another important topic for another time,) we behave in ways that get us what we want at some level.

Gentle honesty and discernment are so important, because we are so quick to label things good or bad, productive, or destructive. I playfully call myself a devout agnostic (which makes for great conversations as a Chaplain,) and this curious, playful not-knowing is a core tenet of Buddhism as well. What is good? What is best? We don’t always know. Hindsight helps, but even hindsight is mostly after-the-fact storytelling anchored in our biases and worldview. Yuval Harari stated that we seem normal when our delusions match the delusions of those around us.

So perhaps part of your Humanist beginning of the year ritual can be to get curious with yourself. Get compassionate with yourself. And most of all, with this curious and compassionate way of being, love and accept yourself as you are, in this moment, right now. I don’t mean that in a trite, cliche way. I mean that in an earnest, effortful way. Take seriously how you are, how you behave. Now let’s get back to dreams, goals, and behavior.

Dreams. Let your dreams have their own life. Too often we think of our dreams with disappointment, thinking of the things we wish we could have done or become. But our dreams are worthwhile as they are! Our dreams elevate us into a higher view of ourselves, adventures in possibility. Our dreams teach us about our values. Yes, some dreams should be released, especially the ones projected onto us, but all of our dreams provide us information about who we are and who we could be.

Goals. Goals can be powerful, especially when we relationship with them more gently. Goals are intentions relating to future behavior. I organize my life in part by using notebooks (so many notebooks), and I realized that I was harming myself with my “To Do” notebook of daily tasks. Now, I love to-do lists, but I realized that I was making lists and leaving most boxes unchecked, most tasks uncompleted. So what I did was I made another notebook, an “Intention” notebook. And I changed my “To Do” notebook to a “Done” notebook. I write down the list of what I need to get done in my Intention notebook, and then I only write down tasks in my “Done” notebook when they are finished (or when I know for certain that I will get something done, because I have to.) Instead of conditioning myself into the story that I am not following through on my tasks, I am discerning my intentions and feel a sense of accomplishment whenever I write down what I have done.

Behavior. It is true that we are made up of our actions and habits and patterns. Describing your weekly patterns is a powerful practice that helps you see where you are right now.

My favorite three assessment questions are these: What is it like to be you? What do you want to do about it? What do you need? Instead of pushing ourselves with a list of goals, demands about where we should be, we can start with a gentle inventory of where we are now. We can explore our behavior and patterns, our fears, and our values. And then we can bring that clarity into relationship with our dreams and goals and find a way to achieve those goals and dreams in a way that aligns with who we are, no transformation necessary.

Happy New Year. You’ve already got this.

And now I can check the done box on writing this column.

—Jared Anderson
HoU Chaplain

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Silver and Gold

George Will, well-known conservative and libertarian columnist opines that our Constitution is a “Frame” to protect the more valuable document that is our Declaration of Independence. The Declaration arose from the Enlightenment, that period of history which marked a return to Renaissance principles that human knowledge is more important than the dogma of authoritarian rule which has dominated most of human history. “Frames are important, and silver is precious, but what is framed is more important and gold is more precious,” writes Will in the in the July 2019 issue of the National Review. (https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/declaration-of-independence-illuminates-constitution/). Our Constitution is silver, but the Declaration of Independence is gold.

Self-described Constitutional Originalists, perhaps valuing silver more highly than gold often dismiss the Declaration. A couple of examples will serve to illustrate my point: Consider the phrase oft used by Originalists, “Life, Liberty, and Property,” which is derived found in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The “golden” version of these points is of course, “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness” from the Declaration. Please note that the Founders who created the Constitutional Frame were all white, male, landowners. It should be no surprise their personal prejudices leaked into the building of the Frame. The Electoral College vote is perhaps the most glaring example of the Constitution being out of step with the Declaration. The 17^th Amendment, which called for State’s populations to elect National Senators directly; before it’s passage in 1912 Senators were elected/appointed by State Legislatures. Without Electoral College George W. Bush would not have been elected President; much less the twice-impeached one.

Why are rights enjoyed by some citizens not enjoyed by fellow citizens who live in different state? Isn’t the right to vote shared by all? Why don’t we have national standards about how elections are administered; voted on, counted, and accepted. Why are all women not able to make determinations on how, when, and if they reproduce?

The United State of America is a wonderful place to live, but not quite perfect. One of the finest features of our Constitution is that it can be amended. I support the concept that is the first line: We the People. Couple this with Lincoln’s, “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” from his Gettysburg Address and the result what I think should be philosophy of our government.

—Wayne Wilson

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Meltdown

I’ve been enjoying this fall season a lot the last couple of weeks. Living where I do, in Holladay at the foot of Mt. Olympus, the view is spectacular. The mountain itself is awesome as you must look up to see the top of the mountain from where I live. While most residents in this valley are seeing the sun rise, it’s nearly an hour or more before we see the sun here. Lately, in the late afternoon and near sunset, the sun really brings to life the autumn colors. And for the last couple of days, the foliage colors are enhanced by the mountain being snowcapped. It’s delightful to be able to sit and take a good long look.

I chose Meltdown as the title of this column because Amy bought me the latest Scientific American titled “Meltdown,” which is referring to the main article, “The Coming Collapse.” The article is about the ongoing study of the Thwaites Ice Shelf and glacier on the Antarctic continent and how those studies have them predicting that the shelf will break off a lot sooner than previously predicted. The shelf covers about 1,000 square kilometers extending out some 50 kilometers and is part of a much larger glacier which holds enough ice to raise sea levels by about two feet. This coming collapse would be more surprising if we hadn’t been seeing news about giant icebergs coming off Antarctica for decades. One thing the findings of these studies points to is that things are happening sooner than the estimates from thirty years ago. The article is well written, fairly long and packed with information.

Thinking about thirty years ago reminded me of one of the dumbest examples ever used to poo poo the scientific prediction that melting ice will raise sea levels. It goes something like this. If you have a glass of water with ice in it and the ice melts, the level in the glass does not rise. Well, that is basically right, but the fact is that most of the ice on this planet is not in the oceans, it is on land, i.e., mountain glaciers, Antarctica, Greenland, northern areas of Canada and Russia. That’s the kind of crap you hear on talk radio and garbage web sites where real science is nowhere to be found.

Another Magazine I have been reading lately is the one I now receive as a member of the Population Connection. It’s a high-quality magazine with articles like “New United Nations Population Estimates and projections.” This latest issue also states the prediction that the global population will reach 8 billion on November 15 this year. I feel this group is also on the right track as they advocate for the empowerment of women as one of the main ways to slow population growth. I think you should check them out.

—Robert Lane

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President’s Message

Autumn Greetings!

Back to school is upon us and a level of normalcy is coming back around as the heat starts to subside. It’s interesting, the term “normalcy”. With the pandemic, it shook all of our lives to the core and redefined what we all knew and counted on in our societies, our personal and also professional lives. With this, comes responsibility and defining what your comfort level is in engaging with others. These have been tough questions. Especially if you are a social person, like me. I am so grateful for technology that has allowed us to stay in contact with others and to try to maintain a positive forward outlook, but it all still misses the human element. I believe that is critical for our connections to include sharing physical spaces with each other and face to face interactions. But how do we do this safely? Again, what are your comfort levels? Do you ever think that we will be able to go back to the way things were? Can you feel comfortable in open spaces with lots of people? These are good questions? I know there are so many other factors too, in each of our own lives. Sometimes, timing is a key element to how much we can participate in social gatherings and events.

As a board, we are going to be evaluating the current situation and heavily discussing where we stand as a group. Many of you have reached out and asked if we will be meeting again soon. This is a very good question and will be a main focus at our meeting. We will be discussing the upcoming holiday season, possibly having our annual BBQ (a little later than usual) and many of the suggestions that you, as our humanist community has asked about. We are excited to explore the next chapter of our organization and see if it is time for us to hybridize as we work to going back to the activities and meetings that we all enjoy and love.

We would love to hear from you. We miss you and hope you are all happy, safe, and well. We hope that back to school season is a good one for your reflection and studies on things that are important to you. As humanists, we are looking forward to helping those around us and to continue on our paths of learning, action with ethics and reason and continued knowledge.

I send my best wishes to you all. See you very soon!

Kindest regards,
Melanie White-Curtis
HoU President

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James Madison

Remembering the Founders

There has been so much discussion during the political turmoil over the past decade about the Constitution, rights, responsibilities, and the Declaration of Independence. However, most do not know or even understand how they came into being and who actually constructed them.

James Madison Jr. is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for his crucial role in drafting and promoting both the Constitution of the United States and The Bill of Rights.

He was born in Virginia to a prominent planter family. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress during and after the American Revolutionary War.

Due to his disillusionment of how weak the national government was (it was established by the Articles of Confederation), he helped organize the Constitutional Convention, where a new constitution was produced. Madison was one of the most influential individuals at the convention. His Virginia Plan served as the basis for the convention’s deliberations. It was during this convention, that he pushed heavily to strengthen the states unity and to establish laws and protections for America, her lands and her people. He said, “a crisis has arrived which was to decide whether the American experiment was to be a blessing to the world, or to blast forever the hopes which the republican cause had inspired.” He committed to an intense study of law and political theory. He sought out works on international law and both ancient and modern constitutions. He came to believe the US could improve upon past experiments by its size. With so many district interests competing against each other, James hoped to minimize the abuses of majority rule. This is one of the many motivations he returned to Congress in 1787.

He became one of the leaders in the movement to ratify the Constitution and along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, created and wrote The Federalist Papers. This series of pro ratification essays are still considered one of the most influential works of political science in American history.

James emerged as an important leader in the House of Representatives and was a close advisor to President George Washington. in the late 1790’s James opposed the economic program and it’s accompanying centralization of power favored by current Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton. He organized the Democratic-Republican Party in opposition to Hamilton’s Federalist Party. When Thomas Jefferson was elected president, James served as his Secretary of State from 1801-1809. While in that position, he supervised the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the US.

James Madison won the 1808 presidential election after he contested it. Due to the diplomatic protests and trade embargo failures with the British seizures of American shipping, he led the US into the War of 1812. The war was ultimately inconclusive and more of an administrative mess, but a majority of the American people saw it as a successful “second war of independence” against Britain. As the war progressed, James won the next election in 1812. One of the best things of the war was that he realized that it was critical to create a stronger federal government.

He presided over the creation of the Second Bank of the United States and the enactment of the protective Tariff of 1816. In 1817, James Madison retired from public office and returned to his plantation in Montpelier, VA where he passed away in 1836.

Kindest regards,
Melanie White-Curtis
HoU President

· Feldman, Noah (2017). The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President. Random House.

· “The Life of James Madison”. The Montpelier Foundation. Retrieved February 14, 2017.

· The White House Presidents—James Madison

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What Is Not and What Is Happening

I’ve probably already mentioned this before, but the Congressional hearings into the January 6th insurrection have been quite interesting. Being retired I have the flexibility to be able to watch them all. It’s the one thing lately that gives me hope that the truth will and is being presented to the public. It is becoming clear to me that the former (fake) president and his cadre of fools committed several crimes. I’m hopeful that many will be charged in the coming months. That’s what’s happening lately for the good.

One thing that really surprised and delighted me is that finally we have real movement on the environmental front. The passage of the “Inflation Reduction Act” looks like we are finally starting to have meaningful action on the environment. At last, there is a sense of urgency about a crisis we quite literally are already experiencing. Climate change is not just a theory anymore and time is running out. If humanity doesn’t get its act together soon, politics will not matter much if we are facing famines, droughts, severe weather, etc. presently we are seeing record breaking head and the subsequent and inevitable fires. The coral reefs are dying, the South American rain forest is still being cut down at an increased and alarming rate. Acidification of the oceans is ongoing and if we lose the oceans ecosystems then we are pretty much toast as the saying goes. That said it is hard for me to understand what inflation reduction has to do with the environment.

Amy and I have been busy lately, we’ve traveled, and we have visitors as I’m writing this note for the newsletter, and we will have other visitors soon. We are happy to have friends and relatives visit us. Reconnecting, reminiscing, and partying with loved ones are some of life’s greatest pleasures. We have both decided we need to do more visiting and being visited and are going to make sure we do it. Being around friends and relatives also reminds me of how this ongoing pandemic is keeping us, as a group of humanists, from being able to have gathering. I’m not sure how but I hope we can get together soon. I keep saying it, but I do miss our socials and Darwin Day and all the interesting speakers we have had through the years.

That’s about it for now, stay cool and safe and I hope to see you soon.

—Robert Lane
HoU Board Member

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Christian Nation?

Not According To These Founding Fathers

More than half of the residents in 11 Southern states believe the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation, according to the Winthrop Poll Southern Focus Survey. This doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who lives in the Bible Belt. You probably don’t have to think back too far to remember the last time someone made that claim.

While humanists aren’t surprised by the results of the poll, religious southerners might be shocked by the truth.

Many of the founding fathers were so skeptical about religion they would have a hard time getting elected today.

George Washington

George Washington was technically an Anglican, but many of his contemporaries referred to him as a deist, a label that Washington himself seemed to embrace when you consider the way he described god and religion. While deists do believe in god, they don’t believe he intervenes in the universe. Basically, they don’t see god as some supernatural entity that interacts with humans. He referred to god as a “supreme architect,” showing that while he believed in god, he didn’t necessarily believe that god was pulling the strings on the earth.

This isn’t just about his belief in god, though. It’s also about the way he viewed religious freedom. Washington was a staunch advocate of religious freedom for all regions, not just Christians. He stated he wouldn’t have signed the constitution if it had endangered the religious rights of any group, not just Christians.

“All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.”

It’s clear that Washington didn’t believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and he did everything in his power to embrace all religions.

John Adams

When Christians talk about the United States being founded as a Christian nation, they must be ignoring John Adams. While he was part of the Congregationalist church, he was actually a Unitarian who didn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus.

One just has to turn to Adams’ own diary to see how much he rejected this core Christian belief. “A pleasant morning. Saw my classmates Gardner, and Wheeler. Wheeler dined, spent the afternoon, and drank Tea with me. Supped at Major Gardiners, and engag’d to keep School at Bristol, provided Worcester People, at their ensuing March meeting, should change this into a moving School, not otherwise. Major Greene this Evening fell into some conversation with me about the Divinity and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ. All the Argument he advanced was, ‘that a mere creature, or finite Being, could not make Satisfaction to infinite justice, for any Crimes,’ and that ‘these things are very mysterious.’ (Thus mystery is made a convenient Cover for absurdity.)”

Adams also signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which states, “The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.”

So, it’s probably safe to say Adams wasn’t into the idea of a Christian nation.

Thomas Jefferson

If you want to know Thomas Jefferson’s religious views, you don’t need to look any further than the “Jefferson Bible.” Jefferson edited the New Testament, taking out all the miracles while leaving behind Jesus’s moral teachings. Basically, he liked what Jesus had to say from a moral standpoint, but he didn’t care for all the supernatural miracles that didn’t make any sense.

He was also concerned about religion creeping into the government, and famously used the phrase “wall of separation between church and state” when talking about the First Amendment. Many members of the religious right like to say that the founding fathers didn’t intend to have a separation of church and state, but Jefferson made it very clear that was the intention.

And Many More

The list goes on and on. James Madison, Thomas Paine, and others made it clear that they had no interest in forming a Christian nation. The next time someone tells you otherwise, show them this post and let the facts do the talking.

—by Amy Blue
Mississippi Humanist Association
December 2018

This subject was addressed in HoU’s 2006 Newsletter:

How Religious Were America’s Founders?

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