Good to see Sholto being schooled by his own newspaper

While a thought provoking article, I think it is filled with a bit too much wishful thinking, and projection of the author. I wish it were really a true reflection of our history, because the thing we need the most in the US is a dose of rationality!

Just like to remind people that the first RC to be elected President was JFK. So far no Jew Muslim or Hindu has been elected so far, but the day will surely come. I doubt if Jefferson was really an atheist; no President has been so far remembering the mores of the times. Nixon prayed on his knees for guidance when he was at his lowest ebb and Carter was an old southern christian democrat.

All the evidence I have read indicates that George Washington did believe in a supernatural God that went further than standard deism - could you please provide a reference for your stories about communion and not attending church?

moronamid, you Christians like to prove your total lack of any moral values, and your breathtaking stupidity, with your constant threats of torture. Nobody is a better advertisement for atheism than uneducated Christian morons like yourself.

http://darwinkilledgod.blogspot.com/

Michael Martin Jr., Washington was not a Catholic. See my earlier post on the 12th.

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Best regards for you all,

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I'm an American atheist.

Lincoln's attitudes toward religion were complex and intensely personal (One of the best examinations of this is in a chapter of Susan Jacoby's Book "Freethinkers"). I like to summarize Lincoln's stance as "I suppose there is a God, but none of us can be sure that He is on our side." Although his personal beliefs are extremely difficult to pin down, Lincoln knew how to evoke religious imagery and religious words in his speeches, and he did this frequently, including a Thanksgiving proclamation in 1863, which was the first time that American holiday was officially placed in late November.

To a greater extent, Washington also used religious language in his public speeches and writings, consistent with his vague deism and American exceptionalism (his cautious, hopeful conviction that providence had smiled upon, and might continue to favor, a young nation). The story of Washington leaving church services before Communion -- and then deciding to stop going altogether -- was told in Jonathan Miller's TV series "A Brief History of Disbelief." I don't know what the primary source is for the notion that he stopped going to church altogether, but Dr. Miller's TV series made this claim.

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Lincoln all regarded religion and "faith" as purely private matters.

"With respect to the inquiry you make, I can only state the following facts: that as pastor of the Episcopal Church, observing that, on sacramental Sundays George Washington, immediately after the desk and pulpit services, went out with the greater part of the congregation -- always leaving Mrs. Washington with the other communicants -- she invariably being one -- I considered it my duty, in a sermon on public worship, to state the unhappy tendency of example, particularly of those in elevated stations, who uniformly turned their backs on the Lord's Supper. I acknowledge the remark was intended for the President; and as such he received it. A few days after, in conversation, I believe, with a Senator of the United States, he told me he had dined the day before with the President, who, in the course of conversation at the table, said that, on the previous Sunday, he had received a very just rebuke from the pulpit for always leaving the church before the administration of the sacrament; that he honored the preacher for his integrity and candor; that he had never sufficiently considered the influence of his example, and that he would not again give cause for the repetition of the reproof; and that, as he had never been a communicant, were he to become one then, it would be imputed to an ostentatious display of religious zeal, arising altogether from his elevated station. Accordingly, he never afterwards came on the morning of sacrament Sunday, though at other times he was a constant attendant in the morning."
-- The Reverend Doctor James Abercrombie

The Dark Religious Cultist can call themselves eg: (A)Theist : meaning The belief in the existence of God or a god, especially one revealed supernaturally to humans.

The word The NON Religious etc is not used.

The Dark Religious Cultist make sure they own the Human : Mind Body and Soul. Which they have had there claw on the human brain for over 6000 Evolving years BCE -

Mr.Hudson,
As an atheist I find this blog post to be poorly presented.
Starting with the title. Generally the title should be a statement supported by the content of the article itself and this wasn't the case.
Jefferson was a self-professed deist.
Washington was a deist as well even though he participated in the Anglican church.

Abraham Lincoln said, "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad and that is my religion" But the fact he didn't believe in an afterlife doesn't make him an atheist either. He was ssimply disillusioned with religion due to mourning for his son. He referenced a "higher power" "almighty" and "divine providence" often. From my reading on Lincoln I think he probably took Matthew 6:6 quite literally.
Since you were talking about vague allusions to atheism, why didn't you mention John Adams, though a Unitarian, was quite outspoken against organized religion.

The glaring ommission was James Madison. Out of all the presidents Madison was the most likely to have been an atheist.

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I agree with the comments of Josh and NoSacredCow except that I haven't run across anything that would indicate Madison was or ever became an atheist (despite whatever his views were on religion).

The following quote in the article is not quite accurate: "Washington, America's first president, did attend church services during his adulthood, but refused to take Communion. When told by the priest that he was setting a bad example by attending but refusing to participate he chose to stop going altogether."

That quote should be qualified to say, "...he chose to stop going to church on communion days altogether."

To answer Dennis Keane regarding his questions about this and Washington's deism in general....

Evidence of Washington's deism comes from the available evidence and various sources. Washington did attend various churches in different places over the years, and the later testimony of ministers of those churches (to inquiries sent them after Washington died) like the Rev. William White and the Rev. James Abercrombie indicate that he was never seen taking communion or knelling in prayer. The Rev. Abercrombie responded to one inquiry by saying "Sir, Washington was a Deist." Washington's behavior prior to receiving a reprimand from Rev. Abercrombie (where the story comes from) was confirmed by George Custis, who wrote, "On communion Sunday's, he left church with me after the blessing, and returned home, and we sent the carriage back for my grandmother."

Washington was never known have a blessing before a meal in his home unless there was a clergyman there to give one, he didn't ask for any clergy on his death bed, and he was never known to reference Jesus Christ in any letter or speech (except that he did use the word "Savior" in a short poem when he was 13). [Please be aware there are many altered or phony quotes attributed to Washington (and many of the other Founders) on the Internet.] He avoided discussing his religious opinions even when people wrote to him asking for them. He almost never used the word "God," but tended to use Deist and/or Masonic phrases like, "the Divine Architect of the Universe," "Divine Providence" or "the benign Parent of the Human Race" instead. [This is similar to the Deist references in the Declaration of Independence to a "Creator" and "Nature's God." The qualification "Nature's" before "God" was an important distinction that many overlook today.]

Also, Jefferson is on record concluding Washington was a Deist in a couple of letters, and in one he said he heard from Gouverneur Morris that Washington "believed no more in that system [Christianity] than he did."

Even the story of Washington adding "so help me God" and kissing the (Masonic) Bible at the end of his swearing in is not very well supported. [The story originated from a single source (Washington Irving) many years after the fact, who claimed to have witnessed it at the inauguration when he was a child. The story is questionable because no one else reported it before then and people who were much closer in the crowd reported having trouble hearing what he said (he had a shy voice speaking publically).]

Finally, the word "Deist" might have been used more loosely back then than people define it today. There was some range of opinion that might have included some who did think that some Supreme Being guided events on some level but who didn't buy into Jesus being the Son of God.

i don't know about George Washington but I suspect many of our presidents have been non-believers. A Deist is basically an atheist being polite. Stop and think about it: who would believe in a God who creates the universe and then goes off and is never again heard from? Personally I think the worst crimes against humanity have been committed in the name of secular creeds like communism and fascism. Read Orwell.

US wont be right until we can elect a black-atheist-lesbian for president!

What is an atheist anyway, really? Everone believes in something, even if it is family values, or Mother Earth as in Paganism, or even Star Trek Klingonism and all that.

What if someone has entered a church of any sort of concecrated ground of any flavour? Can they then claim to be atheist in the modern traditional western sense? Once crossed the porch, there is no turning back in describing yourself religiously?

Atheism is all bunkum - everyone believes in something, and can be considered a religion of sorts, even sports.

Wow, three unapologetic white supremacists, two of whom were entirely complicit in the genocide of the indigenous people and owned slaves! Definitely three men I'd be proud to call part of my circle.

Glad to see atheists have no problem treating the founding fathers like religious figures, though.

And furthermore, respect for others beliefs is the secret, wherever you come from. And not to have bigmacs shoved down your throats as we have suffered from in the last 65 years, oh yes.

Why don't we go through history with a marker pen and decide what each character might be if he had heard someone else's arguments.

The below paragraph is the most absurd thing I have ever read.

"Admittedly, Jefferson was more of a deist than an all-out atheist. However, Darwin's majestic theory of evolution by natural selection would sadly not be published in his lifetime. Considering Jefferson's brilliant scientific mind, being aware of and understanding that theory may have pushed him strongly into atheist territory"