Do you know that he wrote that to an Islamic leader? He wrote that the US is not a Christian nation because the Islamic leader did not want to trade with a Christian nation. In other words, it was politically expedient, not representing the facts of the matter as I've already presented.
From
Letter: Re: Letter: ‘U.S. not a Christian nation’
In a July 6 letter to the editor in the Argus Leader, David Hubbard said, “U.S. not a Christian nation,” citing John Adams as declaring, “The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” In an age of fake news, this quote is fake history. Hubbard quotes only 16 words from an 81-word-long sentence, which was part of a treaty Adams negotiated with the Muslim nation of Tripoli (now Libya) avowing that this was not a Christian nation that had an inherent hostility toward Muslims, which was the case with European Christian nations of the Crusades. But John Adams did declare that, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were ... the general principles of Christianity.” Hubbard closed by stating that we needed to keep religion away from government, “as the founding fathers intended.” Really? Then what do we make of George Washington’s final official declaration to the American people that “Of all the disposition and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness.” Washington said that anyone who tried to separate religion from government could not be considered an American patriot. Wow. This is quite different from what Hubbard portrays in his fake history.
That’s your argument?
Lol. When John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”, he is equating morality with religion. It is a partial quote that leaves out an important piece of what Adams said and an even larger piece of context about his religious views.
First of all, here's the full quote of John Adam's letter written on October 11, 1798, to the officers of the Massachusetts militia: “But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation, while it is practising iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candour, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in the rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world. Because we have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions
unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
He's using religion as a synonym for moral thinking opposed to greed, revenge, and other motives that make the workings of democracy difficult. Some people today have been using the last part of the quote to quite inaccurately claim that Adams was a supporter of organized religion and a proponent of a closer relationship between organized religion and government.
That's simply not the case.
Context demonstrates that clearly. Take this excerpt from a letter Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson on December 12, 1816: “I return the Analysis of Dupuis, with my thanks for the loan of it. It is but a faint miniature of the original. I have read that original in twelve volumes, besides a thirteenth of plates. I have been a lover and a reader of romances all my life, from Don Quixote and Gil Bias to the Scottish Chiefs, and a hundred others. For the last year or two I have devoted myself to this kind of study, and have read fifteen volumes of Grimm, seven volumes of Tucker's Neddy Search, twelve volumes of Dupuis, and Tracy's Analysis, and four volumes of Jesuitical History! Romances all! I have learned nothing of importance to me, for they have made no change in my moral or religious creed, which has, for fifty or sixty years, been contained in four short words, "
Be just and good." In this result they all agree with me. I must acknowledge, however, that I have found in Dupuis more ideas that were new to me, than in all the others. My conclusion from all of them is universal toleration. Is there any work extant so well calculated to discredit corruptions and impostures in religion as Dupuis?”
Once again Adams equates morality with his personal religious beliefs, which boil down to being “just and good.” Adams dismissed works of formal religious philosophy and theology as “romances” and equates them to fairy tales. Adam's correspondent Jefferson, of course, was a celebrated Deist who was so disdainful of religion that he famously cut much of the text out of his personal New Testament. He and Adams shared very similar sentiment.
The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from encouraging, promoting or establishing religion in any way. That's why Christianity is not the official religion of the United States, and why our government may not give financial support to any religious organization, including school voucher programs that favor schools that promote religion.
The first human inhabitants of the Americas were Asians who crossed the Bering land bridge beginning 30,000 years ago. The first white people in North America were the Scandinavian Vikings in 1000 CE, and the first Christian to set foot in the new territory (the Bahamas) was probably Christopher Columbus in 1492.
