Founders didn't want a national religion

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Many of the founders of this nation were individuals who had abandoned European theocracies and desired to clearly separate an individual's beliefs from a national religion. It is clearly stated in Article VI of our Constitution that: "... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

This does not prohibit any religious belief or lack of belief by an individual, but it does clearly state that our nation is not to be a nation defined by any religious belief.

George Washington and John Adams were both individuals of the Christian faith, but the United States was not founded as a Christian nation. A portion of the terms of the treaty with Tripoli, drafted in 1796 under George Washington and signed by John Adams in 1797, reads: "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility" (of others).

This separation of an individual's belief and the lack of a national belief is one of the great strengths of individual freedom within our nation.

David I. Rasmussen
Ogden

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