George Washington wrote in response to a group of ministers who asked him to put Christianity into the Constitution, ”… I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. To this consideration we ought to ascribe the absence of any regulation, respecting religion, from the [Constitution] of our country. … To the guidance of the Ministers of the gospel, this important object is, perhaps, more properly committed — It will be to your care to instruct the ignorant and to reclaim the devious — and, in the progress of morality and science, to which our government will give every furtherance, we may confidently expect the advancement of true religion, and the completion of our happiness.”
Not surprisingly, the matter did not surface again in Washington’s presidency, and neither government nor religion would appear impaired as a result.
Rather, he may be saying that “morality and science” are the true religion.
What do you think?
