Deism, the Enlightenment, and the Founding of America

Deism was a belief at the heart of the movement known today as the Enlightenment, that wonderful period of human history which marked the transition from church-dominated politics to the belief in individual rights and freedoms. Deism maintained belief in a divine order to the universe, minus the presence of an all-mighty and intervening god-being. Their belief was that any creator was powerless in controlling what he/she/it created.

While many American Christians like to refer to America as a Christian nation, and our founding fathers as Christians, they fail to understand that the Christianity of the most influential founders had little to do with modern-day Christianity. Their Christianity was neither sectarian nor evangelical nor socialistic nor prudish. Rather, it was sternly against all of these trends.

The religion of the founding fathers was based upon the divinely-granted and inalienable rights of individuals. They believed that the freedom of individuals was the safeguard of a free and prosperous society. They assured that there would be no state religion nor any church-dominated government. Individuals would have the freedom to think freely, speak freely, pursue their own goals and dreams, set their own motivations, protect themselves, and amass wealth as they would see fit. Individuals were free in all of this as long as they did not infringe upon the rights of others. Importantly, the government did not have the right to set any restrictions except to protect the rights of individuals and assure the common good.

Contrast this with the social trends in the world today. More regulations are set daily in western nations in the interest of "fairness." Even the word "fairness" gets re-translated as the non-working reaping the rewards of the labor of others. Our current U.S. president commented on his vision of the free market providing wealth to be "shared across the board." This view has absolutely nothing to do with the vision of the founders of this nation, who would recognize "wealth redistribution" as the robbing of the achiever and the de-motivating of the unproductive. Under the guise of economic stimulus, our nation has already witnessed wealth redistribution and government infringement in the private sector to a level inconceivable merely decades ago.

Under the current U.S. government, the medieval Christian and Islamic values have gained dominance over the deistic values of the founding fathers. We have taken a major historical step backwards in the development of a free society. The higher authority is being established in the U.S. government, which will determine instead what is "fair" and what is not. The choice is no longer left to the decisions of individuals in their routine conduct of business.