Actually, most were very involved in their churches from what I understand. Here are some quotes that Gundam failed to include (in fact, they contradict the ones he posted - only thing I can think of is that the quotes I and he found were from different periods of time and the people came around (or renegged) on christianity):
Thomas Jefferson called the Bible the cornerstone for American liberty and wanted it placed in our schools as the light that should lead the way.
John Adams, Second President of the USA
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” [October 11, 1798]
Charles Carroll, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
“Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure… are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”
George Washington, First President of the USA during his Farewell Address:
“…reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle…”
Noah Webster
“The duties of men are summarily comprised in the Ten Commandments, consisting of two tables; one comprehending the duties which we owe immediately to God-the other, the duties we owe to our fellow men.”
“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed… No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.” [Source: 1828, in the preface to his American Dictionary of the English Language]
John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the USA
“The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.” [Source: Letters to his son. p. 61].
Abe Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation
Will be the philosophy of the government of the next”
James Madison, Fourth President of the USA
“ We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all of our heart. We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity… to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia]
While they were smart to keep the two separate…they knew the power that being of faith had in raising strong morals in people. This isn’t to say that someone who doesn’t go to church can’t be a good person (heck, I think that some people who aren’t ‘christian’ will be saved on judgement day just like the man on the cross next to Jesus who asked him to remember him when he arrived at his throne).
God will judge all people accordingly…if you didn’t go to church but were an upstanding citizen, never committed a serious crime, and helped your fellow man next to you out…I think that will help you.
But anyway…that’s my $0.02. Whether you agree with me or not is of no significance to me. I’m just saying. America was most definitely a ‘christian nation’ if you look at it’s history. Those days have long since passed and here we are.