Was Benjamin Franklin a Christian?

[Thumpalumpacus]

I find many American's treatment of the founding fathers as some kind of messianic figures, whose intentions were magical, mildly amusing. Of course it is nice to have some sort of reference frame to point to, but damn it, who cares what they thought and believed? Does anyone find democratic principles, secularism, the constitution to be persuasive because some old farts said so? What if it turned out that Hitler of all people was secretly ghost writing the bill of rights as a joke (*)? It would make no difference at all.


(*) anachronism used on purpose to heighten drama

I've had this discussion with friends on other forums. The fetishization of what we think of as the "intent" of the "founding fathers" is bullshit, in my view. They themselves laid out the amendment process precisely because they knew that what they were working on would not stand the test of time without adjustment.

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Indeed, it's the values that are important, not the people who preach them.

Exactly.