Many on the religious right often refer to the U.S as a Christian nation and refer to the founding fathers as good Christians who would be appalled by how far we’ve allowed our culture to fall from grace. Now history clearly doesn’t bear out these mythical theocratic roots, a point made ever more clear by the so-called Jefferson Bible.

The Jefferson bible is a 46 page book put together by Thomas Jefferson by clipping out the parts of the Gospel he agreed with and pasting them together into what he thought was a much more coherent and believable story. He eliminates the contradictions found in the bible, but also culls any mention of miracles, including the resurrection. This was consistent with his Deist beliefs. Beliefs shared by Washington, and may others of the Revolutionary Era’s upper class.

I find it hard to believe any modern Evangelical Christian would even tolerate the notion of cutting a bible up, much less picking and choosing the parts you like. Yet these are the people who seem to continually boost the founding fathers onto a theological pedestal. Ironically, this is the act that would be most appalling to many of our founders.