I wonder, though, about the functional approach that even devout Christians like Patrick Henry, or New Jersey’s John Witherspoon, adopted when discussing the need for religion in American public life. Franck raises this problem when he cites George Washington’s Farewell Address, in which Washington said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness.”
Franck asks whether Washington and the other Founders were reducing “religion to the merely useful, considering only the Christian faith’s utility in producing tractable, responsible citizens for a free republic.” Franck gives a tentative “no,” arguing that the Founders recognized that heartfelt, irreducible faith was quite common in the generation after the Great Awakening, and the Founders knew that this sincere piety, not just functional nominalist faith, was the key to producing virtue for most people.
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