Justice Story was quite mistaken.
Of the greatest leaders of our American Republic, only Ronald Reagan was unquestionably a Christian. Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln were all Deists.
Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, unanimously approved by the US Senate on June, 7, 1797, reads:
"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; ..."
Like all ratified treaties, this language is the law of the land here in the USA.
The seemingly endless struggle of Christian fundamentalists to rewrite history, with the aim of establishing Chritianity as the official state religion of the United States, is quite tiresome. They should at least stop asking why so few Jews vote Republican. The reason may be that they don't wish their children to be forced to recite Christian prayers in the public schools, as used to be the case not so long ago. Apparently American Jews fear Christian fundamentalists even more than Yassir Arafat.
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Oh...for a minute there I thought this was going to be a thread about a multicolored coat. :o)