... In the course of the opposition to the bill in the House of Delegates, which was warm & strenuous from some of the minority, an experiment was made on the reverence entertained for the name & sanctity of the Saviour, by proposing to insert the words “Jesus Christ” after the words “our lord” in the preamble, the object of which, would have been, to imply a restriction of the liberty defined in the Bill, to those professing his religion only. The amendment was discussed, and rejected by a vote of [“In a committee of the whole it was determined, by a majority of 7 or 8, that the word ‘Christian’ should be exchanged for the the word ‘Religious’.”] against (See letter of J. M. to Mr Jefferson dated [Jan. 9, 1785]) [...]How about some other Founding Fathers' quotes?
Thomas Jefferson was quite clear:
"The bill for establishing religious freedom, the principles of which had, to a certain degree, been enacted before, I had drawn in all the latitude of reason & right. It still met with opposition; but, with some mutilations in the preamble, it was finally passed; and a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohametan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination."I'm sure there are many more.
"Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion."
--John Adams
Arguing against the inclusion of a reference to Jesus Christ in the Virgina Bill of Rights, Madison claimed, "The better proof of reverence for that holy name would be not to profane it by making it a topic of legislative discussion...." Not very secular reasoning there.