Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers | Brooke Allen

Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers | Brooke Allen | The Moral Minority

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	Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers Brooke Allen Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2006 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The guiding spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, Ms. Allen explains, was not Jesus Christ but John Locke. In direct and accessible prose, she provides fascinating chapters on the religious lives of the six men she considers the key Founding Fathers: Franklin, Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton. Far from being the conventional pious Christians we too often imagine, these men were skeptical intellectuals, in some cases not even Christians at all. Enlivened by generous portions of the founders' own incomparable prose, Moral Minority makes an impassioned and scintillating contribution to the ongoing debate--more heated now than ever before--over the separation of church and state and the role (or lack thereof) of religion in government.

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A Tidy Little Dynamo of a Book

Brooke Allen's 'Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers' could hardly be more necessary coming as it does during the reign of a President who uses federal funds to directly promote religion and a Supreme Court that refuses to allow review of same (Hein v. FFRF).

As Allen demonstrates in this tidy little dynamo of a book our primary founders were men of the Enlightenment, skeptical of faith and devoted to reason. Allen's subjects are Washington, Franklin, John Adams, Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton. Allen presents six biographical essays focusing as her preface states on their "attitudes toward religion in general, and Christianity in particular".

A final chapter that takes up nearly a quarter of the book's 183 pages gives the reader a concise summary of the Enlightenment background as well the 16th-17th century religious turmoil in England from which these leaders ultimately sprang. We read of David Hume refuting intelligent design in 1757 and of retaining a `deliberate doubt' due to lack of evidence. Hume concluded that "the whole is a riddle, an aenigma, an inexplicable mystery. Doubt, uncertainty, suspense of judgment appear the only result of our most accurate scrutiny." One only wishes that Hume had lived to see Darwin blast away these doubts a century later.

Allen does not uncover much new, but she brings it together in an imminently interesting and admirably concise way. George Washington does not give up any secrets, but the evidence suggests at least by strong negative inference that Washington was not a Christian or at most a very half-hearted one. He generally declined to take the sacrament and when a preacher called him on this behavior as setting a bad example for others Washington agreed and never attended church on sacramental Sunday again! (Perhaps more interesting, Allen discloses that most worshippers at least in Washington's church typically departed before taking the sacrament).

An excellent antidote to the nonsense passed around as 'common knowledge' these days. This reader appreciates more and more a writer who can make her point without drowning the reader in needless repetition. Allen succeeds. Very highly recommended.

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The Moral Minority

I highly recommend this one, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Found it to be quite informative and easy to read. Hard to put down. A necessity for the history buff. Every youngster in school should read it, and especially those who are confused about the Bill of Rights and why it was put in the Constitution. Some readers may want to follow up with a copy of the Federalist Papers, though this book excerpts the pertinent parts very well.

Good, could have been Excellent with a few changes

Many are unaware of that our Founding Fathers refused to establish a "Christian" nation and fought vehemently the idea of a religious test or national religion. The consequence of a secular goverment is the paradoxical flowering of religious expression. America remains one of the most religious nations on Earth despite the attitudes of the "ruling classes" reflected in the Northeast. With the loss of political, financial and social power those views have diminished and the civil ecumencalism that once characterized our nation is no more. The American experiment was unique in the quality and quantity of enlightened intellectuals at this time in history. One could almost infer the hand of Privdence (lol). As sons of the Enlightenment and witnesses to Europe's religious persecution, they came up with a truly revolutionary idea - religious freedom (as opposed to tolerance). One could worship where one wished OR not worship at all. What mattered was civil duty and obedience to civil law that guaranteed rights for the minority in every situation. The Constitution was the summation of the Enlightenment with its emphasis on checks and balances, moeration, natural law and individual freedom.

Ms Allen gives us a brief biographty of six revolutionary "greats" - Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton and Madison. From their own words she infers that all were, at best, deists though for political reasons most were affiliated with a church. Their heroes were men like Locke, Adam Smith, Aristotle (NOT Plato), Joseph Priestly...all men of moderation and rationality. One cannot help but smile at Franklin who, in his popularity with friend and foe alike, reminds one of the great 19th century atheist, Robert Ingersoll, who was chosen to nominate James Blaine for President at the 1876 Republican convention. Washington remains a towering model of silent virtue. Jefferson, a vindictive hypocrite, believed his secular university was his most important accomplishment. Adams, my hero, was willing to change his core beliefs as he matured. Madison's zeal for religious freedom was unsurpassed and Hamilton buttressed Washington with intellectual vigor.

So why not five stars? First was the repitition -lots and lots of it. Second was the brevity - it was more a bookette than a book. Third and the worst was snide remarks against current politicians that was funny the first time but by the fifth it grows weary. She describes historical events in current political terms..."political right", "Fundamentalists", etc. The remarks diminish the book and its message as it appears partisan. Following the biographies was a description of the social and intellectual world of the time. This is important since no one derives their beliefs in a vaccuum.

Politicians have long used religion for political purposes. One recalls Clinton speaking in churches, invoking God, "preaching to the saved", publicly turning to preachers & prayer when caught in adultry. Bush's faith based initiaves cross the line no matter how well intended and the use of ideology over science is disturbing. Ashcroft's Bible studies are unacceptable. Even freethinkers like Howard Dean feel the need to prove their faith. In his case it was the hilarious comment that Job was his favorite book of the NEW Testament (lol). Men and women who never spoke of faith suddenly "get religion" on the campaign trail, "sharing" their most personal beliefs to the audience at hand. This will only stop when we recognize the secular nature of our republic and its founders.

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Awesome

First off I love this book. It is conscice, easy to read, and suprisingly interesting. I took this book out from my city library (I totally have to put in a good word for libraries right now. All you do is buy one measly membership card and you have access to a practically endless supply of books? So rad!). Anywhoo I chose to read this particular book because I am currently taking a class on the revolutionary war at my local community college. We have talked about Locke, Paine, and the Englightenment in depth. The philosophical portion of the class has been my favorite part so far. I checked this book out of the library because I thought that it may be useful for an extensive research paper that I have just begun preparing for; the fact that the subject matter really intrests me is just a sweet bonus. This book made a solid and compelling case for the argument that our country was not founded on Christian values but rather on the principle that the line between church and state should be clearly delineated. I totally recommend this book. Before reading Moral Minority I was required to read the Autobiography of Bejamin Franklin. That book left me disgusted by its famous subject and his fellow founding fathers. Moral Minority has renewed my interest in our country's early history and has helped to redeem Franklin in my eyes (somewhat!). In closing... read this book!!!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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