Deist or no deist?

Re “A founding father’s view of God,” July 5

Thomas Jefferson is described as a deist who believed in a God detached from mankind. Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence contradicts this assertion insofar as he depicts therein a belief in a caring God whose concern for men is such that they are “created equal” and “endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Jefferson also, apparently, did not have a strong dislike of organized religion. While he was the ambassador to France, he sent his daughters to a convent school.

John F. Haggerty

Woodland Hills

The Times fell for the oft-repeated theory that George Washington was a deist. Washington was a devout Episcopalian, active in the establishment and financial support of the local church near Mount Vernon.

Washington’s contemporaries viewed him as a Christian. The great Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, “Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere believer in the Christian faith and a truly devout man.” The reason Washington is so often placed in the deist camp is likely because of his use of “politically correct” language. Washington often used the word “providence,” which at the time was a noncommittal method of saying God. Washington was very much in favor of religious freedom and stated that every person should be permitted to seek God in the religion of his choice.

It is time to set the record straight. Washington, along with most of our founding fathers, was a Christian. There were a few deists, but deism was thought to be an odd way to worship by most of our founding fathers.

David Wilson

Redondo Beach

The writer is pastor of the Grant Avenue Baptist Church.