That was actually John Adams who wrote that in the Treaty of Tripoli. You might notice he is the same author as the previous quote I cited. They were trying to cut a deal with Muslims whose pirates were raiding our ships. It was an act of geopolitics moreso than an accurate representation of his beliefs as he was trying to reassure their ruler that there would be no enmity between the two nations on account of religion.

That was actually John Adams who wrote that in the Treaty of Tripoli. You might notice he is the same author as the previous quote I cited. They were trying to cut a deal with Muslims whose pirates were raiding our ships. It was an act of geopolitics moreso than an accurate representation of his beliefs as he was trying to reassure their ruler that there would be no enmity between the two nations on account of religion.

Adams was also a Unitarian who was extremely hostile toward Catholicism and thought the idea of Jesus’ divinity was ridiculous. At the same time, he took the basic notions of traditional Christian morality for granted. In other words, that quote is not in fact an accurate picture of the Founders' true beliefs on the matter.