It seems from this analysis that Washington was deliberate in the language he used, as the whole point was to make the United States inclusive to all, regardless of religious persuasion...or indeed none. It’s unfortunate that his carefully crafted words are now being hi-jacked and misinterpreted by the alt-right religious zealots who are trying to do the reverse by sowing division.

Thank you for posting this very interesting article.

I found this passge interesting "America was not Europe, where tolerance of religious minorities, where it occurred, was an act of noblesse oblige. In the United States, Washington explained, “all possess alike liberty of conscience and the immunities of citizenship.”" oh how the tables have turned as it seems parts of europe to be more tolerant these days.

Thanks for sharing this- I forwarded it to my evangelical mother- it should promote some interesting discussion

Thanks. Good read.

Definitely a good read too bad too many turn a blind eye

I think the last paragraph would be a more apt quote:

“Washington dreamed of a nation, as he wrote to Newport’s Hebrew Congregation, that gives “bigotry no sanction … persecution no assistance.” What makes Americans American, he believed, is not the direction they turn to in prayer. Rather, it is the respect they owe fellow citizens who choose to turn in a different direction—or in no direction at all.”