Faith Works 3-6-2026
Jeff Gill
Faith and citizenship in America 250
___
When we look back to the years around 1776, which we mark this year with the America 250 celebrations marking the passage of the Declaration of Independence, distance can tend to flatten some of the differences which are more obvious in the historical record.
We are in the middle of another Middle East conflict in 2026, in opposition to a country with a state religion. But it's worth recalling that the United States isn't in opposition to Islam itself. From the Founders themselves, religious pluralism is part of our model for representative democracy, going back to John Locke, whose political philosophy was so influential on the Declaration.
Thomas Jefferson rephrased a passage from Locke's 1689 "Letter on Toleration" in his personal notebook around 1776, reminding himself that Locke: "…says neither Pagan nor Mahometan [Muslim] nor Jew ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth because of his religion." The precedents Jefferson copied from Locke echo strongly in his Virginia "Statute for Religious Freedom," which says: "(O)ur civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions."
The statute, drafted in 1777, which became law in 1786, inspired the Constitution's "no religious test" clause, and was one of the influences on what would become the First Amendment in the 1789 "Bill of Rights" which the founders quickly added to the 1787 Constitution.
Jefferson wrote in an autobiographical fragment from 1821 about his intentions with the Virginia "Statute for Religious Freedom": "[my] intent had been "to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan [Muslim], the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination."
John Adams mentioned Muhammad favorably in his 1776 book "Thoughts on Government" as a "sober inquirer for truth" along with figures like Socrates and Confucius. He also signed the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797 as president, which states that our new nation had no "enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen [Muslims]."
George Washington's views are even more expansive, if with qualification. A 1784 letter to a business associate about prospective employees for Mount Vernon says: "If they are good workmen, they may be of Assia, Africa, or Europe. They may be Mahometans, Jews, or Christian of any Sect—or they may be Athiests…"
Sadly, this is largely about the purchase of skilled tradespeople, more than the hiring of such staff. Washington, like Jefferson, was an enslaver on his properties. Later records with names of people enslaved at Mount Vernon include women's names like Fatima and Nila which strongly suggest Islamic connections, as does the Anglicized name "Sambo" from Sambou, a common name for a second son in Islamic parts of west Africa. Most scholars estimate at least 15% of enslaved Africans brought to the United States were Muslims, so the presence of that faith would have been general, if largely invisible to public records.
Yet Washington, after a visit to Newport, RI in 1790 wrote back to the Touro Synagogue and the anxious Hebrew congregation there these words: "the Government of the United States…gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." And in closing reassurance, he says "May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy."
"To bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance" are words worth holding dear in the American 250th commemoration, as is Washington's love of Micah 4:4, which he cites some 50 times in his personal correspondence.
"But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it."
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he does not have a fig tree, but hopes a shady porch will do. Tell him how you are marking this America 250 year at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on X.
Jeff Gill
Faith and citizenship in America 250
___
When we look back to the years around 1776, which we mark this year with the America 250 celebrations marking the passage of the Declaration of Independence, distance can tend to flatten some of the differences which are more obvious in the historical record.
We are in the middle of another Middle East conflict in 2026, in opposition to a country with a state religion. But it's worth recalling that the United States isn't in opposition to Islam itself. From the Founders themselves, religious pluralism is part of our model for representative democracy, going back to John Locke, whose political philosophy was so influential on the Declaration.
Thomas Jefferson rephrased a passage from Locke's 1689 "Letter on Toleration" in his personal notebook around 1776, reminding himself that Locke: "…says neither Pagan nor Mahometan [Muslim] nor Jew ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth because of his religion." The precedents Jefferson copied from Locke echo strongly in his Virginia "Statute for Religious Freedom," which says: "(O)ur civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions."
The statute, drafted in 1777, which became law in 1786, inspired the Constitution's "no religious test" clause, and was one of the influences on what would become the First Amendment in the 1789 "Bill of Rights" which the founders quickly added to the 1787 Constitution.
Jefferson wrote in an autobiographical fragment from 1821 about his intentions with the Virginia "Statute for Religious Freedom": "[my] intent had been "to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan [Muslim], the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination."
John Adams mentioned Muhammad favorably in his 1776 book "Thoughts on Government" as a "sober inquirer for truth" along with figures like Socrates and Confucius. He also signed the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797 as president, which states that our new nation had no "enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen [Muslims]."
George Washington's views are even more expansive, if with qualification. A 1784 letter to a business associate about prospective employees for Mount Vernon says: "If they are good workmen, they may be of Assia, Africa, or Europe. They may be Mahometans, Jews, or Christian of any Sect—or they may be Athiests…"
Sadly, this is largely about the purchase of skilled tradespeople, more than the hiring of such staff. Washington, like Jefferson, was an enslaver on his properties. Later records with names of people enslaved at Mount Vernon include women's names like Fatima and Nila which strongly suggest Islamic connections, as does the Anglicized name "Sambo" from Sambou, a common name for a second son in Islamic parts of west Africa. Most scholars estimate at least 15% of enslaved Africans brought to the United States were Muslims, so the presence of that faith would have been general, if largely invisible to public records.
Yet Washington, after a visit to Newport, RI in 1790 wrote back to the Touro Synagogue and the anxious Hebrew congregation there these words: "the Government of the United States…gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." And in closing reassurance, he says "May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy."
"To bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance" are words worth holding dear in the American 250th commemoration, as is Washington's love of Micah 4:4, which he cites some 50 times in his personal correspondence.
"But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it."
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he does not have a fig tree, but hopes a shady porch will do. Tell him how you are marking this America 250 year at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on X.
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