of religious opinion was inevitable and that tolerance was necessary, although he himself was intolerant of atheists and Catholics; he asserted, "Nobody...[has] any just title to invade the civil rights and worldly goods of [another], upon pretence of religion."[9] Since many of the nation's founders were influenced by Locke, it must be said that his ideas exerted a potent effect on later conceptions of the separation doctrine.
It is important to establish that America's Founding Fathers and early presidents were-almost to a man-devout Christians, not just superficial churchgoers, and they were men who incorporated their Christianity both into their personal lives and into their work. A review of their comments demonstrates their profound Christian faith. John Adams, for example, stated in a letter to Benjamin Rush, "The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in this earth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost. . . There is no authority, civil or religious - ther
...