By Mike Dishnow, May 02, 2008

People are wont to quote Thomas Jefferson, not only to support the concept of the separation of church and state, but to the opposite effect as well. George Washington is quoted in support of the mixing of church and state too.

A reading of Jefferson’s Bible and the letters he wrote to friends it is obvious that Jefferson did not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, nor did he accept the miraculous and supernatural attributed to him. Jefferson simply had great respect for Jesus (the man) as a philosopher.

“And it is my express desire that my corpse may be Interred in a private manner, without parade, or funeral Oration” – from George Washington’s will.

It is written that George Washington was at most a “warm deist.” He thought religion good for people, but he personally showed little to no interest.

My study and reading finds these honorable and learned men more like retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong than his more conservative colleagues.

Learning is not static, nor is our understanding of the world in which we exist. It is time to live in the present century, to discard mindsets that are dated and irrelevant today.