Please . . . the Forefathers could barely get over their own religious differences, and they were all mainline Protestants. It's obvious you have a rose-colored glasses view of history.You keep on quoting Adams, but he was a Puritan---one of the last of a dying breed. Franklin was a total libertine, and Jefferson, I believe, was a Deist. I'm sure each would have problems with what the others felt was true "morality."
Like I wrote, the grand, sweeping themes are one thing: the Devil is in the details.
My point about the church's function being the moral voice in society's mind is only part of its job; the part that relates to society and the civil authority.
Well, that's certainly the "part" we're discussing in this thread, is it not? The part you claimed has a direct relationship with our government? For the purposes of this thread, I could care less about any other part a church plays in the life of its members. Let's stick to the subject at hand, shall we?