[Cowman]

Interesting that you quote Paine most of all and the Franklin and Jefferson quotes are about proselytizing rather than PERSONAL belief. Paine was actually referred to by Franklin as a “Filthy little Atheist” and wound up in prison in France and was nearly executed there.

[cerberus]

“I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy. I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.” -Thomas Paine