George Washington (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799).
According to Wikipedia; Washington "led America's Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), and was later elected the first president of the United States under the U.S. Constitution. He served two four-year terms from 1789 to 1797, winning reelection in 1792. Because of his central and critical role in the founding of the United States, Washington is referred to as father of the nation. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians.....
"His adopted daughter, Nelly Custis Lewis, stated: 'I have heard her [Nelly's mother, Eleanor Calvert Custis,] say that General Washington always received the sacrament with my grandmother [Martha Washington] before the revolution'. After the revolution, Washington frequently accompanied his wife to Christian church services; however, there is no record of his ever taking communion, and he would regularly leave services before communion -- with the other non-communicants (as was the custom of the day), until he ceased attending at all on communion Sundays. Historians and biographers continue to debate the degree to which he can be counted as a Christian, and the degree to which he was a deist. It should also be noted that Washington was a Freemason. Even a few portraits exist of Washington in Masonic regalia.
"Washington was an early supporter of religious toleration. In 1775, he ordered that his troops not show anti-Catholic sentiments by burning the pope in effigy on Guy Fawkes Night. When hiring workmen for Mount Vernon, he wrote to his agent, 'If they be good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa, or Europe; they may be Mohammedans (Muslims), Jews, or Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists.'"
Some relevant Washington quotes:
"We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition ... In this enlightened Age and in this Land of equal liberty it is our boast, that a man's religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest Offices that are known in the United States."
"Government being, among other purposes, instituted to protect the consciences of men from oppression, it certainly is the duty of Rulers, not only to abstain from it themselves, but according to their stations, to prevent it in others."
"The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy."
We salute Washington today as an example of a person free of religious intolerance and bigotry, and supporter of the separation of Church and State.
