Was America Founded to Be Secular?

The signers of Declaration of Independence were heavily influenced by the thinkers/philosophers of yesterday. After the failed Confederacy, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights declared the Natural Rights, by some, or God given rights, to others were immutable by any power on earth, person or government. Thus any person violating the Natural, or God given rights of the individual would feel justice at the hands of society. greg is no Locke, Marx maybe, but he doesn't speak for me.

“The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule”

“The natural liberty of man consists in not recognizing any sovereign power on earth, and not be subject to the will or legislative authority to anyone”

John Locke, The Second Treatise of Government

For anyone coming late to this discussion, you will find contradictory arguments posted by Capt Gregory Prickett as well as my responses. Basically, he avoids the fundamental issue while chipping away at the edges of the presentation and my responses. You can read them for yourself. I merely want to add that it is clear from the historical evidence (writings of the Founders and others who followed) that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution reflect strong influences of Judeo-Christian morality thereby pinning the hopes of the new nation clearly on the ability of people to govern themselves, a necessary quality for them to be given individual liberties. In other words, if people cannot govern themselves and their passions, they cannot be trusted with freedom and require a paternal government to dictate their every choice and action. Capt Pickett and many others argue that the Bible/Judeo-Christian morality (and thus the Constitution) are flawed because they are used to justify slavery. However, you'll note, if you study them carefully, that none of these documents justify slavery, they merely acknowledge their existence. Slavery was a cultural issue, as were others such as women's suffrage, that had to be resolved by We the People, often through conflict, sometimes violent. However, there is no moral excuse for slavery or subjugating women in these documents. Indeed, the only thing required to legally end slavery in the US was to interpret "men" as "humankind" including both men and women, black, white and whatever race. Those were cultural decisions. Other cultural challenges remain and these two may be resolved without destroying the fundamental blueprint of a limited government as described in the Constitution. Indeed, the cancerous growth of government beyond constitutional limits, is often the enemy of those attempting to correct cultural issues in the nation.

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens."
~ Washington's Farewell Address