Christian Nationalists will often point to the Founding Fathers as exemplars of “a Christian Nation” without knowing the beliefs any of these men held. The reason is that when it comes to historical figures Christian nationalists are very forgiving, accepting the faith of these individuals without question. If only they applied that level of forgiveness to their modern brothers and sisters. Christian Nationalists approach the founders with the idea “he said he was a Christian” or “he was a member of a church” with the follow-up that this means that only Christians like them should have power. Notice the disconnect, the faith of the founder doesn’t have to meet a standard but the faith of the successor does. This is a double standard and one that is used because they don’t really care about a “Christian nation” they care about a nation that reflects their idea of Christianity. And it is in this reality that the darkness hides.George Washington is a great example.
Washington refused to take communion, rarely talked of Jesus and often only discussed religion in very sterile terms, and usually only refereed to God as Providence. Most Christian Nationalists today would reject him saying he was not a true Christian and would deny him a place in their government because he didn’t have the right beliefs. Yet his was the common approach to religion among many of the founders whom they glorify as the epitome of Christian government. Well if they were the epitome of Christian government then merely saying “I am a Christian, I belong to x church and I accept the Old and New Testament as sacred” should be enough, but it isn’t.
How did we come to this? Because Parson Weems, made up stories about Washington in his 1800 biography of him in order to make him seem more religious and moral including the account of his famous prayer at Valley Forge. Since that time there has been a real effort to mythologize the founders and their generation as supremely pious. However, the truth is that at the time only about 33% of Americans went to church and the pastors at the time preached about how much the country had fallen away from religion. Further, many of the pastors in the Colonies were part of the estimated 50%-66% of the colonies that were either neutral or loyalists because they felt it was wrong for the colonies to take up arms against a Christian king.
But Christian Nationalists continue to promote this myth of the piety of the founders. And the reason is not because they understand religion at the time of the Revolution. It is because they want a return to an Anglicized nation where white men run the government.
Squinting in the Light 
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