tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post115099151046504843..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: George Washington's faith in ProvidenceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-1153551074199678562006-07-22T01:51:00.000-05:002006-07-22T01:51:00.000-05:00Jonathan's right -- excellent post.A few other obs...Jonathan's right -- excellent post.<BR/><BR/>A few other observations:<BR/><BR/>1. Yes, Washington was a member of the vestry of his local Anglican church. A vestry is, technically, the little room where the preacher puts on his robes. Idiomatically, being a "member of the vestry" meant one was officially on the rolls of that parish. This was important, because being a member of the vestry was a pre-requisite for holding office or participating in county government in Virginia. Consequently, one may easily read into being a member a religiosity that did not exist in the person described (Jefferson was also a member of the vestry in his parish, but I have yet to find any evidence he continued after 1776).<BR/><BR/>2. Washington's faith may be best studied if one realizes he was a rather "devout" Mason. Masonic ties were critical to Washington, as well as to his French compadre, LaFayette. Washington wore a Masonic apron to lay the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building -- an apron sewn and embroidered by LaFayette's wife. You may want to check with the Alexandria, Virginia, Masonic Lodge, Washington's home lodge, for details from their museum and monument; you may also get some interesting history from the Society of the Cincinnati, located in Washington, D.C.<BR/><BR/>3. Among other things, Washington generally avoided using the name "Jesus" -- for what reasons we can't be too sure. Whenever anyond proposed to him a proclamation -- say for a day of thanksgiving -- he'd reword it to eliminate references to Jesus or other references that would specify Christianity.<BR/><BR/>4. Washington avoided taking Christian communion his entire life. This got to be a problem when he was president. Clergy in Philadelphia were concerned about this, since others started to follow Washington's lead. The church muck-a-mucks visited the president and asked that he change his ways. So he took to leaving the meeting when communion was served, and of course, others followed. When the church leaders again appealed to him, he stopped attending services. <BR/><BR/>5. Originally a supporter of Patrick Henry's proposal to re-establish religion partly in Virginia, by paying clergy from state funds, Washington eventually endorsed Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, because, while Washington thought it the duty of every person to support their own church, he did not care for the strife likely under Henry's proposal. So Washington endorsed separation of church and state when it counted.Ed Darrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10056539160596825210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-1152737015018348892006-07-12T15:43:00.000-05:002006-07-12T15:43:00.000-05:00Excellent post.Thanks for the link.Excellent post.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the link.Jonathan Rowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079637406589278386noreply@blogger.com