The other day we pointed out a problem with a prominent Evangelical’s claim that America’s foundation was totally that of Puritan Protestantism.

The problem with that notion: not only was Christopher Columbus a very devout Catholic (third-order Franciscan!), but so were explorers such as Ponce de León, Hernando de Soto, and Pedro Menéndez.

They were in Florida long before Puritans were at Plymouth Rock.

The other issue:

Freemasonry.

Here, unfortunately, we veer from Christianity as the sole sponsor of the United States. 

George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, and John Hancock were Masons, as were presidents such as Andrew Jackson and James Monroe.

These men were also Protestants. George Washington was nominally an Anglican. Benjamin Franklin was Presbyterian (as is the aforementioned Evangelical making the claims about early America). John Hancock was likewise of Puritan descent but like others had strayed into more nebulous and liberal spiritual territory.

One might note that Catholics, by and large, were not also Freemasons for a simple reason: Freemasonry is strongly condemned by Rome.

As for Washington D.C.: core Masonic emblems there represent virtue and moral boundaries and are symbolically embedded in the city’s very layout. (Does this cause a cloud to linger?)

The Capitol Building and the White House form geometric alignments that resemble the legs of a Masonic compass and the Washington Monument sits roughly at the intersection of these axes, serving as the pivot point—a cosmic “balance” between reason and faith, Heaven and earth.

The All-Seeing Masonic Eye (representing the “eye of Providence”) is seen in many civic murals such as those inside the Capitol Rotunda and Library of Congress, and the Obelisk (Washington Monument) is an ancient Egyptian symbol adopted in Masonry to represent the pillar of enlightenment.

The list goes on.

A Puritan Protestant foundation of the U.S.?

In a way, but not a “pure” one.

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[see: Where the Cross Stands]