Celebrate Our Godless Constitution': Guess Who's Behind This July 4 Ad Decrying the 'Myth' That the U.S. Was Founded on Christianity

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist activist non-profit, is behind a new full-page newspaper ad that decries the notion that America was founded on Christianity and the Bible. A portion of the contentious text reads, "Celebrate Our Godless Constitution," and it features the faces and quotes from some of the nation's most prominent Founding Fathers.

The effort, according to the FFRF's website, praises the U.S.'s "godless constitution." Created in response to craft store chain Hobby Lobby's advertisements about faith in America (the company has posted these in newspapers across the U.S. since 2008), the FFRF ads will certainly spark some controversy.

Photo Credit: Freedom From Religion Foundation

"The ads quote U.S. Founders and Framers on their strong views against religion in government, and often critical views on religion in general," reads a press release announcing the atheist effort. "The ad features two revolutionaries and Deists, Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin, and the first four presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison."

People reading the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune and other daily newspapers across America will likely be surprised when they are greeted with today's atheist-laden history lesson.

"The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion," reads one of the quotes (a portion of a treaty that was once signed by John Adams).

"Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other course," another statement from Washington reads.

And these are just two of the many (see the entire FFRF godless ad).

Photo Credit: Freedom From Religion Foundation

The Hobby Lobby ad which has sparked the FFRF response takes the opposite stand. Titled "In God We Trust," it provides quotes showing the Founders' pro-faith views. Among the quotes and information shared in the text are statements from President George Washington and Patrick Henry.

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor," the nation's first president is quoted as saying (this comes from from a Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789).

Photo Credit: Hobby Lobby

Once again, one side is doubling down in claiming that America's Christian roots are manufactured, while the other believes wholeheartedly in the Bible's role in shaping the U.S.