Ted Cruz would tell you they did. But is he right?
Well, they actually said a lot about this matter. Let's take a look…
Thomas Jefferson:
"Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the Common Law."
and
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."
and
"We discover in the gospels a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication."
John Adams:
"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole cartloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity." and
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
and
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." (Treaty of Tripoli)
James Madison:
"Religion & Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."
and
"Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity in exclusion of all other religions may establish, with the same ease, any particular sect of Christians in exclusion of all other sects? That the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute threepence of his property for the support of any one establishment may force him to conform to any other establishment?"
and
"Congress should not establish a religion, and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience."
Benjamin Franklin:
"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."
and
"As to Jesus of Nazareth...I have some doubts as to his divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now."
Thomas Paine:
"The Christian system of religion is an outrage on common sense."
and
"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any Church that I know of. My own mind is my own Church. Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all."
and
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
and
"The Bible is such a book of lies and contradictions there is no knowing which part to believe or whether any."
and
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifiying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity."
and
"All the tales of miracles, with which the Old and New Testament are filled, are fit only for imposters to preach and fools to believe."
and
"Yet this is trash that the Church imposes upon the world as the Word of God; this is the collection of lies and contradictions called the Holy Bible! This is the rubbish called Revealed Religion!"
and
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half of the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind."
Could this hero of the American revolution be any clearer???
Ethan Allen:
"I have generally been denominated a Deist, the reality of which I never disputed, being conscious I am no Christian, except mere infant baptism makes me one."
As for our first president George Washington, he was very private about his beliefs, but Jefferson wrote in 1800 that "Gouverneur Morris had often told me that General Washington believed no more of that system (Christianity) than did he himself" and historian Barry Schwartz writes that "George Washington's practice of Christianity was limited and superficial because he was not himself a Christian... He repeatedly declined the church's sacraments. Never did he take communion, and when his wife, Martha, did, he waited for her outside the sanctuary... Even on his deathbed, Washington asked for no ritual, uttered no prayer to Christ, and expressed no wish to be attended by His representative."
But what about "One nation under God" and "In God We Trust"?
The words "under God" did not appear in the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954, when Congress, in an effort to distinguish us from the “godless” Soviet Union, inserted them.
"In God We Trust" didn't appear on any coins until 1864 and wasn't added to paper money until 1957. (the phrase itself didn't even exist until it appeared in the lyrics of a song written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, after most of the founding fathers were gone)
The original U.S. national motto, chosen by Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams, was "E. Pluribus Unum" ("Of Many, One"), promoting plurality, not theocracy. It wasn't changed to "In God We Trust" until 1956.
The U.S. Constitution is a secular document, containing no mention of “God” or “Christianity.” And when Thomas Jefferson mentions “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” and “Divine Providence” in the Declaration of Independence, they are not endorsements of Christianity or any other religion. We know this because Jefferson was a Deist, opposed to orthodox Christianity and other superstitions. (see his quotes above) So it looks like the answer is clear: Our country's founding fathers did not want us to be a Christian Nation!
So if anyone tells you otherwise, they're probably lying to you in an effort to force their own religious agenda on the rest of us. Don't let them get away with it!