Enlightenment founders excluded atheists from the tolerance they championed

Evidence

The quote that opens this section comes from the Letter Concerning Toleration, an essay instrumental in establishing America’s separation of church and state. In it, Locke preaches religious tolerance, then ironically singles out atheists as the only group that does not deserve tolerance or legal protection. The same theme can be found in none other than one of the founding fathers of America, Benjamin Franklin. In a 1757 letter attempting to dissuade an atheist from attacking religion, Franklin argues that while a select few people might be able to lead moral lives without the influence of religion, most of humanity needs religion to be good. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 233

Locke preaches religious tolerance, then ironically singles out atheists as the only group that does not deserve tolerance or legal protection. The same theme can be found in none other than one of the founding fathers of America, Benjamin Franklin. In a 1757 letter attempting to dissuade an atheist from attacking religion, Franklin argues that while a select few people might be able to lead moral lives without the influence of religion, most of humanity needs religion to be good. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 233

Categorization

• CANDY: A crisp, memorable irony: the very architects of church-state separation refused tolerance to atheists.
• XREF: The Big God mechanism argues religion evolved as a moral commitment device; Locke and Franklin’s instinct that most people cannot be moral without religion anticipates partner-choice and costly-signaling accounts of religious prosociality. — connects to: Early liberal revivalists deliberately excluded nonliberals to preserve doctrinal coherence — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 194
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 233