I read an awesome article somewhere on how the basis of the American government is not necessarily rooted in Christianity.

In the spirit of this, I’d like to point out that the Founders are not the only figures important in our history who may have acted not on the base of faith, but on the principles of good governance.

Richard Miller wrote a pretty good article explaining how religious skepticism helped shape Abraham Lincoln’s point of view.  Lincoln eventually leaned towards Christianity in his latter years, but it’s safe to say that his skeptical viewpoint helped shape the most important decisions of his life, and thusly, this country.

A point should be taken that skepticism is healthy and seemingly necessary in the process of moral decision making.  Literalism and absolutism tend to be impractical.  Religions seem to be the most ardent proponents of both, and as a consequence, are incompatible with the inherent dynamic mechanisms of our form of government.