So, to return to our question, did Washington kneel in prayer at Valley Forge? The short answer: probably not, as most historians suggest. But the long answer might be more interesting, and more helpful, for engaging friends or neighbors who disagree. Parson Weems, Washington’s early biographer, concocted that story—as well as the yarn about George and the cherry tree—to establish the moral character and personal piety of the first president and, thereby, advance a particular view of national belonging and church-state relations. There is some truth in the claim, and in the images. Washington did pray, though perhaps not the way Weems described, and he did attend church services, though not on Communion Sunday. Washington was not a conventional Christian, but he also wasn’t a church-hating atheist.
What’s noteworthy about the claims and counterclaims about Washington praying at Valley Forge is that the debate reveals disputants’ deepest values. So, if citizens hope to cross divides and reduce polarization, it might help to ask conversation partners as the image circulates in the months ahead: What’s at stake for you in the debate about Washington praying at Valley Forge? The conversation might then shift to questions about the distinctive American solution to church-state relations, a solution Washington favored, as his private correspondence and official orders demonstrate.
The US experiment in constitutional democracy is praised for its lofty aspirations and criticized for its blind spots, but the founders and framers bequeathed a brilliant—if hard to implement—solution to the challenge of religious pluralism in the “establishment” and “free exercise” clauses of the First Amendment. The conversation about Washington at Valley Forge, then, might surface diverging values. Those who celebrate the 1866 image might be more inclined to cherish the free exercise clause, while those who criticize it might hope to safeguard the establishment clause, the one that prohibits the official sanctioning of any faith tradition. Differences won’t diminish, I suspect, but identifying one source of disagreement might help as the persuadable seek ways to move forward together.
