Several weeks ago state Rep. Sally Kern told a group of Cleveland County Republicans that American’s founding fathers were “good Christians” and that American was founded on “Biblical principles.”

It was a nice speech.

And, for a while, I assumed the good Representative had done her homework and researched the backgrounds of those geniuses who wrote our Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence.

I was wrong.

Because after several trips to the book store, and one long Saturday at the library, I discovered that Rep. Kern was spinning some quotes by Washington, Jefferson and the rest of the boys way out of context.

In fact, according to the book “Moral Minority, Our Skeptical Founding Fathers,” the United States wasn’t founded on Christian principles, but by Enlightenment era ideas touted by philosopher John Locke.

It seems that Rep. Kern was wrong.

“God,” historian Brook Allen wrote, “entered the picture only as a very minor player and Jesus Christ was conspicuous by his absence.”

Now, it’s not that Franklin, Washington, Adams, Madison, Hamilton and the rest of the boys weren’t moral or upright men.

Because they were.

But they weren’t gonna’ be appearing on the next Oral Roberts telethon any time soon, either.

“Far from being pious Christians, we too often imagine, these men were skeptical intellectuals, and in some case not even Christian at all,” Ms. Allen wrote.

Honestly, I had always assumed that history was more on the side of Rep. Kern than Brooke Allen.

Then, after a semester in the political science department at the University of Oklahoma, I discovered that Ms. Allen is right on target.

It was John Locke, not Jesus, who inspired the framework of our government.