See there also the small portion of the speech that Barton and his copycats cite.In a speech he delivered in Paris on January 16, 1797, Thomas Paine harshly
criticized what the French were then teaching in their science classes-especially
the philosophy they were using. Interestingly, that same science philosophy of
which Thomas Paine was so critical is identical to that used in our public schools
today. Paine's indictment of that philosophy is particularly significant in light of
the fact that all historians today concede that Thomas Paine was one of the
very least religious of our Founders. Yet, even Paine could not abide teaching
science, which excluded God's work and hand in the creation of the world and of
all scientific phenomena. Below is an excerpt from that speech.
As Paine was a deist, it's clear that Paine's use of "God" is not as Barton describes it. The full text of the speech is here. All you need to know -- and no freethinkers will be surprised -- is that Paine's views were exactly what we say they are:
That's deism in a nutshell, meaning that Barton is a lying sack of crap.... and no freethinkers are surprised by that, either.God is the power of first cause, nature is the law, and matter is the subject acted upon.