Protestantism

» Brian Tubbs - Franklin

I agree that Franklin was appealing to the religious common denominator as a means to unite the delegates. That should tell you something about the men who founded this nation, though. They were predominantly Christian. And even those who weren't orthodox, they respected Christianity. (The exceptions to this would be Ethan Allen and Thomas Paine, but they weren't at the Constitutional Convention).

However, Ben Franklin was not a flagrantly dishonest man. Yes, he was a politician. Yes, he understood and practiced spin in his time. Yes, he was a master diplomat. Yes, he understood finessing the truth. But at his core, he was a man of strong principles. I see a lot of reflection and sincerity in his speech to the Convention. He really does believe in what he's saying. Some of his other writings bear this out, at least writings from that time period of his life.

Bottom line...I don't think you can consider Ben Franklin a 'secular humanist.' An Enlightenment Deist, I'll give you that. But he would not be comfortable with completely setting God and religion aside as humanists do.