This concept of 'devoted founding fathers' is nonsense, revisionist history. Jefferson and Franklin were agnostic and may even have been atheists. Washington paid lip service to religion on his best day but it played no major role in his life.

If you're wondering why so many American right wingers are religious and like to mix their religion with politics, it is mainly because, in their minds, the US is like a fallen angel that was once a great nation, and was a great nation because it was God fearing. And it has gotten away from that. And if only it would get back to God, that would solve most of its problems and it would once again become great. That's why they say 'put God back in schools.' God was never in schools, at least no school that I ever attended. And what they really mean there is 'put Christian God back in schools.' Somehow I don't think Muslim kids kneeling and praying to the west in the gym is quite what they have in mind when they say that.

The entire premise of this is false. From a Constitutional perspective, the US was never ever a God fearing or Christian nation. This is pure revisionist history.

Source: Me. I worked in the Republican party apparatus in my local politics for a period of years and I know how they think. And I read the Constitution. Jesus' name never comes up even once.