The early colonists in what is now New England (the Pilgrims) were not the same people as the "Founding Fathers". In the case of the Pilgrims, religion was their main reason for being here, and McGrath is right. The Pilgrims were separatists. They wanted to be separate from people whose religious beliefs differed from theirs. They fled to The Netherlands from England to escape religions persecution, but they fled to North America from The Netherlands to get away from people they considered to be sinners.

The colonies in which the "Founding Fathers" were concentrated (what are now the mid-Atlantic states) really were more economically driven than religiously motivated.