In 1787 , a constitutional convention was held in Philadelphia, where the first American constitution was ratified. The christian revisionist propaganda is not a particular claim, per se, but a variation on the following core theme : That the men in the room at that convention were all devout pastors of strong faith, and they essentially framed the constitution and the Federal Government on passages from the Bible.
Several highly prominent public people in America are guilty of perpetuating a revisionist form of history regarding the beginning of the United States of America. A shortlist of those figures includes,
- Ben Shapiro
- Pat Robertson
- Rush Limbaugh
- Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
- William Lane Craig
- Ken Ham
- Kent Hovind
- Eric Hovind
- (tentatively) Glenn Beck
(Beck has recently softened his stance and seems to refer to the Enlightenment more frequently)
The above exercise in Googling leads to a wall of Christian Conservative websites, which one can douse one's self into , if you dare.
Attempts to correct this history in light of historical facts are met with goal-post shifting and topic switching, and backsliding. Often the retort is that the christian conservative will produce evidence that the Founding Fathers were not atheists. But that claim is not being made. Attacking that claim is a fallacious form of sophistry called straw-manning.
The facts of history will show that the writings of John Locke are soaked in Christian sentiment, and furthermore he quotes scripture directly in several places. John Adams wrote that a man should regularly attend Church service as it will reinforce his morality. The founding documents refer to "the Creator" and even "God's Providence". James Madison, perhaps the most vocal defender of Separation of Religion and State, railed against "pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution." In the very same speech from which that quote is derived, Madison referred to Christianity as quote, "the greatest gift to Mankind."
The the Founding Fathers were Christians cannot be denied as the raw facts show them. Instead what is being brought to light here is that they were not Christian Fundamentalists, they were not pastors. Their goal in Philadelphia was not to establish a theocracy. Their vision for a Republican government was not taken from the Bible -- not even primarily.
A second sophistry tactic employed is to goalpost shift the argument -- and claim that we "Can never know what was in their minds. So historians have to engage in guesswork, estimation, and assumption." This claim is historically and factually false. We have enormous amounts of writings of the Founding Fathers; their speeches, their letters, and their legal documents. Historians, and anyone else for that matter, can absolutely reconstruct the Founders' thoughts and feelings, to a highly precise degree. This will become obvious below.
To arm one's self for the culture wars, I present the following tool that can be used in debate and discussion. I have compiled 25 Questions that Christian Conservatives Cannot Answer. Some of these are obscure enough that even Jeopardy contestants would be stumped. Some are anecdotal trivia, while others are very deep, and may require research and time. Nevertheless, all of them have clear answers from history, and can be resolved without interpretative twist or historical conjecture. The facts alone are sufficient to answer all twenty five.
As an appetizer, the answer to question (21) is mind blowing.