Christian Domionism And Bad History (Part 1)
When a un-Biblical Ideas Results in Distorted History
I’m familiar with the conspiracy theories that many incorporate into there lives as the gospel truth. When one searches the Internet, there is a high probability that one could come across a false source of information. However, taking a few minutes of time to check the references in question will come a very long way, something that most people don’t do on social media. That or they resort to presenting there preferences as "fact". As one who is also a semi-regular on social media (including that toxic, rancid wasteland that is Facebook), yours truly runs across false claims all the time.
On articles like these, I've linked to various references so one can read further on a topic that they may not be familiar yet. One could see this as a opportunity to research instead of becoming a victim to ignorance. When we stop learning, we stop growing as a person. The day we act as if we don't need to do research because we know everything will be a dark day for our minds. Ignorance takes over. Many become prone to conspiracy theories. Fear and paranoia takes over. We become gullible fools as rational thinking is murdered in cold blood.
Our Founding Fathers
Our Founding Fathers did make this country for Christians. However, they didn’t just make the country for Christians alone. This country was created for anybody that cherishes freedom, regardless of religion. While most of our Founding Fathers were practicing and devout Christians, they were not making a Christian Theocracy. These men saw how the state religions of European Countries operated, and they didn’t want that system replicated in this country. They saw how politicized religion operated and they saw how destructive it is.
The reason for this is that Christianity is a spiritual movement, and not a political one. In fact, the very idea of a "Christian Country" is a massive contradiction to Christianity itself as Jesus's ministry was spiritual in nature (I will go into more detail) , and not one intent on social or political control. However, the rulers of the European monarchs institutionalized it and made it a political one. Not surprisingly, these political movements were very manipulative and openly abused there power. Civic rights were determined by a person's religious beliefs, and not on work merit in society. People were robbed of there civic rights because they didn't conform to the religious orders of there day.
Many of the colonies already imposed religious laws similar to what was in Europe. According to the Smithsonian magazine article, New York banned Catholics from holding office. Massachusetts allowed Catholics only if they denounced the papacy. In Maryland, Catholics had full civic authority, but the Jews had restricted rights. Several of the colonies had state-supported churches that were funded by the tax-payer, regardless of there religion.
In fact, this was the reason why the Pilgrims went to America in the first place. The Puritans didn't conform to the ideas embraced by the Anglican Church. The Puritans embraced a "pure" form of Protestantism and reject the English State Church because they disliked how the church preserved many of the trappings of Catholicism. They were discriminated because they rejected the English State Church. As such, they opted to create there own colony free from the Anglican Church.
Religious discrimination was the reason why Maryland was formed. Catholics in England were discriminated as well following the reformation. George Calvert ie. Lord Baltimore, formed the Royal Charter that created Maryland, which became a haven for English Catholics fleeing persecution during the reformation..
The Founding Fathers rejected the idea of institutionalized religion. Religion was meant to be a very personal aspect that would be free from political interference. The fact was that these Founding Fathers were making a country that whose freedoms would be accessible to anyone, regardless of there personal beliefs. In short, they were creating a secular republic for all that embraced freedom. This is fact. This isn’t history revisionism, liberal re-branding, or some other <insert conspiracy theory here> nonsense.
While the Founding Fathers
themselves were practicing and devout Christians, many of them, most
prominently Thomas Jefferson, embraced the idea of Deism. Deism is a
philosophical mind of thought that states that God rules the world
through our conscience and the natural forces of the Earth and Universe.
This idea of thought was widely prevalent during the Enlightenment, and
was often incorporated into there Christian beliefs. This mindset was
also incorporated alongside Theism, which is the idea of a higher being
in our natural world. Many of the Founding Fathers blended there
Christianity with the ideas of the English and French Enlightenments.
This was the case with Benjamin Franklin and James Madison as well, and
possibly Alexander Hamilton. The Founding Fathers tend to look at
religion much more from a philosophical perspective than a spiritual
one. In fact, Jefferson even wrote his own Bible that covered Jesus's
teachings from a moral and ethical perspective.
In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote that we are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. Who is our creator? For us Christians, it would be God. However, Jefferson also recognized that our country would be open to offers who ideas wouldn’t conform to Christianity. As such, they rights would be endowed by there Creators, whoever they believed. There is no conflict as faith is a private manner in a society where merit is determined by the person's conduct within it, and not there personal beliefs. Even within the interpretation of Christianity embraced by many of the Founding Fathers, the creator would be God within the natural setting when conforming to the ideas of Deism.
Reading the Smithsonian article, one discovered that Patrick Henry wanted to enact laws that basically turned the country into a theocracy. In 1784, he introduced a bill calling for state support for “teachers of the Christian religion.”. James Madison, recognizing that this country was a beacon of hope for anyone who embraced freedom, and not just Christians, challenged Patrick Henry in a essay called “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,”. Madison recognized that others, like Christians before, are persecuted as well, and as such, there country should be a beacon for them as well.
Madison, also a Christian, knew that it spread because of others, and not from themselves. As such, Christianity wasn't dependent on there actions. The government's recognition of a state religion was a threat to religion itself as it leads to corruption and abuse. Madison recalled how a Baptist preacher was arrested in his native Virginia. He recognized that Henry's bill was a contradiction to the ideas of religious freedom that was profound with many of the Founding Fathers. While Madison was a Christian, we recognized this country as one for all. The fact that the Constitution makes no reference to God highlights that this country was intended on being a civic democracy open to anyone persecuted regardless of there beliefs or those who desired freedom. Madison realized that others can be persecuted for there faith like Christians. As such, we need to welcoming to others because we are in the same boat.
While the Bible is standard when someone takes
the oath, this is a custom and formality, and not required as the use
of religious test for qualifications was banned in Article VI in the
Constitution.
History Revisionism
Many modern American Evangelical Christians have basically the Founding Fathers as Fundamentalist who was out to create a Christian Theocracy. For many modern American Evangelical Christians, the ideas of the Founding Fathers existed only for Christians and Christians alone that were not to be applied in a universal manner. For the Founding Fathers, this was anything but.Aspects about the Founding Fathers that applied there ideas in a universal option had basically been written out of the American Evangelical perspective of American History. Deism and Theism had been written out, along with the defining aspects of the English and French Enlightenment that had such a profound impact of most of them. Whether modern American Evangelical Christians like it or not, these ideas were fundamental in the formation of our country. They can't be written out simply because they don't conform to what there idea of Christianity is.
Many would cherry pick certain people and place great emphasis around them. This is the case why many modern American Evangelical Christians flock to Patrick Henry compared to Thomas Jefferson or James Madison. He's the one closest to what they embrace. He was one of the Fathers who wanted to turn the country into a theocracy.
These Christians ignore clause about the separation of church and state that was written by Jefferson as the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedoms. It was incorporated as Virginian state law in 1786 and would later influence the Bill of Rights as the First Amendment. These ideas were influenced by the English Philosopher John Locke, who was credited with the idea of religious toleration. He was a witness of how confrontational religion lead to destructive wars and friction with society. A separation between church and state was essential for society not to fall into the destructive pattern of religious wars.
The ideas of religious freedoms for all, regardless of affiliations and beliefs, would become a cornerstone in our country. FDR listed the freedom of worship as one of the freedoms in the 1941 State of the Union address. Know as the "Four Freedoms" speech, FDR stated that people were free to worship of there choosing, regardless of there beliefs. This statement was directly influenced by Jefferson. Jefferson's and the Founding Father's know affiliations with Deism and Theism have largely been written out by American Evangelical Christians who reject these ideas. While many of these Founding Fathers would embrace God, there Theistic and Deistic interpretations of Christianity would have been very different and a polar opposite to what many American Evangelical Christians believe now.
Thomas Jefferson
WallBuilders
It's rare to encounter this word and it not be a reference to the border wall. Anyway, history revisionism has occurred, but it’s not who you think it is. Many modern American Evangelical Christians, at least presented by David Barton of WallBuilders, have presented the Founding Fathers as Christian Fundamentalist that were out to create a theocracy that was only for Christians and Christians alone. I can make the safe assumption that there have been countless books and TV programs airing on TBN promoting this narrative.
One aspect of history that will be ignored is that while the Pilgrims
did see there colony as a grand experiment were they were free to
practice there religion, they were not tolerant of other faiths. The
pious Puritans of in Massachusetts would persecute Native Americans and
Catholics because of there beliefs. The Puritans became the thought
police. Anyone who wasn't "pure" in there faith could be condemned as
witches and executed. Before science came along demonstrating how absurd
the concept of a woman flying around on a broomstick was; this was a
real fear that led to distrust and many unnecessary deaths through
executions.
WallBuilders wrote a narrative of American History from the perspective of modern American Evangelical Christians which is present as "fact". The organization presents the Founding Fathers as "clones" of modern American Evangelical Christians. This is basically the farthest thing from the truth. As stated earlier, while the Founding Fathers were devout Christians, they blended Theism, Deism, and the ideas of the English and French Enlightenment within there Christian faith. Rational thinking was prominent within there brand of Christianity. There perspective of Christianity was very different from what modern American Evangelical Christians embrace.
Saying that the Founding Fathers were exactly like modern Christians is one of the most historically inaccurate statements one could make. This is a ignorant statement made by one who doesn't know about the past and then decided to get there history lesson from Fox News. The Founding Fathers rejected the idea of state religion, something that is embraced by many American Evangelical Christians. The Founding Fathers rejected the idea of politicized religion, something that is openly embraced by many modern Christians. It's naïve to think that the Founding Fathers were one in the same with modern American Evangelical Christians.
There is a two hundred year buffer between the Founding Fathers and Jerry Fawell's re-branding American Evangelical Christianity. There is going to be differences as the actions of the Founding Fathers predated modern political and social thought by two hundred years. It's similar when people try to compare Jesus as a Democrat, Socialist, or Republican even though Jesus predated these modern political organizations by many centuries. One tries to "box" there preferences within modern perspectives.
My discovery of WallBuilders was a result of a google search of a quote my John Quincy Adams, the Sixth President of the U.S. and son of John Adams. The quote was found in a letter to his son, George Washington Adams, in January 10th 1813. The line starts with: “The Law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious Code...”. The Ten Commandments was used as a basis for universal civil code. As detained in the letter, is found in the National Archives with the link below, John Quincy Adams stated that the Ten Commandments were written 1400 years before Christ. Due to the Ten Commandments predating Christ, while they would applicable to Christians, it wasn't specific to Christianity, even though it is the basis for Christian moral code as well. The letter was basically the application of the Ten Commandments on the country from an ethical, and not, spiritual perspective. Anyone who read the actual paragraph that’s posted on the Founders Online from the National Archives (which has the whole letter archived) would have come to that conclusion.
However, the top Google result of "The Law given from Sinai" wasn't
from the National Archives, but from the WallBuilders site. Comparing
the unedited letter from the National Archives to the “edited” (more
like butchered) version of that phrase from WallBuilders, one quickly
discovers that they left out massive chunks of the letter. With a lot of
the context missing, we are presented with a very different
interpretation of the text. Any gullible individual doing a random
internet search with a already preconceived bias is going to hail the
WallBuilders versions of the letter as "fact". The site with the actual
text in full is going to be ignored for a "edited" version presenting a
very different perspective of what was said.
I didn't expect to find WallBuilders on MBFC (Media Bais Fact Check). For those who don't know, MBFC is a non-partisan and objective fact-checker which examines the bias and political slants of news sources. I did a quick Google Search and….Holy Crap (Get It. Get It!). This site basically confirmed my suspicions. WallBuilders, as noted before, presents U.S. History from an modern American Evangelical Perceptive. This is basically the Christian shaped by Jerry Fawell. As such, a very skewed perspective of American history is going to be full of historical inaccuracies.
This site that claims to “un-hide” America's past, as to insinuate an well-organized cover-up and conspiracy. Speaking of conspiracies, the site constantly promotes various media and historic conspiracies with claims such as “they” are trying to hide the past. The very fact that I was able to access John Quincy Adams full letter to his son in a un-editted manner debunks this conspiracy ten-fold. This letter that is hosted on the National Archive, a government site too, I might add. Before I continue, it's alright for people to have there grievances, but please, base them on fact and not stupid conspiracy theories not rooted in reality.
The history as presented by WallBuilders is purposely skewed to push this narrative. For those who use WallBuilders as a source of information, there going to get a very narrow and one-sided perspective of history that is full of inaccuracies. It's often a habit for many to embrace whatever they encounter at face-value without checking whether the source as a slant or a agenda. I feel that even with the information presented, many will still champion the site simply because it caters to there stereotypes and biases. With many, the only thing needed to confirm there beliefs is that the source simply conforms to there opinions, and nothing else. This is regardless of whether the information presented is factual or not.
Sites like WallBuilders present there “history” as an authoritative
source. They will claim that history that doesn’t conform there there
narrative has been “revised” by “evil liberals” looking to hide the
truth (again insinuating a conspiracy). Fundamental ideas like the
separation of church and state was treated as a myth despite the fact
that this was one of the statutes (Statute for Religious Freedom) that
Jefferson instructed to be placed on his epitaph. The idea of the
separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment in the
Bill of Rights as:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
WallBuilders claims that they are being “suppressed” in the “culture war”. I placed “culture war” in quotes because it’s an imaginary term that only exist in people’s minds that it’s a real thing. The “culture war” is very real to WallBuilders though. I'm against any form of censorship, but the suppression of Conservative thought isn't a real thing though. Those that embrace the version of American History presented by WallBuilders are getting a very distorted version of it.
Christian Dominionism
Christianity is a spiritual movement. However, the ideas of rewriting American History from the modern American Evangelical perspective is largely a product of Christian Dominionism. Christian Dominionism is the idea that Christianity's sphere of influence isn't just restricted to the spiritual realm, but is a active political as well. For those who are active followers of this movement, Christianity essentially becomes a tool for social control. Christians are called to be the light of the world, as quoted from Matthew 5:14. However, this means reaching out to people's spiritual needs. This does not mean partaking in social or political control. The stated intention of Christian Dominionism is world domination through social and political means. Christianity isn't about spirituality, but about being the thought police.
The Got Questions article is referenced in the bottom if one wants to read more into it. The topic of Christian Dominionism in this article is largely based on the article. Essentially, Christian Dominionism promotes the idea of a theocracy. Theocracies are bad thing in general, regardless of whether it comes from Islamic or Christian Fundamentalist. The ideas of a theocracy are not grounded Biblically either as Jesus's ministry focused on spiritual outreach, and not out of social and/or political motives. The ministry is about fulfilling spiritual needs and providing Salvation for those who are in need of it, and not striving for world domination.
The
very idea of a "Christian Country" is a a
contradiction to Jesus's teachings. Again, Jesus's ministry is
spiritual in nature, and not political. His kingdom is in the Heavens,
and not based on anything on this world. Jesus's ministry refrained from
political topics because they serve as a distraction. Those intent on
creating a "Christian Country" are much more consumed with power than
they are with people's spiritual needs. The Founding Fathers of our day
knew this. This is why the separation of church and state became
essential in a democratic society. Theocracies become corrupted with
power.
The Founding Fathers did make this country for
Christians, but they also made it for everybody else who valued freedom
as well, regardless of there religious views. This is why those
influenced by the English and French Enlightenments (like the Founding
Fathers) realized that laws needed to be based on universal code so that
they could be applied to everybody equally within the civic setting,
Christian Dominionism isn't Biblically based. It's a tool to turn Christianity into a tool for social and political control.
This article got much bigger than I expected, so I decided to do a part two of when gullible individuals start falling for conspiracy theories. When conspiracy theories take hold, everything quickly goes down the tubes. People will become there own worst enemy when ignorance, fear, and paranoia enters the picture.
Smithsonian Magazine : America’s True History of Religious Tolerance - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/americas-true-history-of-religious-tolerance-61312684/
History.com : Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/thomas-jefferson-and-john-adams-die
Monticello : John Adams - https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/john-adams
Monticello : Jefferson's Religious Beliefs - https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs
The Quotation Page : Thomas Jefferson The legitimate powers: http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/36599.html
FactCheck.org : Bibles Aren’t Required for the Oath of Office - https://www.factcheck.org/2019/01/bibles-arent-required-for-the-oath-of-office/
Wikipedia : Article Six of the United States Constitution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Six_of_the_United_States_Constitution
Wikipedia : Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Statute_for_Religious_Freedom
Wikipedia : Four Freedoms - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms
Wikipedia : Deism -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism
Wikipedia : Deism # Deism in the United States - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism
Wikipedia : Theism - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theism
Wikipedia : Age of Enlightenment # Religion - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment#Religion
Wikipedia : Jefferson Bible - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible
Wikipedia :First Amendment to the United States Constitution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Wikipedia : Seperation of church and state in the United States - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
Wikipedia :Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)
National Archives : Declaration of Independence: A Transcription - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
National Archives : Founders Online : From John Quincy Adams to George Washington Adams, 10 January 1813 - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-03-02-2233
National Liberty Alliance : The Jefferson Bible (PDF) - https://www.nationallibertyalliance.org/files/docs/foundingdocs/Jefferson%20Bible.pdf
WallBuilders : Importance of Morality and Religion in Government - https://wallbuilders.com/importance-morality-religion-government/
MBFC : WallBuilders - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wallbuilders/
SPLC : David Barton's Make-Believe Version of American History - https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2012/08/24/david-bartons-make-believe-version-american-history
Wikipedia : George Calvert - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Calvert,_1st_Baron_Baltimore
Wikipedia : Cecil Calvert - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Calvert,_2nd_Baron_BaltimoreGotQuestions : What is Christian dominionism? - https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-dominionism.html
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