The Ethics Of Survival Vs. The Politics Of Christofascism: Why Voting For The GOP Is Heading For Moral Bankruptcy

The Republican National Convention has again proven that the Republican Party and its platform is morally bankrupt. With its "pro-family", "pro-life", and pro-corporate stances, the Republican Party is against everything that has made this country the greatest entity for humanity's survival in history. This is not a convolution of progressive thinking, but a statement of fact: America was founded on the premise that "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" superseded all other ideologies because it was not the most religious, nor the most fiscally responsible, but because it was the most humane.

America is a country of survival, the primordial tenet of any Creator's creation: it was formed to help people survive in a world where oppressive entities ruled, thus honoring its Creator in the best possible way. Those oppressive entities were ruling monarchies, ruling religions and (later) ruling economic factors brought about by greed and colonialism. Today, this American spirit is still seen in its national and global compassion: Social Security, Medicare, food stamps (SNAP) and global welfare organizations sustained by grants from the U.S. government are all testaments. It's compassionate entreaty to survival is inscribed at the base of its own Statue of Liberty. And as to liberty, the American spirit strives to provide the freedom to survive in whatever way each of its citizens wishes. It also enables survival by trying to optimize equality regardless of age, gender, religion, sexual orientation or social class.

For these qualities of the American spirit, our country can be deemed to be among the most ethical nations on earth. And these qualities are sorely lacking in the Republican Party. Why? Simply because it is now a political party that kow-tows to Christofascism, the kind of fascism, (attributed to Sinclair Lewis), that is "wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." The tyranny of the Christian Right and its votes is fearsome: candidates like Tod Akin parrot its junk science; its dire warnings of moral collapse have breached the wall between church and state too many times to ignore. Indeed, it has come to insist that there is not now nor has there ever been any such a wall. With its insistence that America was founded as a Christian nation (ala pseudo-historian David Barton), its comes perilously close to insisting that it be a Christian ONLY nation. Reconstructionism and Dominionism are creeping dangerously onto the political landscape. Teaching Creationism in public schools is being promoted at the state level. States like Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia and North Carolina and Texas have rolled back the clock in terms of reproductive rights and given "Bible-minded" students free rein to bully in public schools. There are pastors whose Sunday sermons posit that Medicare and Social Security are not biblical and, therefore, not morally legitimate.

Paul Ryan's ties to the Christian Right are steadfast and troubling: his recent statement about rape and conception mirrors the Christian Right. True, he has made an exception when the life of the mother is in danger, but that is a stance that is even hard core pro-lifers are loath to defy since doing so would make them look totally heartless and give credence to the left's idea that there is a "war on women".*

Ryan's personal ties to the troubled Cardinal Timothy Dolan** have raised some eyebrows, but only on the left. Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Ryan:

And,’ I said, ‘let me applaud some of the things you are doing, namely your call for financial accountability and restraint and a balanced budget . . . and . . . let me also applaud your obvious solicitude for the poor.”

Poverty is no laughing matter, but openly mocking it in the light of Ryan's policies should cause more than a few nervous titters on the Right and loud guffaws on the Left.***

The Akin/Huckabee Show of Morality

Perhaps no other GOP tie to the Christian Right is as strong as the issue of abortion: it defines that the GOP really thinks of women and its treatment of women primarily as vessels for offspring.

And that issue got a jolt with the pronouncement of Senate candidate Tod Akin: "legitimate rape" became the buzzword for a theory that the extreme Right had under wraps by an obscure doctor: Dr. John C. Wilke was the founder of the National Right To Life Committee had written a "Handbook on Abortion" - a not-so-obscure tome in anti-abortion/Christian Right circles. In fact, Akin was merely reiterating what anti-abortion activists had been positing for a long time: women who got "forcibly raped" did not get pregnant. And scientific fact, like evolution, was passed over in favor of wishful thinking. "Junk science" served its purpose: to lessen the consequences of rape, thereby making it more passable to pro-lifers. The immorality of denigrating women was also lessened.

The chief supporter of Akin (admittedly, one of the few left in the Republican Party), is none other than Mike Huckabee.

Politico has an in-depth report about the conference call Friday afternoon between former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and "hundreds of Southern Baptists" in which he invoked Old Testament imagery to explain the task facing Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin and his supporters.

In the call, he railed against the pressure being brought to bear on Akin to quit Missouri's U.S. Senate race and compared Republican establishment to "union goons" in their treatment of vendors and consultants. 

But Huckabee is still scheduled to speak at the GOP convention, a move on the part of the GOP that signals just how inextricably tied to the Christian Right the GOP is - for better or worse. In fact, in Huckabee, the GOP has a tri-fold "anti" on board: a former Southern Baptist minister who adheres to the subservience of women, is virulently homophobic and is exceptionally Islamophobic as well. The immorality of the GOP will be glorified by its most "moral" compass.

The Greed Of Grover

Behind the GOP's position on "no new taxes" is the (by now) ubiquitous Grover Norquist. The embodiment of deregulation - the kind that the Bush years gloried in, bringing about the Great Recession - Norquist's greed effects the middle class and the poor to such a degree that the immorality of his philosophy seems obvious. But greed, like the poor, will always be with us and the likes of Norquist will always play upon the greed inherent to believe they can never have enough. Norquist is the beloved of prosperity preachers.

Onward Christian Homophobia

Tony Perkins, head of The Family Research Council, has recently stated that he helped to write the GOP's platform on marriage which will be unveiled at the convention. In addition, it has been posited that debunked historian David Barton ("America was founded as a Christian Nation") also had a strong hand in some elements of the platform. Both have had strong enough stances against LGBT rights to be considered key elements of hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Collapse Of Compassionate Conservatism

George W. Bush tried to soften the focus of the GOP through his concept of "compassionate conservatism" - a concept that few actually believed and even fewer ever practiced. But with the present GOP platform - the one formally presented to the nation - "compassionate" can be said to be replaced by "vengeful" ... and in bold letters. It is the immorality of revenge: against Obama, against LGBT rights, against women's rights, against Muslims, against the weight of poverty upon the populace.

And the politics of revenge is perhaps the most immoral attribute of all of the Republican Party.

God help us.


*But there is.

** As archbishop of Milwaukee, Dolan agreed to settlements for priests accused of child molestation (OpEdNews, When Sex With Altar Boys Was Profitable)

*** Now that Ryan's tax returns show that he has given only a tiny portion of his large income to charity, Dolan will be hard-pressed to back up that statement.

Picture This: The Church Of Obama-Hate Is Alive! ...And Well ... And Out For Blood!

A scrapbook of Obama-Hate put together by your local Right Wing Church

The Tea Party group We the People of Marshall and Fulton counties funded the sign. The group's leader, Don Nunemaker, told The Elkhart Truth that the message was intended as a call for action on Election Day, although he declined to say exactly whom it is voters need to "remove."

Although it was linked to a Tea Party group, the offending sign might just have been funded by a local church: the past four years have seen Christian Right animosity for Obama go from mild contempt to outright bloodthirsty hatred. We've seen pastors call for "imprecatory prayers" and call for Obama's death. We've heard groups like the American Family Association call Obama a baby-killer for the government's support of Planned Parenthood and an enemy to marriage and family values in his support of marriage equality.

We've heard "prophets" like Cindy "Japan-is-shaped-like-a-dragon" Jacobs recount how the administration will suffer a dire scandal.* The election of Obama was the cause of America's collapse and moral decay:

Dutch Sheets**

The stakes couldn't have been higher nor the cost greater. As a nation we put on blinders concerning Barak Obama's background, associations, beliefs and practices, and set these causes back years, possibly decades. And in doing so we took another step away from God and His plans for America, and another step toward judgment."

Gone are the days when the Christian Right simply railed against "the Left" and the evil possibilities of socialism. The more direct approach - for the jugular - is deemed necessary.

Islamophobia Rules

The most potent and virulent screeds have lately focused on Obama's faith, and his tolerance towards Palestinians and hence, his attitude towards Islam, so in its scrapbook of Obama-hate, the Christian Right has assembled some very scary pictures.




The Book Of Revelations says absolutely nothing about a Muslim man in his 40's. Like the customized junk science of Creationism, the Islamophobic junk Bible interpretations proffer fear and loathing to people who don't read the Bible.

And signs like these:

 

Obama As Anti-Christ

There is also the fervent desire to put across Obama as the Anti-Christ: whether it be pictured with horns or with "proof" of a Masonic handshake (video below), Obama as the embodiment of evil has been around for four years and is still strong.

Yes, this is truly a WTF moment in Christian Right thinking, but desperate times...









If You Won't Buy Anti-Christ, How About Simply Anti-Christian?
From The Washington Times:

The state is forcing churches, as well as synagogues and mosques, to consent to President Obama’s radical secular agenda. Otherwise, their institutions - hospitals, schools, universities and charities - will face stiff penalties and eventually close down.

The "ObamaCare Forced Contraceptives" meme had gone a long way in producing an "Obama Is Anti-religion" sentiment. The Washington Time statement is, unusual, however, because it includes references to mosques as well as synagogues. The obvious conflict in this statement is usually glossed over when doling out Obama-hate. It's also an easy segue into perhaps the most vicious of all the attacks: Jesus hates Obama.





So Jesus hates Obama who is a gay-loving, Muslim, anti-Christian, baby killing Anti-Christ.

It doesn't get any worse than this.

*She also said that the event of birds falling from the sky was a direct result of the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

** Dutch Sheets (Dutch Sheets Ministries), like Cindy Jacobs, is an avowed Dominionist who has preached that Christians should not be simply lazy sheep" but devout "kingdom warriors." Jacobs' ministry is called Generals International - both militaristic preachings are not lost on their pliable multitudes.

The Flames Of Chick-fil-A Are Still Burning While The Intolerance Gap Widens In A Battle Nobody's Winning.

The only things left are an endorsement by the NRA and a declaration of war by President Obama. 

Into the valley of Chick-fil-A rides today's writer.

At least it feels like that.*

Because almost everyone chronicling the events surrounding Dan Cathy's "statement of faith" these last few weeks has felt a sense of foreboding mixed with angst. Ennui? No. There is nothing boring about anger and frustration, although perhaps the truly boring elements were some of the people involved as they beat their chests in righteousness.

Where did it all go wrong?

What started out as a Christian Right-wing, homophobic statement by a Christian Right-wing, homophobic fast food entrepreneur followed by a call for a "kiss-in" to emphasize that Christian Right-wing, homophobic agenda got out of hand, landing in one mayor's lap, then another than another: Boston's Thomas Menino told the franchiser to "stay out of Boston", causing a domino effect upon other cities: Chicago, San Francisco, New York followed suit.

Being "banned in Boston" used to be a badge of honor for everyone in the porn industry. Now it has become a badge of honor for many people who scream : " Freedom of Religion!" and "Freedom of Speech!" In retaliation, former Presidential hopeful, former minister, former governor of Arkansas and current Fox News (home of "formers") pundit Mike Huckabee quickly called for a "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" two days before the scheduled "kiss in." The franchise reported a record-breaking $30 million sales for that day, after bused-in nuns and former governors had photo-ops. Some of that profit wound up being donated to the long list of homophobic hate groups.**

Tempers still flared, with one NewYork artist, Manny Castro, mimicking the Chick-fil-A ad campaign and spray-painting "Tastes Like Hate" with its famous black and white Guernseys on the side of a Chick-fil-A. Also, a corporate executive who videoed his drive-through rant in opposition to Dan Cathy's sentiment was fired. 

Behind the Fire - The Reality

"If that were my wall, he'd be dead right now."- comment on Michelle Malkin's Twitter site (re: spray paint artist Manny Castro)

Huffington Post:

One gay employee who works at Chick-fil-A headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., and asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job, says he is getting it from both sides. On the one hand, there is the customer who came in and said he supported Dan Cathy and then "continues to say something truly homophobic, e.g. 'I'm so glad you don't support the queers, I can eat in peace,'" the employee, who is 23 and has worked for Chick-fil-A since he was 16, wrote in an email. On the other hand, he continued, "I was yelled at for being a god-loving, conservative, homophobic Christian while walking some food out to a guest in a mall dining room."

Media Research Center:

It’s a double standard as old as the liberal media itself,” stated Media Research CenterPresident Brent Bozell. “If it’s part of the liberal agenda, it’s protected free speech. If it isn’t, it’s bigotry. The media smeared anyone who lined up for a chicken sandwich as an anti-gay bigot instead of a proud Christian or free speech patriot, and when the counter-protest flopped, they were predictably silent. Thanks to Chick-fil-A, the media’s liberal bias was stark naked for all to see.”

And gays were portrayed as bullies, even by other gays. 


Perhaps the most reasoned and impassioned support of Chik-fil-A by a gay man was given by  CVNeutron (Matt):

I'm a gay man. I love Chick-Fil-A as a place to get good tasting food. I do not support their beliefs and disagree with their funding of groups that are well known to be anti-gay activists. Personally they have never treated me any different as a gay man and I will continue to do business with them so long as that holds true.

The criticism he endured for his stance, necessitated a follow-up by Matt expounding on his views.

The Polarity Of It All

The vehemence of stances has created an atmosphere of polarity with such magnitude that even the stark contrasts listed here and elsewhere could not do it justice: either you're a bullying, media-hungry, ultra-liberal boycotter and detractor of Chic-fil-A, or a homophobic, anti-gay marriage, fundamentalist supporter of Chick-fil-A. Even Colonel Sanders thinks so.

This is obviously a battle in the culture wars nobody will win. 

*Apologies to Lord Alfred Tennyson

*The groups Chick-fil-A gives to include the Family Research Council and Exodus International, according to Equality Matters, an initiative associated with the progressive Watchdog group, Media Matters. The Family Research Council is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, while Exodus International is a Christian Ministry that has long endorsed ex-gay therapy, a controversial practice of "curing" gay people that mainstream mental health organizations have disavowed. (In recent months, the president of Exodus has tried to distance his group from the idea that gay people can be "cured.")

The "Wedge" That NOM Created: Black Hebrew Israelite Threatens To Rape And Kill During Gay Day.

"What does 'ravished' mean? It means, we going to rape your ass. And I'm going to have fun doing that shit. And you going to like that. I promise you."

This news was just posted on the Crooks and Liars site:

Police in Grand Rapids, Michigan say that there was nothing they could do after Bible-preaching protesters threatened to rape and murder pro-LGBT activists at a "Gay Day" event over the weekend.
In a video posted to YouTube, several protesters with Bibles can be seen shouting at a woman celebrating in the inaugural "Gay Day" celebration, an event organized by the human rights group Tolerance, Equality and Awareness Movement (TEAM) to showcase the community's diversity.
With tempers running at fever pitch after weeks of Chick-fil-A stories, it is not surprising that threats of violence have surfaced. What is surprising, however, is that the parties indirectly involved have not yet managed to distance themselves from them. 

In a March 28 OpEdNews article, it was pointed out that NOM (National Organization for Marriage) had a strategy to "drive a wedge" between America's black community and the LGBT community. NOM never denied the strategy, siting supporters in its movement came from "every color, creed and background." 

They have yet to say whether "every creed" includes the Black Hebrew Israelites.

The Black Hebrews were first featured in OpEdNews in an article on the murder of 4-year-old Jadon Higgenbotham, whose actions were thought to be "gay" by his mother's boyfriend, Peter Lucas Moses:*

The incident of Jadon Higgenbotham:

Black Voices:
Moses and his wives were members of a religious sect called the Black Hebrews, a group that frowns upon homosexuality. According to the Jewish Virtual Library , The Black Hebrews believe that they are descended from the 10 lost tribes of Israel. They live according to their own special rules of conduct. Polygamy is permitted and birth control is forbidden.

Some of them also believe that Jews, whites and homosexuals will be made salves by Jesus upon the Second Coming. 

A Very Violent "Wedge"

Whether or not NOM has a direct tie to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement may not be the point: whether it will disavow and condemn the incident, however, is more salient than one supposes. The Christian Right's defensive mantra of "we're not like that" must be placed immediately in the forefront and immediately after any incident, or else it loses effect: silence is not a virtue. NOM's "wedge" strategy did not foresee any adverse repercussions.

But it should have. 

The demonizing of the LGBT community (and gay-rights activist in particular) by organizations such as NOM, the American Family Association and the Family Research Council have had far-reaching effects- more than the organizations would ever admit: anti-gay efforts spearheaded in Uganda, for example resulted in the death of gay activist David Kato. Evangelists targeting Uganda e.g. Lou Engle and Scott Lively have, of course, washed their hands of any such violence. 

The Death Of Civil Discourse?

What Chick-fil-A and other incidents of homophobia (Pastors Charles "put 'em behind an electrified fence" Worley and Sean "crack that wrist" Harris come to mind) may have brought about is the idea that civil discourse on the subject of gay rights and gay marriage may be on life support. Of course, such discourse may simply mirror the political discourse of the Presidential campaign, which is to say that there may eventually be no discourse at all: the Democratic National Committee has committed itself to making gay rights part of its platform - an act which may be seen as one of aggression, at least on social issues. 

The major problem with a lack of civil discourse: violence takes its place. Organizations like the Black Hebrew Israelites will see to that. And organizations like NOM will simply not care. 

Sad.


*Moses also murdered Jadon's mother, Antoinette McKoy.

Mitt Gets Worse: One Negative Ad Campaign We Hope Goes Viral

‘MITT GETS WORSE’ PROJECT WARNS OF ROMNEY’S ANTI-LGBT RECORD | Modeled as satire on the anti-bullying “It Gets Better” project, American Bridge 21st Century and Courage Campaign Super PAC have launched the “Mitt Gets Worse” campaign. In testimonials, various activists explain how harmful Mitt Romney’s anti-LGBT positions are and how much worse he would make the U.S. for LGBT people if he were president.

Mitt Romney has already gone on record as an enemy of the poor and disenfranchised. He has bumbled his way through African American voters to the point that being considered a "friend" is now out of the question. Now a group of LGBT activists want you to know that Romney's reign would be one of setbacks, if not one of terror. And they've started what could be one of the most creative series of anti-Romney ads to date.

If you take a look at the wikipedia entry for Mitt Romney's stance on LGBT issues, it paints a portrait of a man whose entire career as governor and Presidential candidate is obsessed with flip-flopping as the political wind blows:

In July 2011, Romney refused to sign a pledge opposing gay marriage, a pledge that was being circulated by "The Family Leader", a conservative Christian group in Iowa.[232] On August 4, 2011, a month later, Romney publicly denounced same-sex marriage by signing the 2012 Presidential Pledge sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage.[233]

And as governor of Massachusetts, Romney also attempted to eliminate much needed services for LGBT youth - some of them homeless youth.


Flip-Flop, The Cave In

The portrait of a man who cares only about winning and mouthing the right words to the right group (albeit unsuccessfully at times) formed years ago, so it is no surprise that vultures are circling a dying "moderate". The pressure put upon Romney to curry favor with the Christian Right due to his Mormonism is almost tactile: you can feel the forces of Tony Perkins, Bryan Fischer*, Pat Robertson, James Dobson and their ilk at work, devouring any semblance of tolerance. And they will not be satisfied until Romney states (as he did with Obama's Affordable Care Act in an address to the NAACP), that he will push through a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, ban gays from the military and repeal every single advance in gay rights for the past thirty years. And for all his posturing as a moderate "friend" of gays and lesbians, ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) will become a distant memory if the Christian Right manipulates him. He may have supported gay adoption in the past, but the Christian Right will certainly have none of that.

5 Percent Is 5 Percent

Demographics and studies have shown that over 5% of the U.S. population is gay.** To Romney and his campaign, however, we have seen that even higher percentages (e.g. the number of people living below the poverty line) mean little: the bottom line is in the number of votes and if it takes disenfranchising 5% of the population to placate 16 million Southern Baptists, then so be it.

You know he will: Romney gives off the aroma of one ready to placate at all costs.

Whither Matt Rhoades?

As with the Bain Capital brouhaha, Romney's campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, has had his hands full in delivering spin, weak responses and veiled threats resulting from Romney's checkered past and flip-flops. How Rhoades will handle any response to Mitt Gets Worse is anybody's guess: ignoring it would be a big mistake, trying to present Romney as a "friend" would anger social conservatives, and going totally to the Right would only add to the long list of people he is willing to disenfranchise and sacrifice.

From The Huffington Post editorial by Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign (750,000 members):

Unfortunately for millions of LGBT people in this country, we know the Mitt we'll get. He's the Mitt that is moving in the wrong direction (as our Facebook Timeline shows) away from history, not towards it. For millions like us, Mitt Gets Worse. And if elected, the country will get worse.

Below is one of the first Mitt Gets Worse spots - a very, very powerful indictment of a man to whom winning is everything and consideration goes to the highest bidder. The testimonials are most disturbing and certainly provocative. Think about joining the Mitt Gets Worse campaign. It may be the one negative ad campaign in this mess of an election that needs to go viral.




*Fischer infamously delivered a bitch slap to Romney: demanding that he get rid of Richard Grenell, crowing that Romney took his advice (although Renell resigned), then saying that Romney was too weak to be President if he caved in to the demands of someone like Fischer.

** Despite what the Right contends: 1.5 to 2%

Be Careful Who You Lionize: Bio of "Historian" David Barton's Hero Devours His "Founders Bible" With Slavery, Incest and Homosexuality

This one ranks along with the Creation Museum's "Adam" being a gay actor with a porn site.

David Barton has been pushing the "American Is A Christian Nation" meme so hard and so long that he's now at his sloppiest in establishing it: he has now created "The Founders' Bible", a copy of the New American Standard Bible (naturally) combined with:

... more than 150 articles (averaging 4 pages each) by our Signature Historian David Barton covering everything from the founding of the first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia, on May 14 of 1607, forward to the present day. It deals with virtually every political hot button including Radical Islam’s current Jihad against America.

And if the articles are at all like Barton's public rants for his organization Wallbuilders (considered a hate group), The Founders Bible is sure to find its way into the homes of every homophobic, anti-feminist, Islamophobic, and Dominionist believer in the country. He will be signing copies of the Bible at Glen Beck's Restoring Love rally in Dallas on July 26th.

Before that event, however, Barton might have to do some serious backpeddling, since this piece just came out:

William Throckmorton:
Founders’ Bible Cites Pro-Slavery Leader as Proponent of America as a Christian Nation
William Throckmorton's piece is worth reading and his subsequent articles will definitely be interesting. What caught my eye (and the eyes of many others) was a comment citing the wikipedia entry for man in question, James Henry Hammond: he was THE most ardent advocate for slavery on RELIGIOUS grounds and constantly opined in Congress and as Governor of South Carolina that even as inferior as they were, black slaves had it better than the poor industrial workers of the North. He was the politician who coined the term "Cotton is King." And if this isn't enough to make people wince about David Barton's hero, like a Popeil product commercial, we can say "Wait! There's more!!":

His Secret and Sacred Diaries reveal that his appetites did not end there. He describes, without embarrassment, his 'familiarities and dalliances' with four teenage nieces - the daughters of Wade Hampton II. Blaming the seductiveness of the “extremely affectionate” young women, his political career was crushed for a decade to come, and the girls with their tarnished social reputations never married.

AND...

As a young man, Hammond had a homosexual relationship with a college friend, Thomas Jefferson Withers, which is attested by two sexually explicit letters sent from Withers to Hammond in 1826. The letters, which are housed among the Hammond Papers at the South Carolina Library, were first published by researcher Martin Duberman in 1981, and are remarkable for being rare documentary evidence of same-sex relationships in the antebellum United States.

In The Founders Bible, Barton gushes with admiration about how Hammond so eloquently supported one of John Adams' pro-Christian statements and practically puts Hammond on a saint's pedestal. But now people like Throckmorton are gushing with disgust about Hammond's pro-slavery pronouncements. And other people (like me) are gushing laughter at the ardent "Christian Nation" politician's incest and homosexual dalliance.

Don't Think - Believe
- inscription at the entrance of the Creation Museum

Vetting is a process examination and evaluation: a process which always seems to elude those like David Barton and his followers. And the inclusion of St. Hammond into The Founders Bible is yet another piece of hilarity in the world of the Right's non-vetting process: we saw it in the VP pick of Sarah Palin, but it was evident back in 2007 when the Creation Museum discovered (6 weeks after its opening) that the beautiful "Adam" for their creation video was a gay actor with a website selling soft-core porn.

Then again, the process of vetting involves some deep thinking, and when searching for just the right quote from a distant, relatively obscure (to the American public), blind belief takes hold and the thought process is cast aside.

David Barton's work has been based upon blind belief - a belief that the United States of America was actually founded as a totally Christian nation. His "proof" has been laughed at by true historians the world over. Would that this latest gaff might get even more people laughing.