Oh god, someone please help me refute this video.

[Ziploc Surprise]

David Barton is disengenuous. Chris Rodda has done an excellent job of combatting the myth of the United States having been founded as a Christian nation. I recommend her book "Liars for Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History."

She also runs a blog. Here's a link to her blog, already filtered for David Barton content.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rodda/?s=dav...on&x=0&y=0

Are you aware that David Barton's latest book, "The Jefferson Lies", was pulled by its publisher due to its many historical errors? Also, other conservative Christians such as Warren Throckmorton have actually led the charge against Barton's abuses. http://wthrockmorton.com/

Share this with your FB buddies. If they still insist on the Christian nation bullshit, at least you know what type of idiot you are dealing with.

Thanks, I think I'll be able to use this information. BTW the reason why this video is so aggravating to me is the guy keeps bringing it up in new debates. It's got so many errors in it I can't chase down every little thing.

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All right, I'll try to do some basic points:

* The Aitken Bible was the first Bible to be printed on U.S. Soil, but it was not published by the U.S. Congress. It was only endorsed, and even then mainly as a way of helping out the burgeoning U.S. Printing industry.
* I have found no evidence to support the assumption that the painting of "The Landing of Columbus" was done to promote Christianity, and besides, if this is supposed to endorse Christianity today, why not also use it to support slavery like Columbus inflicted on the Taino people of "San Salvador."
* The way I've looked at the whole "church services in the Capitol," It seems like they're really just ecumenical events, and there's no evidence that Thomas Jefferson had any role in making it happen, nor in ordering the Marine Band to play the services, although he did attend on occasion.
* James Garfield stopped preaching at the time he went to Congress in 1862.
* About Thomas Jefferson and the Kaskaskia, look here.
*When he says "Seminary or Bible school degrees," he interprets the phrase very loosely. To hear him speak, all Harvard or Yale degrees are in divinity.

Thanks Rev. I can use this info too.

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+1 cato123

One specific point I'm aware of @0:42: all books printed at the time for use in schools had Congressional endorsement. The fact that the bible was amongst those books is not an indication that the government endorsed any particular religion, rather that the government wanted a particular curriculum in place.

Generally, I give this vid a big, slow 'so what?' right up the arse. The individual beliefs of the founding fathers is irrelevant to the point of the superiority of secularism over theocracy. To suggest so is nothing more than an argument from authority.

The problem with this is the guy I'm debating with will say that the Founding Fathers wanted to Bible to be taught in school....because it was a Christian nation. He's twisty like that.