“One Nation Under God” (2011): Misinterpreted facts and frightening conclusions

[MarkCharles]

"Yesterday was a premiere event for the Religious Right movement. In churches, homes, and other venues around the country, conservative Christians watched the premiere of “One Nation Under God,” a DVD created by the group United in Purpose, headed by Bill Dallas. (You can find out more general information about the DVD at the One Nation Under God website.)"...


.........................................

"There were several speakers on the DVD, and each of them had two responsibilities. First, to make sure that they established the idea that America is a Christian nation that that Judeo-Christian principles are to be inculcated into government. Second, the goal was to convince Christians that they should be politically involved, vote their values and encourage other Christians that they should do the same. Several popular conservatives are recruited to help make these points. Despite the multiplicity of voices, there are some problematic themes that run throughout the presentations. Each of the presenters engages in some element of either misrepresentation or misinterpretation of facts, specious logic, or just plain bad theology.

The misinterpretation of facts was somewhat expected. Most of it was conservative evangelical talking points. Both David Barton and Newt Gingrich made mention of the fact that the Supreme Court has taken prayer out of schools. Of course this is not true. Engel v. Vitale (1963) did not take prayer out of schools. Instead it ruled that teacher led school prayer is unconstitutional. The Court has since ruled that sectarian prayers at school events are unconstitutional. But the right of the individual to pray or lead other like-minded individuals in prayer is still allowed. To obfuscate this point is to pull the wool over people’s eyes. Barton also misinterprets the US Constitution. He says at one point that Art. VII of the Constitution incorporates the Declaration of Independence. Art. VII actually says, “The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.” I am sure Mr. Barton has a reason for saying that a one sentence article of the Constitution that makes no mention of the Declaration of Independence somehow incorporates that document, but he gave no further explanation.
Gingrich misinterpreted the historical understanding of Thomas Jefferson. Gingrich said that historians say that Jefferson didn’t believe in God, except that no reputable historian would say that. The truth is that Jefferson was a Deist who believed in the concept of God, but not in the supernatural elements of Christianity. People like Barton, Gingrich, Bill Dallas, and others have a historical problem. The US Constitution makes no mention of God or Christianity, and has some explicit anti-religious statements (i.e., the Establishment Clause and the prohibition on religious tests for holding office). Therefore, in order to make their argument, they have to connect the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution, and that’s a hard sell unless you’re willing to stretch the facts."

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"This lack of critical thought was the most appalling thing to me. These people were being sold on all kinds of historical, logical, and biblical inaccuracies, and they were more than willing to accept it without inspection."

http://religiousliberty.tv/film-review-%E2%80%9Cone-nation-under-god%E2%80%9D-2011-misinterpreted-facts-and-frightening-conclusions.html

Ever notice how many Republicans cluster so closely with the Christian evangelistic movements, and how many of them just plain get their facts and history WRONG?

Sort of like people who believe the Crusades were a series of wars between farming groups or that The USSR was set up solely to spread organized militant atheism.

[atreides1]

1. Ever notice...

...how many Republicans cluster so closely with the Christian evangelistic values, and yet have none, like Gingrich the serial aldulterer?

[MarkCharles]

3. Sure is ironic, that someone as slimy and disingenuous actually acts as

a celebrity SPEAKER for a Christian evangelical film!

I wonder how much they had to pay him. I hear he gets $60K per 30 minutes speech. He said so yesterday!

[MarkCharles]

10. I think that's a good campaign slogan for Newt, "the serial adulterer"

that will get the message right to the evangelicals and RR and make them question their .... oh wait... never mind!

[Quartermass]

2. The Bill Of Rights it completely anathema to Christian values.

Christianity does not value freedom of religion.

The commandment says "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."

Christianity does not value free speech and anything that goes against the teachings of Christianity. ANy of those are considered blasphemy and many who will continue will be ostracized from the Church. For example, in Christianity, you can't express an opinion such as: "I personally believe that Jesus was a homosexual man who sexually molested ten year old children" (not that non Christians wouldn't get upset at that either) but in a society that values free speech you could express an unpopular opinion like that. Free speech is for allowing people to express their opinion, even if their opinion is said in an unfortunate, bigoted, prejudiced, or uninformed way. Christianity does not value free speech for Christians always attempt to stifle any form of criticism of Christianity under the guise of it being disrespectful to God.

The Bill Of Rights is so contrary to Christian values it's not even funny. But the Christians will do what they can to revise history and to put a Christian spin on our Republic.

No, it's like Thomas Jefferson himself says.

America is in no way founded on Christianity. I wish Christians would get that fact and stop trying to take credit for something they never had anything to do with.

[MarkCharles]

4. Um, actually the Ten Commandments were a Moses thing..kept in place by

the Christians.

[MarkCharles]

5. "Ten Commandments" - by George Carlin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-RGN21TSGk

"Having ten commandments was really a marketing decision"

[Major Nikon]

6. Many of the founding fathers were Deists

If most Christers really understood what Deism is, they would be more afraid of that than atheists.

[arcane1]

7. They don't "get their facts and history wrong"

They deliberately LIE about facts and history.

[MarkCharles]

9. And they get paid to do it! Christian values! n/t

[rrneck]

8. Much like Christmas

the political silly season starts earlier every year.

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/29/are_evangelicals_a_national_security_threat/singleton/?mobile.html

"white evangelicals are especially inclined to identify first with their faith; 70 percent in this group see themselves first as Christians rather than as Americans, while 22 percent say they are primarily American..

It's alive! It's alive!

[NMMNG]

11. They have no need for critical thinking or facts

They just need talking points to fit their fantasy that they're God's warriors fighting MILITANT ATHEISTS, THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA and other such horrors for America, God's chosen nation.

[humblebum]

12. "... or that The USSR was set up solely to spread organized militant atheism."

I'd really like to see who that person would be. To my knowledge, no one has ever made such a ridiculous statement, although I have seen it written more than once as an unsubstantiated accusation. To distort the facts no doubt. Come to think ofit , I have never seen anything here of "people who believe the Crusades were a series of wars between farming groups" either.