Glenn Beck & David Barton to host Lie-a-palooza 2010

[Joanne98]

I would never typically write about Glenn Beck. He is repugnant, but is an entertainer that will be the cause of his own tearful, tea-bagging downfall. My tune has changed a bit in the last 48 hours as Mr. Beck now joins forces with David Barton, a politically connected right-wing Christian zealot, to hold a blow-out lie fest called "American Revival" .

David Barton founded a history ministry called WallBuilders. Barton is a pseudo-historian espousing the falsehood that the Founders, guided by God, established "Christian Nation" in the body of the Constitution (and other historical writings) though the document makes no reference to the deity.

The WallBuilders website has page after page after page of "proof" of a Christian Nation. Barton’s lies about the Founding, misquotes of the Founders and mastery of non-contextual "facts" has been rebuked many times over by secular and Christian organizations alike.

In his article "Historical Revisionism and the Religious Right" Nicholas P. Miller writes of the WallBuilders’ falsehoods for Christian Ethics Today:

"Those who advocate the enshrinement of uniquely Christian values in the laws of our land are literally advocating that force be used to coerce people to conform to spiritual ideals." and;

"Considering the fallacies of its arguments,“Mythbuilders” is the one title that really fits."

David Barton, and his WallBuilders, are intellectual and constitutional poison. Holding a degree in Christian Education from Oral Roberts University, Barton struck out politically to take this nation back for God.

Barton was hired by the RNC in 2004 to get President Bush back into the White House by specifically using his religious network to recruit pastors to politick from the pulpit. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1997-2006.

Glenn, starstruck, writes of Barton on his website in a plug for the March 27 "revival" in Orlando, Florida:

"David Barton is going to be the first one and we’re going to talk about the meaning of faith in America. All the lies that you have been told, that this isn’t a nation of faith, that religion played no role. I’m sure you will be stunned when you learn and see the real history that is no longer taught. Hope. Hope comes from the truth. And you don’t have the truth, you have false hope and that’s what we have now." (www.glennbeck.com)

Last year Barton, in an egregiously perverse move by the Texas Educational Association was appointed to sit as an "expert" in judgement over the Social Studies Curriculum for Texas Public Schools. The TEA and the Texas Board of Education elevated Barton to level of historical expert.

When I heard about what was happening in Texas, and after reading his report to the Texas BOE, I remember David Barton’s name being mentioned in Jeff Sharlet’s book "The Family".

"The Family" is Mr. Sharlet’s insider look at the highly secretive and politically powerful Christian fellowship that came into the main stream light recently in the C Street sex scandal, and their involvement in Uganda’s "Kill the Gays" bill.

Continued>>>
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/29547

[Joanne98]

1. WallBuilders, Inc., Promoting a dominionist "Christian Nation"

January 30, 2010

Cherry Hill Seminary Supports Patrick McCollum in 9th Circuit Case Against California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

COLUMBIA, SC - Cherry Hill Seminary denounces an assertion that Christianity is the only faith protected by the U.S. Constitution, made in a friend of the court (amicus) brief filed this week in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief is part of a years-long struggle by the Seminary Director of Chaplaincy, Rev. Patrick M. McCollum, to compel the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to eliminate its discriminatory policies and practices.

The CDCR has argued before the court that Pagans are not deserving of equal civil rights.　 In one of their first arguments to the court, the defendants said that certain"traditional"faithsare "first-tier faiths" which merited equal rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. Faiths other than "Christianity, Catholicism and Judaism" were designated as "second-tier faiths," with no right to protection or accommodation. Islam and the Native American Church were later added to this list, hence the term "five-faiths policy."

The amicus filed this week in support of the CDCR is submitted on behalf of WallBuilders, Inc., an organization known for promoting a dominionist "Christian Nation," and led by the controversial neoconservative activist David Barton. WallBuilders claims that the definition of the word "religion" at the time the Constitution was written included only monotheism, and therefore other religions are not protected by the Constitution.

"To make such an assertion is not only outrageous, but it reveals the irony that this country is fighting a war against religious extremists in one part of the world, while government officials in California are willing to deny religious freedom to their own citizens," said Rev. Kirk Thomas, recent Past President of Cherry Hill Seminary. "We stand by our faculty member, Rev. McCollum, in full support of his brave fight for religious liberty for all in this country."

"Pagan religions have always existed alongside Christianity, as well as throughout human history and around the world," said Holli Emore, Executive Director of Cherry Hill Seminary. "The many religious groups and leaders who joined Cherry Hill in signing an amicus understand that we live in a plural society. Indeed, this is one of the strengths of our country, not something to deny or oppose. Our students are a testament to that plurality; they represent the growing need for Pagan ministers who are prepared to serve not only the public sector, but institutional settings such as the California prisons."

continued>>>
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/1/31/172817/826

[axollot]

2. And the insanity continues- Just when I think they've plateaued

that they couldnt get any crazier - this shit comes out. IMHO Glen wishes he was a part of "The Family" and considers himself "above" the little people in his mad little quest to continue to stir the 30% of this country into further frothing bat guano crazy.
Hell - he doesnt believe his own BS.
Just watched Wanda Sykes at the Press Corps dinner - and there was Glen, I thought he was a DC outsider? Guess his viewers dont watch much CSPAN.
:banghead:
Cheers
Sandy

[classysassy]

3. If america was founded as a Christian nation

We have done a lot of UnChristian things over the years.Thou shall not steal,thou shall not murder,love thy enemy as thou self,hypocritical,clowns such as Beck need to close his pie hole.