- ". . . those who find fault with the citations cannot really overcome the overwhelming evidence in this book that the current courts have far overstepped anything that the founders intended in not recognizing and establishing a single church vs. their views that religion is a fundamental foundation for the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution.
If you read this book, you should also read the Federalist Papers, the words and works of the founders, including Washington's first inaugural address to understand that the current courts have radically departed from the intentions of the founders when it came to the role of religion, vs. established churches in the USA. For many generations, the original intent of the founders was well understood, but it was only until the 20th century that judges decided to re-write the Constitution and take on the role of "a national theology board" that makes earlier debates about how many angels fit on the head of a pin look enlightened.
Now, you might love and support the changes of the 30s and 60s, you might say "The Founders are dead and gone and I'm here and I want an entirely different constitution." That's your right as an American the last time I checked. But then you might not like the results, and there are a number of disturbing charts to chronicle the unintended consequences. This is just one scan, and like it or not, agree or disagree, we pay for both results either in health care for long term and life time consequences of STDs, or in poorly educated citizens.
This book, Original intent; the courts, the constitution, and religion by David Barton, WallBuilder Press, 2000, is available both at the Upper Arlington Public Library [342.73 Ba, 2000] and the Upper Arlington Lutheran Church Library, Lytham Road, [973 Bart]. Whether you're liberal, progressive, conservative or libertarian, and even if you hate the theme of the book, you'll find the 200 pages of citations useful.
I'd never heard of this publisher, WallBuilders, so I took at look at their webpage. It gives a pretty good idea what to expect, which is more clear in intent than the real meaning of say a Norman Lear patriotic song, "Born again American" that's been whipping around the globe or an ACORN mortgage assistance website.
- "In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, the nation of Israel rallied together in a grassroots movement to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and thus restore stability, safety, and a promising future to that great city. We have chosen this historical concept of "rebuilding the walls" to represent allegorically the call for citizen involvement in rebuilding our nation's foundations. As Psalm 11:3 reminds us, 'If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?' "
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