God's Prophet Revisits Harding

As the beloved anthem "I'm Proud to be an American" resounded in the Benson Auditorium at Harding University and Searcy-dwelling Harding alums wiped tears from their eyes at such evocative twang, a huge American flag hogged my visual attention so much that I think I will be seeing stars and stripes forever. In fact, as speaker David Barton (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/David_Barton) walked up to the podium, it took me a while to distinguish him from the background of the American flag--I guess that moment was a revelation from God to let me know that Barton is an icon for everything America stands for: Christianity, Republicans, and people who are scared of homosexuals.

George Washington himself would agree; after all, he was uncomfortable with the idea of homosexuals in the military. And Thomas Jefferson the Deist actually went to church. And no one will believe this bit of revolutionary news: the Founding Fathers signed their letters with the phrase, "In the year of our Lord..."

The Founding Fathers also owned slaves. The Founding Fathers also believed women had no place in government. The Founding Fathers wore hose. The Founding Fathers were not, I repeat, were not emissaries from God, and the Constitution is not an inspired document, and America is not "God's Country." But David Barton crusades on in his leather jacket, certain that our nation is distinctly Christian, certain because the names of some of the people who helped write the Declaration of Independence started with "Reverend."

Even if we skip the historical debate over their religious affiliations, should the religious opinions of 200-year-old (aka dead) white guys dictate the current condition of America? Barton argues that the Christian faith was what uniquely inspired these men to revolt and put forth the principles that form the foundation of America. Granted, that may or may not be true (most likely not), but who cares?! "Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects?" (Well said, James Madison.)

Chuckling over Barton's jabs at atheists, the ACLU, and (he really said this) the four "bad guys" on the Supreme Court, the audience joined in Barton's indignancy over the terrible oppression of Christians in America. Now that the removal of public prayer in public schools has led to lower SAT scores and increased crime rates, among other things--according to Barton--the more recent removal of the Ten Commandments plaque from courthouses will certainly precede anarchy, or, even worse, an amendment protecting gay marriage. All I know is that "“You can protect your liberties in this world only by protecting the other man's freedom. You can be free only if I am free," in the words of Clarence Darrow. I don't want the Ten Commandments hanging up in a public school because I don't want the Book of Mormon hanging up in a public school, and I respect the Buddhist who doesn't want to have to pray to Jesus any more than I want to have to pray to Buddha.

The iconic leader for right-wing conservatism has a dark secret, one Harding University tolerates (ironically). But this one flaw, his fabrication and exaggeration of historical documents and the sunsequent retraction of these dubious claims, is overshadowed by the two Angel Awards he's won. Way to go, Dave!

One last indignation...
When Barton went off about how the Cornell profs who wrote the text "Our Godless Constitution" didn't cite their historical sources, when Barton said "These Ph. D. types" are flooding our education system with lies, I wanted to ask him to look deep inside. I wanted to ask him if it was time to let go of his resenting people who are actually educated, who have credentials in their fields of study, who went to a university people have heard of. But hey, the Founding Fathers only went to seminary, so who needs a real education?