First Session

A few highlights from David Barton's "Rediscovering God in America"

-Apparently "Modern Readers" don't need to read about religion and morals that Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about when he studied early America

-John Adams answered when asked "Who is behind American Independence?" by giving many reverends and ministers that played a major role in society and in forming public opinion.

-"Seed Time of the Republic" was a book that traced the ideas of the American Revolution back to 6 people, 4 of them were ministers.

-John Wise was a minister in Massachusetts in the late 17th Century. He declared in a sermon "All men are created equal" and that "taxation without representation is tyranny" and that God's favored government was with Representative Government.

-John Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" has 150 direct bible quotations, this book was the direct basis for the Declaration of Independence.

-The first stereotyped bible in the United States was done by Benjamin Rush, who was considered by John Adams to be one of the 3 most influential Founding Fathers

-The last military battle signaled the end of the King's rule, which allowed Americans to print their own Bibles in English, titled "The Bible of the Revolution." It was printed by the US Congress for use in public schools

-Benjamin Franklin told the delegates to pray, and they took a three-day recess to go to Rev. William Roger's Church. Franklin claimed that the convention was "divinely inspired."

-James Madison declared that "it is impossible for the pious man not to recognize in it a finger of that Almighty Hand which was so frequently extended to us in the critical stages of the Revolution."

-In Washington's proclamation George Washington said that "it is the duty of all nations to recognize God"

-There were Church services held at the Capitol that had guest preachers come in almost every Sunday.

-Thomas Jefferson applied "Separation of Church and State" to the "Free practice" clause. Originally it was used to preserve the rights of religious groups to publicly express himself.

-A known Klansman, Hugo Black essentially said that Thomas Jefferson was wrong in how he interpreted the Constitution.

-The First African-American to speak in the Capitol was a preacher.

-The list David Barton gave of government trampling on the right to speak about religion was really eye-opening.

-Under No-Child Left Behind it allows children to have religious expression under penalty of the school losing 16% of its.