This is my fourth post about H. Res. 888. The first addressed the distortions and outright lies in fourteen of the resolution's seventy-five "Whereases," focusing on those related to our country's founding era; the second showed Mr. Forbes's misrepresentations of several 20th century presidents; and the third contained a transcription of Mr. Forbes's recent interview on David Barton's WallBuildersLIVE! radio show, revealing the true goals of the resolution and the ongoing lies about it.
For those not yet aware of just how heinous H. Res. 888 is, the always eloquent Mikey Weinstein, Founder and President of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, sums it up perfectly: "Its myriad tortured and deliberate historical fictions, fused by it's Congressional-member drafters into a sorry screed of fascistic Christian exceptionalism and triumphalism, clearly illuminate its private sector and legislative sponsors' unbridled lust to spare absolutely no effort to complete the transformation of our country into 'The United Christian States of America.'" Since I still have quite a few of the resolution's "tortured and deliberate historical fictions" to get to, I've decided that each time this resolution gets more co-sponsors, I'm going to debunk another one of its historical fictions -- starting with this one for the 18 new co-sponsors it got on February 12.
Anyone at all familiar with the writings of Thomas Jefferson or the debate over the religious beliefs of the founders will, of course, recognize The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as the "Jefferson Bible," the volume created by Jefferson by taking clippings from the four gospels, retaining only the words said to have been uttered by Jesus and certain biographical passages, but omitting everything miraculous or portraying Jesus as anything more than a man. But, for some reason, Mr. Forbes, while elsewhere making every possible connection or allusion to the founders, passes up, in this case, an opportunity to point out a genuine connection to a founder...go figure. It is only by reading Mr. Forbes's footnotes that anyone who is not familiar with The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth would realize this book had anything to do with Thomas Jefferson. And, it is one of these footnotes that brings us to the first lie in this "Whereas." Mr. Forbes claims that: "beginning in 1904 and continuing for the next half-century, the Federal government printed and distributed" this book. Mr. Forbes's source for this claim? The introduction, by Judd W. Patton, to an edition of the "Jefferson Bible" published in 1996. The problem? Mr. Forbes's source doesn't say this -- probably because it ISN'T TRUE! The "Jefferson Bible" was printed by Congress only one time -- in 1904. It was not repeatedly printed and distributed by the government for the next fifty years, as Mr. Forbes claims. There were subsequent distributions of the book to Congress during this period, but these were by private groups, which is what Mr. Forbes's source, Judd W. Patton, actually wrote:
So, either Mr. Forbes has a serious reading comprehension problem, or he's deliberately lying about what his source said. I'm leaning towards the latter. Mr. Forbes's next fabrication is his claim that the federal government distributed the book to Congress "because of the important teachings it contained." This wasn't even true the one time that the government actually did print it. There is absolutely no indication that this book was printed by the government for any reason other than it being the only one of Jefferson's works that had not yet been published by order of Congress. The reason for the prior omission of this volume was that it was not in the possession of the government when the rest of Jefferson's writings were published. This is clear in the records of Congress, and was also explained to the press by Congressman Joel Heatwole of Minnesota. From the Washington Post
The questioning of Mr. Heatwole and his explanation were actually prompted by protests against the government's printing of the book. The objections, which were appearing in numerous papers, contained statements like: "The constitution takes our government entirely out of religious discussion. Congress has no business printing works which support or oppose any conceivable view of the Christian religion." (3) Must have been some secularists, objecting to the book "because of the important teachings it contained," right? Wrong! It was the clergy of various Christian denominations doing the protesting. The printing of the "Jefferson Bible" did not go unchallenged in Congress either. During the debate, one representative, in response to the argument that it should be printed because the original was the only copy in existence, sarcastically asked Rep. John Lacey, the Iowa Congressman who had introduced the resolution, if he would "consent to put Dillingworth's spelling book as an appendix to the work," and then said he wished it had never been found, a remark that the Congressional record notes was followed by laughter. On May 21, 1902, in light of the protests from the clergy, which by then included a petition against the publication from the General Synod of the Reformed Church of the United States, Mr. Lacey actually tried to rescind his original resolution to print the book, which had passed on May 10, with another resolution, saying that arrangements had been made to have it printed privately. No action was taken on this second resolution, however, and the plan for the government printing proceeded. The following articles, from the newspapers of May and June of 1902, show exactly what the clergy of the day thought about Jefferson's Bible. Apparently, unlike Mr. Forbes, they just couldn't see "the important teachings it contained." From the Philadelphia Inquirer, May 19, 1902:
From the Macon Weekly Telegraph, May 16, 1902:
From the Duluth News-Tribune, May 25, 1902: From the Philadelphia Inquirer, June 3, 1902: This next article, while reporting on the same Presbyterian Ministerial Association meeting as the Philadelphia Inquirer article above, is interesting for more than just its reporting of that group's protest against the publication of the "Jefferson Bible." In this one, the New York Times actually went as far as accusing Dr. Cyrus Adler, the author of the book's introduction, who happened to be a Jew, of being "a prominent opponent of the Christian Church."
At the same time that the clergy were protesting its printing, countless other articles about the "Jefferson Bible," appearing in papers all over the country, were just matter-of-factly stating that Jefferson was a "freethinker" who had omitted the miraculous from his work. From The Fort Worth Morning Register, May 15, 1902:
From The State, Columbia, May 19, 1902:
From The Fort Worth Register, May 22, 1902:
Similar articles began appearing in 1904, as the printing was nearing completion. From The Biloxi Daily Herald, August 24, 1904:
1. Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson's "Bible": The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, Foreword by William Murchison and Introduction by Judd W. Patton, (Grove City: American Book Distributors, 1997), xv. 2. "Thomas Jefferson's Bible. Chairman Heatwole Explains the Character of the Book to be Published," Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO, May 25, 1902, 13. 3. "Jefferson's Bible," Duluth News-Tribune, Duluth, MN, May 25, 1902, 6. 4. "Jefferson's Bible. Rev. Tupper Says Government Should Not Publish It," Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 1902, 6. 5. Macon Weekly Telegraph, Macon, GA, May 16, 1902, 4. 6. "Jefferson's Bible," Duluth News-Tribune, Duluth, MN, May 25, 1902, 6. 7. "Ministers Condemn Jefferson's Book," Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, June 3, 1902, 11. 8. "Jefferson's Bible. Presbyterian Ministers Object to Its Publication by Congress," New York Times, June 3, 1902, 3. 9. "Jefferson's Bible, Made up of the Testament in Four Languages, All Miracles Being Omitted," The Fort Worth Morning Register, Fort Worth, TX, May 15, 1902, 1. 10. "'Jefferson's Bible.' Congress to Publish a Limited Edition as a Document," The State, Columbia, SC, May 19, 1902, 6. 11. "The Gospel of Jefferson," The Fort Worth Register, Fort Worth, TX, May 22, 1902, 4. 12. "Bible of Jefferson. It is Being Printed by United States Government," The Biloxi Daily Herald, Biloxi, MS, August 24, 1904, 2.
Borat "Star" Co-Sponsors House Resolution 888 | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
Borat "Star" Co-Sponsors House Resolution 888 | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
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