Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, & Religion

Book Review onOriginal Intent:The Courts, the Constitution & ReligionBy David BartonThis book is, in my mind, one of the most important books to have been written since the birth of America as a nation. I say that because of the possible impact that it could have on America if each and every American were to acknowledge the true history of our nation and her people, and to fight to implement its honest conclusions.A telling sign of this book's importance is in the criticism of those on the left, and the vitriol which they hurl against it and the author. They call themselves "church-state separationists," and they comprise of individuals who align themselves into groups such as the misnamed "People for the American Way" and "positiveatheism.org", "michiganatheists.org", as well as many other like-minded individuals. They make various claims against Barton, such as a belief that many of the quotes are bogus and have no origination in any preserved or extant documents. They also throw out assertions intended to harm his character, including that Barton is not a "lettered" historian, having no formal secondary education in history.As to the first claim, it should be known that Barton used a scholarly approach in determining which quotes to include in his book. After the publication of his first book on the subject, The Myth of Separation, and the resulting criticism from the left, Barton determined to leave no possibility of criticism on these grounds in future editions and writings, and established more rigorous criteria for inclusion of a quotation in his books/works. Whereas in the past, he used the scholarly approach of insuring that any quotations "have been documented in a completely acceptable fashion for academic works," he instituted a much more stringent criteria which matched legal standards of any court of law in the United States, "relying solely on primary or original sources, using best evidence, rather than relying on the writings of attorneys, professors, or historians".The interesting aspect of the result of all this hoopla, is that even if the critics were correct (and they are not) and we were to remove the dozen or so questionable quotations, the main thrust of the book remains intact, resulting in absolutely no damage to the thesis.As to the second claim, it can easily be dismissed on two grounds:1. Barton's scholarly approach is readily discerned in the book itself.Barton's book is filled with over 1400 footnotes detailing the origination of all quotations from source documents. His "unschooled" work rivals/surpasses many other works by schooled historians.2. The charge is an ad hominem attack.Ad hominem attacks are attacks which seek to harm the argument by harming the author of the argument. This is done by attacking his integrity or character by allusion to some personal deficiency or other defect in his person or being. Ad hominem attacks are considered by any scholarly critic to be outside of the realm of acceptance. The idea is that the argument does not stand or fall by the character or integrity of the sayer, but by the strength of the statements accuracy and logic.While one could certainly make an argument that a liar's work is unworthy of honest consideration, one must first establish that Barton's work can be defined in such a way - and this from an unbiased source.Barton originally published The Myth of Separation, in 1988. That book was heavily researched with over 700 footnotes. The main purpose and thrust of this book was to counter the ridiculous claims of the atheists and other leftists who boldly stated that our Founding Fathers were all atheists. They might concede that some were deists, but they were certainly not Christian.An example of this can be seen in the forward to a book written by the comedian, Steve Allen. In the forward of his book, Martin Gardner makes the incredible claim that,"...Washington, John Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, and most of the other founding fathers, as well as Lincoln, were not Christians".Though not an outright lie, this claim is stated in such a fashion as to suggest that the opposite corollary is true: that these men were either infidels, or indifferent to the Christian religion. Yet Barton's book clearly establishes this as completely false.This claim regarding the Founding Fathers was repeated quite often by those who were opposing Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell, and many of the other Christians who were speaking out against the immoral trending in our society away from God in our government, and schools, and our society in general. And this, undoubtedly, was a main reason for the writing of Myth.When Barton's Myth was published, it lit a fire of incredible magnitude in the loins of Christians who were desperately trying to understand why everything seemed to be falling apart in our society: the Boy Scouts were under attack, prayer was under attack, AIDS was pandemic, homosexuality was being promoted and forced upon society, etc.After the initial criticisms were levied at Barton's book, Myth, he went to work to expand the scope of the book, and to make any corrections to those criticisms which were valid, resulting in a ton of background materials, and 6 appendices, making his new book, Original Intent, one of the most heavily footnoted books of 1996.This book can be best described as a window into our past. The greatest obstacle to understanding the material is in understanding the context of the times in regards to our American ancestors (specifically our Founding Father's) thinking and understanding. This book brings a clarity unforeseen heretofore, and illuminates our understanding.The book gives weight to discussions that argue for the historicity of a Christian Nation. Because of the work of this book, you will see that the criticisms do not come from your typical historian or book critic, but from those on the further extremes of the left. This is primarily due to the scholarly work of Barton, and its strength against frivolous arguments. When all is said and done, there is nothing to attack regarding the book, so they instead attack the author, by generalizing against Barton, and those who have come to learn the truth regarding our nation's Founding Fathers.

In order to understand the Constitution one must be aware of the ideology that flowed in those years, their view about God and nature. and their concept of morality. We can't ignore this step when doing a review on the US Constitution, on the contrary, any review about this document must be made in base of this primary step.This book is extraordinarily well made, because hits the root which feeds the Constitution and focus in the gardeners who took care of its growing and completion as a solid oak tree.There is no doubt that the Pilgrims left England looking for new land where one religion denomination alone shouldn't be imposed but where the inhabitants will be free to worship God with freedom. Of course, historians -and revisionists like David Barton himself- have avoided to mention that the "intention of the Pilgrims and the writers of the US Constitution" was to be free to worship the God of the bible, and that no other god or religion was included in it. This historical fact is now ignored in order to avoid controversies with the current and increasing multitude in America who worship "other gods". Fact is, that in those years the wars weren't only about race or territories but about what god was the most powerful, in order to convert the rest to the religion of the conquerors.For this reason, we can observe by their phrases, the mentioning of words like "Christians", "bible", "Gospel of Jesus Christ", "Old and New Testament", etc, in quotes told by George Washington, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Rush, etc. The goal was to make a Constituion based on the laws, precepts and statutes found in the bible, and the historical document should be a guidance for the new nation throughout future generations.But, something happened in America: corruption has become the new religion.Today, there are lots of people who reject God and by consequence they reject the US Constitution, to the point that the statements of this key document have been manipulated to please the corrupt. As Ovid thought with great assert when he stated the "legal profession [doings] is the prostitution of the word", in today's America, the words of the Constitution have been twisted in a way that religion -the base foundation of the Constitution- is being erradicated and inmorality is taking control.This book is a refreshment that make us meditate about how far we are from those ideals, how different new Americans are from George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Noah Webster, etc, decent men who defended morality, who enjoyed integrity, who lived with dignity. The new American generations are victims of a new tendency where the basic principles have been intoxicated by corrupt politicians and their thristy for power even when their goals mean to sell themselves in order to maintain their political status.I do recommend this book. This book shows the intention of the writers of the Constitution and the purpose of this document to be consulted by the following American generations, not so for to be modified and go against the moral principles.Reading this book and the Constitution one can laugh just by asking, "since when sodomy is constitutional?" "Since when murdering of humans -genetically a fetus is a whole human being- is constitutional?Before answering these questions, one must learn and know that the main purpose of the US Constitution is to preserve humans as individuals and as a society, and surely abortion and homosexualism are agaisnt it.I praise the work made to complete this book ands surely I recommend it as a "must" to be included in the school curriculum.

Worth reading again and again. Organic utterances.

Outstanding scholarship and research on the founders' original intent of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, and how those documents have been stepped on by the US Supreme Court since 1947. This book details of The U.S. Supreme Court's judicial malpractice over the course of many decades, which has systematically stripped Americans of their freedoms, stolen legal jurisdiction from the states, and overthrown the legal Constitutional legislative process. Reveals how the U.S. Supreme Court has perverted the first amendment, and all the amendments, which were included in the Bill of Rights to limit federal power, but has since been used by the Court to limit Americans freedoms. In the process, the Court has inappropriately applied the erroneous metaphor ¨separation of church and state, ¨to major court decisions on religious freedom cases since the 1947 Everson vs Board of Education case. That phrase is NOT in the Constitution, but in a personal letter from Thomas Jefferson to a Baptist leader, in which Thomas uses the phrase to reassure that leader that the government would not limit their freedom of religious expression. The US Supreme Court has overstepped its constitutional authority time and again, since 1947, increasing its federal power and in the process has systematically stolen the inheritance of the American people as originally provided in the Bill of Rights.

Breathtaking research into the minds, faith and convictions of the founding fathers that show how far off the SCOUS has gone of course from its "Orginal Intent"

gives a good insight into political processes, also comparable to Switzerland, widens ones horizon to understand how religious fredom is protected or inhibited