Beck’s Historian Bringing Seminar to Congressional Tea Partiers

[tpsbmam]

From http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/2910/gun_ownership%3A_%E2%80%98an_obligation_to_god%E2%80%99">Julie Ingersoll at Religion Dispatches magazine (more at link):


<snip>

The series provides additional insight into what he is likely to teach members of Congress when he appears before the tea party caucus for their Constitutional seminar. Barton is one of the very best examples of the way in which the tea party is about much more than taxes and he’s been at the center of its rise in influence. Promoted by Glenn Beck, he also travels the country with his Constitutional Seminars and sells materials promoting his views to churches, civic organizations, Christian schools and Christian home-schoolers. And, of course, he is now promoted by tea party leader Michelle Bachmann.

<snip>

I’ve noted on numerous occasions that the spectrum of activists calling themselves “constitutionalists,” ranging from avowed Reconstructionists to tea partiers, read the Constitution in the context of the Declaration of Independence to invoke the authority of the Creator in an otherwise godless document. (The Reconstructionist Tolle Lege Press is giving out free copies of their republished “pocket version” of the two documents.) The first of Barton’s 3-part series lays out exactly how this works.

Barton says that our “original national founding document” lays out both a philosophy of government and an articulation of its purpose. Reading the Declaration of Independence’s “first forty-six words,” Barton writes, asserts that the founders believed there were a handful of rights (the most important of which are life, liberty and property) that come directly from God and that the purpose of government (and therefore the Constitution they wrote) is limited to securing those rights. Any other perceived rights, not understood as coming from God, cannot be legitimately protected by the civil government.

<snip>

The Declaration listed life, liberty and property as being “among” the God-given rights, Barton argues, to leave room for the articulation of more rights derived from God as it was “incorporated” into the Constitution. According to Barton this is most clearly seen in the Bill of Rights, “the capstone” to The Constitution. “They said we’re going to name some other inalienable rights just to make sure that government does not get into these rights…When you look at the ten amendments that are the Bill of Rights, those are God granted rights that government is not to intrude into.”

It always baffles me when I see references to the Bill of Rights being extolled by tea partiers. If that's so, why do these people hate the ACLU so much?

So I toddled over to see what the "Reformation Bookstore" was offering in their free pocket versions of the Declaration of Independence & Constitution. There wasn't anything terribly descriptive except for the "God" reference below:

This handy booklet introduces you to two of the greatest legal documents ever written: the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. The Declaration of Independence establishes the foundation for human liberty and self-government under God. The United States Constitution is the Supreme Law of the United States and is the most influential legal document in existence today. Two-hundred and twenty-three years old, there are more than 100 countries around the world who have used the U.S. Constitution as the model for their own.

The book is 112 pages so I'm sure it's full of their twisted interpretations. And no, I am not giving them my name and address so I can read this thing!

There ya go! Aren't you happy that some of our representatives are taking the time to study our Constitution in depth? :sarcasm: