My LTTE about loon accusing Pres. Obama of not respecting religious tradition of our nation...
I read the letter of Jeffrey T. Karl ["Obama hostile to nation's religious traditions"] with dismay at his lack of historical knowledge.
The writer's source for all these accusations against President Obama was Wall Builders, the brainchild of David Barton, who has admitted to fabricating quotes in his crusade to establish the U.S.A. as a "Christian nation." In 1995, Republican Senator Arlen Specter wrote in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy that many of Barton's arguments "range from the technical to the absurd" and that they "proceed from flawed and highly selective readings of both text and history."
That the founding fathers intended the Constitution to be secular is beyond question; motions to include religious references at the
Constitutional Convention were voted down. We know this from the 1788 pamphlet written by NJ-born Luther Martin, who was a delegate for Maryland.
The Constitution's secularism was decried by colonial clergy. John M. Mason, D.D. complained in a 1793 sermon that the "very Constitution which the singular goodness of God enabled us to establish, does not so much as recognize his being! ... From the Constitution of the United States, it is impossible to ascertain what God we worship; or whether we own a God at all ."
Thomas Jefferson said it even more directly in an 1814 letter to Dr, Thomas Cooper, stating that " Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law. "
Anyone who claims the intention of the founding fathers was to establish a Christian nation should review Article 11 of the Treaty with Tripoli declaring that "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion..." This treaty was negotiated during the administration of George Washington and ratified by the Senate under President Adams. (The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution says the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Treaties, and laws made pursuant to the U.S. Constitution, shall be "the supreme law of the land."
"E Pluribus Unum" was the original U.S. motto put forth by a committee consisting of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Pierre Eugene du Simitiere. It appears on the Great Seal of the United States but was never codified into law. "In God We Trust" is a recent invention, put into law in 1956. No one remembers the names of the congressmen who sponsored that bill.
Our Founding Fathers were wise men and had a healthy skepticism about the role of religion in government. Anyone who claims to respect the traditions of the United States should recognize that fact and stop trying to rewrite history to suit their personal beliefs.
Sincerely,
Rfranklin
= new reply since forum marked as read
Loves it!
And thank you!
Just glad to know I'm not alone in feeling this way. 
Absolutely Beautiful in Their Truth.
R&
A few comments for you, rfranklin:
Nice writing! The one thing I miss most about reading newspapers, as opposed to blog posts, is grammatically correct and proofed stories and letters. I just wince at intelligent people loosing bad writing on an already ignorant world.
Nice synopsis! These are definitely top talking points to remember when dealing with the theocrats in our midst. I read it all thrice just to burn it into my brainpan. Others are probably better suited to supply additional examples in line with your OP, so I'll limit myself to this next, last, kinda oddball comment:
As you say, the U.S.A. was not founded on Christian principles. It's also not conspiracy theory to state that it was founded, in large part (with huge contributions from English common law and the Iroquois, of course) on Freemasonic principles -- from the very idea of a Constitution as a foundation-stone (the earliest references to a "Constitution" in this particular sense can be traced to proto-Masonic orders in the 17th century), to the wall of separation of Church and State (discussing religion and politics is a no-no in the Lodge, and any adult male of any religion could join -- plus, most Lodges began desegregation in the 19th century, hitting a major speed-bump from the '20s to the '60s). Other examples exist, and there's some excellent books on the subject. Usually folks just point out that most of the Founders were Masons, but that's not the relevant part. What is relevant is that they drew heavily on Freemasonry to craft a Secular Republic in which freedom of conscience was a primary characteristic. Today, 1 in 12 adult males is a Freemason (albeit according to the Freemasons, with secret membership impossible to verify).
For too long we've dismissed anything to do with fraternal orders and secret societies as conspiracy fluff, when it's actually just some interesting U.S. history that deserves better treatment. Fraternities? The Greek System? We can thank Jonathan Edwards and the Skull and Bones Society of Yale for establishing that American curiosity. Would anyone say that the history of Frats and Sororities is conspiracy fluff? Why then dismiss the trunk from which these later organizations branched?
It helps: the U.S. was founded on Freemasonic and Native American principles, not Christian principles -- and these are decidedly, emphatically secular. They are at the heart of the Enlightenment (c.f. Dame Francis Yates, "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment" , and the Enlightenment is at the heart of the U.S.A.
Great post!
Thanks for sharing it with us. 
No, seriously, that is a fine letter.
History (accurate history even), logic, authority.
Nice work.
