Declaration of Incompetence
“ We had a huge crowd in Cupertino, California, last night for our "Take Back America" special. And as you know, a fifth-grade teacher there sued the school district after they banned him from showing his students the Declaration of Independence.
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Now he says the school didn't want him to use the documents that reference God. Well, this issue isn't going to go away. But you may not know that by watching the other networks out there.
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It's like they've created their own little world.
For weeks Hannity has been screeching about the banning of the Declaration of Independence by a high school in California. Only problem is, it never happened.
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The Declaration of Independence was banned. "We had a huge crowd in Cupertino, California, last night for our "Take Back America" special. And as you know, a fifth-grade teacher there sued the school district after they banned him from showing his students the Declaration of Independence." |
The school did not ban the Declaraction of Independence. A flamboyant teacher brought a lawsuit against his school that made a number of wild accusations, but even he does not make such an outrageous claim. In fact, this teacher was spending too much time preaching in the classroom and not enough time teaching. Here's an example of one of his "U.S. History" assignments: Read the Easter story in the Bible. Start reading Luke, chapter 22, and continue to the end of the book of Luke. Write a response to some of the themes in the Easter story of the Bible: betrayal, sacrifice, resurrection, love, hope, new life. Write a response to any of the themes in the story using references from the Bible and how they apply to our culture today. Make a diorama of a scene from the story and attach your written response. |
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There is no separation of church and state in the Constitution.
"HANNITY: Yes, and where in the Constitution does it say it? Where? "COLWIN: The establishment clause says that we... "HANNITY: Where does it say, 'separation of church and state' in the Constitution? It's not in there, is it?" |
This is, of course, the First Amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Hannity, who is for once called on his dissembling, goes for the pedantic kill: It is true that the phrase "separation of church and state" itself does not appear in the text of the Constitution. As is well known (to those taught outside Cupertino), that phrase was written by Thomas Jefferson in reiteration: "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state." (1802) |
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The Founding Fathers were Christians, and so America is a "Christian" nation. "CALLAN: This is what I'm asking you, Alan. Where is the broad range? Where do the founding fathers refer to another religion other than Christianity?" |
What does it mean for America to be a "Christian" nation? If it means that most Americans are Christian, then it is true. If it means that Christianity is America's official religion, then it is unequivocally false. (See the First Amendment and the No Religious Test clause.) Often, proponents of state religion or theocracy use as evidence the claim that the Founders were Christians who wanted to secure church Christianity a favored place. That is simply wishful thinking. Jefferson, Franklin, and Paine were Deists, and John Adams was a Unitarian, a denomination many evangelicals denounce. More importantly, one can read their explicit opinions on the matter, notably the Constitution. |
It's like they've created their own little world.
For the last few weeks, following the lead of kooky wingnuts like Jerry Falwell and James Dobson, FOX news has gone on a quixotic crusade against a phantom enemy, those who are attacking Christianity.
Get real. Christianity is not under attack -- arguably, it has never been more a part of public life. This is just another example of the right feigning victimization, even when it's the side making all the decisions.
The Declaration of Independence was never banned -- that was simply the false title of a press release from the "Alliance Defense Fund" and parrotted in the mainstream media. Because the right-wing media don't believe in the idea of journalism, of course they didn't bother to check it out. Instead they sent Sean Hannity out to Cupertino, where he held a kind of rally to rouse the conservative troops. He closed out his "news" broadcast by exhorting his audience to vote Republican. (Of course, you won't find this part of the transcript on the Fox web site.)
What's incredible is that even moments after the preacher-teacher in question told Hannity that, no, the Declaration was not banned, he still stuck to the same falsehood.
When you've got an agenda to push, why let facts get in the way?
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