Michelle Bachmann and the big lie that got away

I’ve been waiting – and waiting, and waiting, dudes – for some press truth squad to point out that Michelle Bachman was so full of bullpoop during the Republican candidates debate in New Hampshire the other night that she could have fertilized a 40-acre turnip field.

I’m speaking particularly of her reference to America’s roots as a Christian nation.

She caught me off guard. I wasn’t taking notes because I didn’t think any claim so bald-facedly false would emerge from the debate. But at some point she lectured us on the founding fathers’ belief in Christianity and how this make us a Christian nation.

Her proof? The line from the Declaration of Independence (Didn’t she mistakenly say the line was from the Constitution?) that “all men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights ….”

She, she in effect said, the founding fathers wrote “creator” because they believed in God.

Sorry, Michelle. Once again you flunk history. The revolutionary founders used the word “creator” because they didn’t want to use the word “God.” There were quite a few deists among the founders. They believed there was something that created us, but whether it was a god or some other force they couldn’t say.

Go here and you’ll learn

Deism has no church and no official organization, hence, it is not considered a religion. It is more a reason-based view of religion in general. Deism is sometimes referred to as a religious philosophy or a religious outlook. In general, Deism did not see Christ as the Son of God, did not believe in the Trinity, had no strong belief in miracles, and had no belief in atonement or resurrection. The Bible was not considered “sacred text” among most Deists, although most Deists were (like Franklin) Christian-friendly.

Deism could fall into certain subcategories of Deist-Christian (i.e. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson) and Deist non-Christian (i.e. Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen). Deist-Christians generally believed the Bible provided good lessons to live by and they attended church regularly. Deist non-Christians generally felt that Christianity was largely an impediment to growth and they did not attend church regularly.

In fact, in a 1796 treaty, the United States declared that the United States government “is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”

So shut up, Michelle and stop spewing your bullpoop. Just…shut…up.