skygiants

Posted by Ampersand

https://amptoons.com/blog/?p=27872

This comic was drawn by R.E. Ryan, who did a great job rendering my silly version of Colonial America.

In 2023, Senator Josh Hawley posted this quote, attributing it to Founding Father Patrick Henry:

It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Patrick Henry didn’t actually say that – the quote comes from a 1950s white nationalist magazine.

Representative Lauren Boebert went even further, saying that the Founding Fathers intended the church “to direct the government.”

The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it, and I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk. That’s not in the Constitution.

(Compare that with Madison’s belief that “religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together. “)

Unfortunately, a lot of influential conservatives have expressed similar beliefs. Christian nationalism is increasingly powerful on the right.

As Senator Hawley (or, more likely, his staff) was quick to point out, some Founding Fathers did connect the founding of the USA to Christianity. But that certainly wasn’t something all the Founding Fathers believed, let alone agreed to when they wrote the nation’s founding documents.

Some receipts:

Thomas Jefferson really did physically slice out miracles and the like from his copy of the Bible. Jefferson believed that cutting out “nonsense” and leaving only what he judged to be “evidently” authentic sayings of Jesus would produce a “sublime and benevolent code of morals.” He added that the genuine material in the Bible was “as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill.”

In Age of Reason, Paine famously wrote:

I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.

Regarding the kicker:

Paine wasn’t the strongest antislavery voice among the Founding Fathers – that would probably be John Jay – but he was one of the strongest, and he never owned slaves.

Jefferson, judged only by what he wrote as a young man, would also be a strong antislavery voice.

The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other… Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.

(Note the God reference. Jefferson seems to have been more a deist than either a Christian or an atheist. But also, he was too good a writer to let such technical considerations get in the way of a good phrase.)

But no one should be judged only on what they say. On slavery, Jefferson was America’s greatest hypocrite, owning hundreds of slaves in his life. As he aged, he became more consistent, but not in a good way: his writing and rhetoric became increasingly defensive of slavery.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels, plus a “kicker” panel underneath.

PANEL 1

In colonial times, Thomas Jefferson is walking after Thomas Paine, holding up an open bible.

JEFFERSON: Hey Thomas Paine — check this out!

PAINE: Hey yourself, Thomas Jefferson. It’s the Bible, but… you’ve cut it up?

PANEL 2

A close-up on Jefferson. We can now see that his copy of the Bible has been cut up; Jefferson is holding scissors in his other hand.

JEFFERSON: Precisely! I cut out the bullshit: miracles, the virgin birth, Jesus being God. What’s left is the good stuff—love your neighbor, give to charity.

PANEL 3

Jefferson tucks his bible under his arm. Paine looks very conceited.

JEFFERSON: I call it “separating diamonds from dunghills.”

PAINE: Nice! You’ve obviously been reading MY work. “Religion was invented to enslave people.”

PANEL 4

We switch to the current day; we are looking at a hand holding a smartphone. On the phone’s screen is a YouTube-style app, playing a video of someone sitting in his car yelling at his camera.

MAN: FACT! The Founding Fathers meant the USA to be a CHRISTIAN nation devoted to our lord JESUS CHRIST!

KICKER PANEL

Paine folds his arms and looks at Jefferson sternly. Jefferson looks abashed and turns away.

PAINE: So Jefferson — have you freed your slaves yet?

JEFFERSON: Oh dear, I’m suddenly needed in Monticello.

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is an obscure term once used by cartoonists for irrelevant but fun details in the art.

PANEL 2: A bird on the fence is wearing a white wig with elaborate curls, aka a Founding Father wig. Graffiti on the fence shows a heart with “GB + US 4VR” written inside but the heart is crossed out.

PANEL 3: A beer cart is in the background, with a sign saying “BEER: It’s what’s for breakfast.” A drunk child sits against the cart, drinking from an enormous mug. On the cart’s other side, a cat is lapping at some spilled beer, while a drunk rat has passed out. A smaller sign on the cart says “HEAD CHEESE – Made from REAL calf head!”

PANEL 4: The website is called “ScrewLoose.” The video channel is named “MrBased.” The thumbnails for other videos say: “ANGER: I will NOT let them CANCEL me,” “FEAR: How WOKE is COMING for your KIDS,” and “BUY VITAMINS: THEY don’t want you to KNOW about these PILLS!”

Two Toms Talking Theology | Barry Deutsch on Patreon

https://amptoons.com/blog/?p=27872