Bob McCarty suppresses the truth

Bob McCarty, a religious conservative writer, came to my attention for the first time recently when he touted Lauren Green's historical revisionism about the United States, in response to the Kathy Griffin Emmy controversy. When I and others posted comments on his blog pointing out Green's errors, McCarty accused me of "anti-Christian revisionist history," cited some quotes from Thomas Jefferson which made reference to "God," and stated that "I don’t have to read any more books about American history to know that this country was founded on Christian principles and values. Think 'In God we trust' and 'One nation under God.'"

In response to this latter point, I posted a comment which pointed out that those two phrases don't support McCarty's case regarding the founding of the United States and that Jefferson, while a believer in God, did not believe in the divinity of Jesus. McCarty didn't approve my comment, so I posted again to see if it was intentional:

Bob: You didn't approve/publish my previous comment responding to your Sep. 15 comment. I'll try again.

Your citation of "In God We Trust" and "One Nation Under God" as evidence of the U.S. being founded on Christian principles shows your lack of research--the former did not appear on coins until 1854 and on currency until 1957. The phrase "under God" wasn't added to the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954.

I also suggested you read more of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, including his letter to his nephew Peter Carr on August 10, 1787, in which he wrote "Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."

Oh, and I also recommended that you check out the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, which was ratified by the Congress and signed by President John Adams, which contains the statement that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Tripoli violated the treaty and a new treaty was negotiated in 1805 without that language, but it is significant that both the Senate and President approved that language.

In my first pass at a comment, I also referred to the "Jefferson Bible," a version of the gospels which Jefferson produced by (in part) removing all of Jesus' miracles.

Once again, McCarty didn't approve the comments, demonstrating that he's intentionally suppressing refutation of his ignorant statements. It's his kind of dishonesty that can persuade people to believe that Christianity survives only by hiding from facts and promoting the view that "reason is the enemy of faith."