The Filthy Little Atheist … Founding Father
[Site editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the new Disinformation title 50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion, authored by Daniele Bolelli.]
The story of his life is richer and weirder than any fiction. Among his close friends were visionary poets such as William Blake as well as political icons like Benjamin Franklin. Napoleon slept with his books by his pillow, and told him statues of gold should be erected to him in every city in the universe (but the admiration was not reciprocated). Thomas Edison believed him to be one of the most brilliant minds in human history. Some of his writings rank among the greatest bestsellers of the 18th century. He participated in the two revolutions (the American and the French) that changed the political face of the modern world.
During the American Revolution, George Washington used his writings to inspire his troops to remember what they were…
Washington Vs. Jefferson — Winner: Franklin By TKO
In the buildup to the 2012 elections, we can anticipate candidates attempting to appropriate inaccurate depictions of the legacies of the Founding Fathers. But when it comes to real history, pound for pound, and in any fight between Jefferson and Washington, I’d put my money on Ben Franklin.
In one recent article posted to disinfo.com, and the attendant readers’ comments particularly grabbed my imagination: “Dancing at the Memorial of a Slave Owner“, an examination of the events following the arrest of five persons for dancing near the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Of course the real importance of the article bears upon the current state of civil rights and free speech in the United States, not on Mr. Jefferson’s personal stance on slavery. The impression the piece left with me was a reinforced sense of America as a declining cultural as well as economic and military power, clinging desperately onto past imagined…
How Congress Created Socialized Medicine — In 1798
Is Obamacare a communism-flavored slap-in-the-face to our Founding Fathers? No, it isn’t — Forbes points out that the wigged ones were closet socialists. In 1798, Congress created the first taxpayer-funded, government-run hospital, and mandated health insurance for all sailors — moves that seemed to predict health care in Europe and Canada today:
In July of 1798, Congress passed – and President John Adams signed – “An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen.” The law authorized the creation of a government operated marine hospital service and mandated that privately employed sailors be required to purchase health care insurance.
Keep in mind that the 5th Congress did not really need to struggle over the intentions of the drafters of the Constitutions in creating this Act as many of its members were the drafters of the Constitution.
And when the Bill came to the desk of President John Adams for signature, I think it’s…
The Founding Fathers Read The Koran
For Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson among them, being properly educated included owning and reading the Koran. Via Boston.com, a glimpse at the little-known long history of the Koran in America:
Reports of Korans in American libraries go back at least to 1683, when an early settler of Germantown, Pa., brought a German version to these shores. Despite its foreign air, Adams’s Koran had a strong New England pedigree. The first Koran published in the United States, it was printed in Springfield in 1806.
Why would John Adams and a cluster of farmers in the Connecticut valley have bought copies of the Koran in 1806? Surprisingly, there was a long tradition of New Englanders reading in the Islamic scripture. No book states the case more plainly than a single volume, tucked away deep within the citadel of Copley Square — the Boston Public Library. The book known as Adams 281.1…
Who Is Sarah Palin’s Favorite Founding Father?
Sarah Palin loves to talk about how her political views are based on the words, writings, and examples set by our nation’s founding fathers.
So which one is her favorite? See if you can guess. (Hint: Remember when she was asked what newspaper she reads?)
No Longer for Display in the U.S. Capitol: George Washington Zeus
From Wikipedia (Image at right: Photo by Mark Pellegrini via Creation Commons 2.5):
The Congress of the United States commissioned Horatio Greenough to create this statue for display in the Capitol Rotunda. When the marble statue arrived in the Washington, D.C. in 1841, however, it immediately generated controversy and criticism.
Many found the sight of a half-naked Washington offensive, even comical. The statue was relocated to the east lawn of the Capitol in 1843. Disapproval continued and some joked that Washington was desperately reaching for his clothes, then on exhibit at the Patent Office several blocks to the north.
In 1908, Washington was finally brought back indoors when Congress transferred it to the Smithsonian Institution.
It remained at the Smithsonian Castle until 1964, when it was moved to the new Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History). The marble Washington has been exhibited on the second floor of that building since…
