Blog from the Capital

The new issue of Newsweek magazine has a brief follow-up on the Katherine Harris church-state-separation-is-a-lie fiasco, and in some ways addresses my question: aren't there many (dangerous) people who agree with her, even though we're not hearing much from them?

A cottage industry has grown in recent years to push a more radical argument that the Founders intended virtually no separation. Books making the case include "The Myth of Separation Between Church and State," by Dee Wampler, "What If America Were a Christian Nation Again?" by D. James Kennedy, and "America's Christian Heritage," by Gary Demar. The conservative Web site WorldNetDaily sells a special issue called "The Myth of Church-State Separation," and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes has campaigned against the "so-called doctrine ... that the courts have created out of thin air." David Barton, author of a book called "The Myth of Separation," was hired by the Bush campaign in 2004 to speak to church groups around the country—in part to convince them that the Constitution doesn't ban political activity by churches.

Barton also figures prominently in an article in the new Texas Monthly (subscrip. req'd). BJC Director Brent Walker issued a statement critical of him which you can read here.

Barton peddles the proposition that America is a Christian nation, legally and historically. He asserts that the principle of church-state separation, while not in the Constitution, has systematically been used to rule religion out of the public arena, particularly the public school system. His presentation has just enough ring of truth to make him credible to many people. His work, however, is laced with exaggerations, half-truths and misstatements of fact.