The U.S. Constitution doesn’t mention Christianity or any specific religion. Yet large numbers of Americans believe the founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation, and many believe it should be one.
This issue of A Public Witness looks back at Thomas Jefferson’s letter to Baptists penned 202 years ago this week and explores why prominent figures deliberately misrepresent the metaphorical “wall of separation” between church and state.
Despite past controversy, Barton’s influence has found an eager audience with the rise of Christian Nationalism in the age of Trump.
In 1993, the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., founder of Liberty University and co-founder of the Moral Majority, promoted a book called “The Myth of Separation” by a Texan named David Barton. According to a Christian Century report, less than a month later on Falwell’s television