Primary sources!

Perhaps you've heard Mike Huckabee's quote, that he wishes that "every single young person in America would be able to be under [David Barton's] tutelage." Never mind the "at gunpoint" stuff, although Huckabee's fantasy of a "simultaneous telecast" of David Barton's messages conjures up delicious images of a Big Brother society.

David Barton, if you don't know, is a fellow whose aim is to get Americans to remember that our founding fathers meant for this to be a Christian nation. Barton has been accused of taking quotes out of context to prove his points, as well as citing quotes that our forefathers may never have said. Those who think as he does, though, are likely to believe that his version of history is accurate.

These days, many people seem to think that these things are just matters of opinion, and that both sides of a story are equally valid. That's why relying on primary sources is so important when you want to know what is really true.

Now, I could sit here and tell you that the government of our nation was formed during the 18th Century Enlightenment, at a time when science had called into question the authority of religion, and that the leaders of the American Revolution were under the spell of science, and were skeptical of Christianity. I could also remind you that, as you learned in elementary school Thanksgiving pageants, our forefathers left Europe for religious freedom, and that they couldn't get it there, because their governments were entwined with one church or another. But because you know that I am a Democrat, and that I am not a religious person, you might have reason to question my objectivity, and, therefore, my truthfulness.

Luckily, we live in a free society, and we have access to primary sources: That is, we can read what the founders themselves wrote!

I have mentioned before that Thomas Paine (whose name is often invoked by Glenn Beck) was not a Christian. He believed in one God, and he believed in the afterlife. The list of things he didn't believe was a very long one.

Don't take my word for it. "The Age of Reason" is available for anyone to read.

I may have also mentioned that, while Thomas Jefferson believed that the teachings of Jesus constituted a great philosophy of life, he did not believe in the miracles, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and other mystical trappings of Christianity.

Don't take my word for it. Jefferson published his own version of the Gospels, in which he included the teachings, but removed all the miraculous occurrences. It is available for all to read as "The Jefferson Bible."

Benjamin Franklin believed that there is one God, that there is an afterlife, and that people will be rewarded and punished for their deeds, either in this life, or in the next. I do not believe he considered himself a Christian, strictly speaking. He developed a thirteen-point plan for self-perfection, point number thirteen being to emulate Jesus... and Socrates.

Don't take my word for that. Franklin left behind his wonderful Autobiography.

Now, you may disagree with Paine, Jefferson, and Franklin, but their own writings reveal what their religious beliefs were. If they had thought that America should be a Christian nation, they would have said so.

Already, the proponents of the mingling of church and state have sought to distance themselves from Jefferson. You may have heard about the pressure on textbook writers to place less emphasis on Jefferson--only the author of the Declaration of Independence!--and more on people like Joseph McCarthy!

Anyhow, Paine, Jefferson, and Franklin were not our only Founding Fathers, so maybe I'm placing too much emphasis on "outliers." But I'll soon be reading "The Federalist," which covers Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. I don't expect them to be clamoring for a Christian nation.

You can read it, too. Don't take my word for it. Don't take David Barton's word for it. Don't take Mike Huckabee's word for it. Don't take Glenn Beck's word for it.

Now, I understand that there is a whole set of true believers who already know what they believe, and who will not pollute themselves with primary sources. I can't help them. But perhaps you are a young person, whose mind is not already made up, and who really wants to figure out how to make his or her way through the jungle of conflicting claims.

For you, I recommend primary sources. I recommend finding out for yourself.