Wall Builders (priest, virgin, creation, attend, America)

[Trey of Diamonds]

Greetings UUs,

I just ran across a pamphlet produced by the Wall Builders called "The Truth About Thomas Jefferson and the First Amendment". Since the esteemed Mr. Jefferson is one of my favorite Unitarians I picked it up only to find out they were dissing him. I looked into the Wall Builders movement and found they are trying to expose the truth about Americas historical ties to Christianity. So, I figured there would be lots of references to Unitarians but a search only pulled up four results and they weren't about Unitarians at all, just mentioned them in passing.

Anybody else heard of these folks? I'm starting to think they are a far right radical religious group looking to redefine our nation by reinventing its history, but I don't want to go off half cocked.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Trey of Diamonds

Greetings UUs,

I just ran across a pamphlet produced by the Wall Builders called "The Truth About Thomas Jefferson and the First Amendment". Since the esteemed Mr. Jefferson is one of my favorite Unitarians I picked it up only to find out they were dissing him. I looked into the Wall Builders movement and found they are trying to expose the truth about Americas historical ties to Christianity. So, I figured there would be lots of references to Unitarians but a search only pulled up four results and they weren't about Unitarians at all, just mentioned them in passing.

Anybody else heard of these folks? I'm starting to think they are a far right radical religious group looking to redefine our nation by reinventing its history, but I don't want to go off half cocked.

Namaste Trey,

I don't know anything about this group, but nowadays, it's more often the far left that criticizes Jefferson than the far right, so I wouldn't assume that they are religious right just because they dissed your man. In fact, at my church the picture of Thomas Jefferson kept being taken down by some members and then put up again by other members - up, down, up, down... - the church finally put the picture away in our safe to protect it from damage given the controversy.

I am not a hater of TJ. Despite his flaws he still was a remarkable man. But I think that it's a valid argument to say that his influence on the first amendment and the separation of church and state is overplayed. He is the one who famously called it a "wall." But he was in France at the time when the foundations of the wall were laid. It was my man James Madison who laid those foundations, establishing the precedent for "freedom of conscience" in the Virginia constitution, writing the "Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments" which set the precedent against state established churches. It's not that Jefferson had no role - he was a close adviser to Madison, but I think his role has been overstated and the roles of others has been downplayed.

As for this group not mentioning Unitarians, it may be just because it's not important to them. Most people list Jefferson as Anglican, not Unitarian, because that's what his "official affiliation" was. They don't take into account that he said in his letters that the only reason why he wasn't Unitarian is because there weren't enough Unitarians in Virginia to support a congregation, and that when he was in Philadelphia he attended Joseph Priestly's church.

[Trey of Diamonds]

I didn't have a problem believing the facts they presented, it was more the tone and the overall mission of the group. They are trying to abolish the separation of Church and State. The pamphlet didn't actually point to the Religious Right, but it had a certain propaganda feel to it so I went looking into who they were and what they were about. Their main focus at the moment is bringing back class room prayers and Christian curriculum. Secondary is the goal to bring Christianity back into the government. Once I learned what they wanted to accomplish, the complete lack of any mention of Unitarians in the history of the United States and the role of the Church in its creation as posted on their website seemed suspicious to me. Could be the paranoia but then again, maybe not...

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Trey of Diamonds

I didn't have a problem believing the facts they presented, it was more the tone and the overall mission of the group. They are trying to abolish the separation of Church and State. The pamphlet didn't actually point to the Religious Right, but it had a certain propaganda feel to it so I went looking into who they were and what they were about. Their main focus at the moment is bringing back class room prayers and Christian curriculum. Secondary is the goal to bring Christianity back into the government. Once I learned what they wanted to accomplish, the complete lack of any mention of Unitarians in the history of the United States and the role of the Church in its creation as posted on their website seemed suspicious to me. Could be the paranoia but then again, maybe not...

Ah... well if they are trying to abolish church and state and bring back official school prayers, then yes... sounds like Religious Right to me.

sigh.... where are all these nuts coming from?

Trey, if you don't about this group already, you should: First Freedom First.

[Trey of Diamonds]

Wow, great site! The very opposite of the Wall Builders.

Thanks!