Subject: Misquote on your page Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 02:02:27 -0500 From: "Steve Herr" To: There are times in our lives when we have to admit that maybe we were not right. David Barton, who prepared America's Godly Heritage faced that time. In his works, Barton has publicized several quotes of our Founding Fathers. Some historians questioned them outright. Searches of writings were done. Barton finally concluded he had to face the truth - some of the quotations he had of our Founding Fathers could not be authenticated. They are now posted on the Wallbuilder's (Barton's organization) website as either "unconfirmed" or as "inaccurate". Specifically, these are the quotes involved: 1.It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! -- Patrick Henry (unconfirmed) 2.It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. -- George Washington (unconfirmed) 3.Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. In this sense and to this extent, our civilizations and our institutions are emphatically Christian. --Holy Trinity v. U. S. (Supreme Court) (inaccurate) 4.We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves . . . according to the Ten Commandments of God. -- James Madison (unconfirmed) 5.Religion . . . [is] the basis and foundation of government. -- James Madison (inaccurate) 6.Whosoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world. --Benjamin Franklin (unconfirmed) 7.The principles of all genuine liberty, and of wise laws and administrations are to be drawn from the Bible and sustained by its authority. The man therefore who weakens or destroys the divine authority of that book may be assessory to all the public disorders which society is doomed to suffer.--Noah Webster (unconfirmed) 8.There are two powers only which are sufficient to control men, and secure the rights of individuals and a peaceable administration; these are the combined force of religion and law, and the force or fear of the bayonet.--Noah Webster (unconfirmed) 9.The only assurance of our nation's safety is to lay our foundation in morality and religion.-- Abe Lincoln (unconfirmed) 10.The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. -- Abe Lincoln (unconfirmed) 11.(was subsequently confirmed!) 12.I have always said and always will say that the studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make us better citizens. -- Thomas Jefferson (unconfirmed) 13.America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great. --Alexis de Tocqueville (unconfirmed) 14.The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity. -- John Quincy Adams (unconfirmed?) See http://www.wallbuilders.com/resources/search/detail.php?ResourceID=20 for more information. That page begins with this request: "The following quotations have been seen and heard in numerous books, periodicals, editorials, speeches, etc. However, after expending a great deal of time and energy, we are unable to confirm their authenticity. They may still surface (a primary document from James Madison surfaced as late as 1946) but after extensive efforts to verify their veracity, we recommend that you refrain from using them at this time……" For a possible explanation of quote #14 see: http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/misq5.htm Although you may not agree with the overall viewpoint of the people behind this page, they have at least advanced a plausible explanation of how this quote came into existence.. I am concerned that Wallbuilders has not recognized this as the likely source of this misquote, instead they try to justify it as a paraphrasing of a speech they cite. Similarly, this explanation of quote #5 is offered: http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/misq5.htm It is disconcerting that Wallbuilders is apparently not willing to recognize that this misquote was probably a deliberate falsification. Unfortunately, due to the ease of "cut and paste" these quotations have spread like wildfire across the Internet and World Wide Web. When my daughter began talking about becoming a history major, I began to understand the issue of primary source documentation. I decided to see if I could correct some of these problems, by notifying people about the concerns raised with these quotations. I noticed that you are using one or more of these quotations on your web page. Will you please withdraw them from your page, or at least give proper notation that there are questions and concerns about the authenticity of these quotes? Thank you. Steven Herr groundhogsteve@yahoo.com (not affiliated with Wallbuilders in any way)