Benjamin Franklin – Warren Throckmorton

The Franklin Prayer Myth that Refuses to Die: The Liberty Counsel Edition

April 6, 2017 | Comments Off on The Franklin Prayer Myth that Refuses to Die: The Liberty Counsel Edition

I have come to believe that some historical myths will never die. In this Liberty Counsel edition, Mat Staver and Matt Barber reinforce their mutual misunderstanding of this story, making the delegates to the Constitutional Convention prayer warriors. As I have documented previously, Franklin proposed daily prayers but the Convention…
Historian Thomas Kidd on Deism During the Founding Era

March 24, 2015 | Comments Off on Historian Thomas Kidd on Deism During the Founding Era

This brief primer by Thomas Kidd in how deism was understood during the founding era is well worth reading. Kidd cuts through the fog often generated by Christian nationalists (e.g., David Barton) and the new atheists regarding the religious beliefs of the founders. A brief sample: So what was deism?…

Warren Throckmorton