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"Because the portrayal of history so affects current policy, some groups have found it advantageous to their political agenda to distort historical facts intentionally. Those particularly adept at this are termed 'revisionists.'" Who wrote these words? David Barton, in the foreword to Original Intent. And, Barton has certainly proved this statement to be true. No group has found it more advantageous to their political agenda to have "revisionists" as adept as himself on their side than the religious right. In Chapter 16 of Original Intent, "Revisionism: A Willing Accomplice," Barton, after defining "historical revisionism" as "a process by which historical fact is intentionally ignored, distorted, or misportrayed in order to maneuver public opinion toward a specific political agenda or philosophy," goes on to present and provide examples of nine methods employed by those who he accuses of being the "revisionists." 1. The Use of Patent Untruths 2. The Use of Overly Broad Generalizations 3. The Use of Omission 4. The Use of Insinuations and Innuendos 5. Impugning Morality 6. The Use of "Faction" 7. The Use of "Psychohistory" and "Psychobabble" 8. A Failure to Account for Etymology 9. A Lack of Primary Source References But, in order to conjure up examples of the use of these methods by others, Barton, as he does throughout his book, uses most of them himself. For his examples of "The Use of Patent Untruths," he uses three of them -- "A Lack of Primary Source References," "The Use of Omission," and...well..."The Use of Patent Untruths." From "Revisionism: A Willing Accomplice," Chapter 16 of Original Intent: .......................................... "1. The Use of Patent Untruths The use of untruths was one of the earliest tools effectively employed by revisionists. For example, Robert Ingersoll, a well known political lecturer of the 1880s and 1890s, falsely declared: '[O]ur forefathers retired God from politics....The Declaration of Independence announces the sublime truth that all power comes from the people. This was a denial, and the first denial of a nation, of the infamous dogma that God confers the right upon one man to govern others....Our fathers founded the first secular government that was ever founded in this world.'" .......................................... Barton's Ingersoll "quote" is created by starting with the opening statement of Ingersoll's Centennial Oration, a speech about the Declaration of Independence, delivered in Peoria, Illinois on July 4, 1876: "One hundred years ago, our fathers retired the gods from politics.."(1) Then using these sentences from a lecture on Individuality, presented by Ingersoll three years earlier, in 1873: "The Declaration of Independence announces the sublime truth, that all power comes from the people. This was a denial, and the first denial of a nation, of the infamous dogma that God confers the right upon one man to govern others. It was the first grand assertion of the dignity of the human race. It declared the governed to be the source of power, and in fact denied the authority of any and all gods. Through the ages of slavery -- through the weary centuries of the lash and chain, God was the acknowledged ruler of the world. To enthrone man, was to dethrone God."(2) And, finally, going back to the 1876 Centennial Oration for the last sentence: "Our fathers founded the first secular government that was ever founded in this world. Recollect that. The first secular government; the first government that said every church has exactly the same rights, and no more; every religion has the same rights, and no more. In other words, our fathers were the first men who had the sense, who had the genius, to know that no church should be allowed to have a sword; that it should be allowed only to exert its moral influence."(3) And what was it that Ingersoll, according to Barton, "falsely declared" in the sections of his writings from which the words are plucked to create the misquote in Original Intent? That the founders of the United States denied the "divine right of kings" by creating a government "by the people and for the people," and a country in which there was religious freedom. Ingersoll's statement that "our fathers retired the gods from politics," (misquoted in Barton's version as "[O]ur forefathers retired God from politics"), referred to the words "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence, which gave the political power to the people rather than the aristocracy, the clergy, or a monarch. Barton, using the 9th method on his list, "A Lack of Primary Source References," does not provide a primary source for his Ingersoll misquote. Barton's source is "Ingersollia: Gems of Thought," a collection of Ingersoll quotes arranged by topic -- a book that Ingersoll himself said was unauthorized and inaccurate. The following letter to the editor of a newspaper, written by Ingersoll just a few months before his death in 1899, appears on the title page of the "Dresden Edition" of Ingersoll's writings, the twelve volume edition published by Clinton P. Farrell, Ingersoll's brother-in-law, and the only authorized publisher of his writings. "I see that you advertise in your paper "Ingersoll's 44 Lectures--cloth" also "Ingersollia, or Gems of Thought." I write this to let you know that the 44 Lectures are a fraud. They were made up from newspaper reports, filled with blunders and things I never said. The same is true of "Ingersollia" also of "Great Political Speeches." The publishers are pirates. They wrong me, and deceive and defraud the public. The only correct, complete, and authorized editions of my writings are published by Mr. C.P. Farrell. I hope that you will refuse to deal in these frauds."(4) 1. Political Speeches of Robert G. Ingersoll, (New York: C.P. Farrell, 1914), 63. 2. The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, vol. 1, (New York: C.P. Farrell, 1900), 200-201. 3. Political Speeches of Robert G. Ingersoll, (New York: C.P. Farrell, 1914), 74. 4. ibid., title page. (Due to the length limit for reviews, this review is continued in the Amapedia section below -- just beneath Customer Discussions.)