The Constitution part is certainly interesting, Craig. There's the myth of a revolution providing a Constitution and great nation anointed by God. A foreign oligarchy was replaced by a native, slave-holding oligarchy. The Founding Fathers were deeply conservative with notions of blacks as property. Their Constitution carefully disenfranchised blacks, American Indians, women and the landless. Religion, I believe, prevented rebellion.

Thomas Paine came in handy during the Revolution but was persecuted for publishing a letter to Washington in 1796 in which he wrote: "The world will be puzzled to decide whether you are an apostate or an imposter, whether you have abandoned good principles, or whether you ever had any." Six persons attended Paine's funeral; two were black.

There's nothing trivial about religious faith and generally passive resistance of American blacks. Martin Luther King wasn't doing all that well during the civil rights struggle until Bayard Rustin of Quaker background introduced passive resistance strategies. God's teachings of fairness and love contributed to putting Obama in the White House. How else could it have happened?


Last edited by King Brown; 08/13/13 01:35 PM.