My country 'tis of thee
I have recently seen a bumper sticker (and tshirt, and poster) stating that 'Right wing extremists founded this nation.' The poster has Franklin, Washington and Jefferson.
I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this - is this a Big Lie or does someone have a justification for it somewhere? This is the best summary I've found (ie, nuanced, and consistent with my understanding of history), but how can anyone ignore:
These people rebelled against the god-approved King and set up a directly elected president - extremely radical.
Sam Adams was a anti-slave community organizer.
Washington turned down a crown.
Jefferson was not a Christian and explicitly approved of Muslims and Hindus practicing their faiths in America.
Ben Franklin was a licentious jokester (and my favorite), and basically a centrist.
The federalists overall (Jefferson, Madison, John Adams, etc) were basically libertarians.
Hamilton was a big government proponent.
Maybe my error is in conflating right wing extremists with Christian extremists, but I consider school prayer, abortion and creationism to be important issues, especially to 'far right extremists.'
Yes, the founding fathers supported gun rights and small government (SOME of them), but 'far right extremists' are agitating for so much more.
I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this - is this a Big Lie or does someone have a justification for it somewhere? This is the best summary I've found (ie, nuanced, and consistent with my understanding of history), but how can anyone ignore:
These people rebelled against the god-approved King and set up a directly elected president - extremely radical.
Sam Adams was a anti-slave community organizer.
Washington turned down a crown.
Jefferson was not a Christian and explicitly approved of Muslims and Hindus practicing their faiths in America.
Ben Franklin was a licentious jokester (and my favorite), and basically a centrist.
The federalists overall (Jefferson, Madison, John Adams, etc) were basically libertarians.
Hamilton was a big government proponent.
Maybe my error is in conflating right wing extremists with Christian extremists, but I consider school prayer, abortion and creationism to be important issues, especially to 'far right extremists.'
Yes, the founding fathers supported gun rights and small government (SOME of them), but 'far right extremists' are agitating for so much more.