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Our Constitution the Way it Was
- Narrated by: David Smalley
- Length: 2 hrs and 36 mins
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Publisher's summary
The constitution of the United States was intentionally created as a completely godless document.
In these transcripts of her American Atheist Radio programs, Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair tells us about Freedom of Religion in Colonial America, American Deism, Rewriting of History by Christians, The Christianity of our Founding as a Nation, Free thought in American Historical Documents, Free thought Organizations in the Early U.S., Thomas Paine - American Deist and Freethinker, Colonel Ethan Allen, James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, Jefferson's Idea of Religious Freedom, and Jefferson on Christianity.
Dr. O'Hair also presents two handwritten facsimiles of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in which the phrase "under God" is not present.
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What listeners say about Our Constitution the Way it Was
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- Jeff Koeppen
- 01-15-20
The Truth Finally Comes Out
Our Constitution The Way It Was was published by the American Atheist Press in 1982 as a booklet to be handed out at the Twelfth Annual National American Atheist Convention in Washington, DC. Madalyn Murray O'Hair thought it would be nice to collect transcripts of her American Atheist Radio Series which dealt with the founding of our nation and some of the deists at the forefront of its founding and put publish them in a nice collection.
I found the most of the content to be fascinating and eye opening. I literally have never heard the non-Christian side of the stories related to the establishment of the United States and and the lives of the people who were instrumental in its forming. I feel like I was fed a load of bunk in the subject of US history (not just in Science class!) in Catholic School and in the conservative small town high school I'm looking forward to taking a deep dive in to this very subject when I read Andrew Seidel's (saw him speak in Minneapolis in 2019) comprehensive book The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American.
Some of the highlights of Madalyn's collection include chapters about: early United States freethought groups (there were many, surprisingly), Thomas Paine's life, Colonel Ethan Allen's life, how Christians rewrite history, and Thomas Jefferson's criticism of religion as a whole. I knew of the Jefferson bible but was surprised at some of his quotes and the scorn he received from believers.
With Christian nationalism on the rise and evangelicals now invading the White House regularly, the information contained in is little book from 1982 is more relevant than ever. I'm guessing Seidel will expand on and update this booklet's topics in his chunky take-down of Christian nationalism. Looking forward to it.
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- Average Joe
- 01-17-18
Phenomenal!!!
What a great & in-depth study on the subject!
I couldn’t have asked for a better book!
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- Courtney Foster
- 10-29-21
Must Read, Must Listen Wake up PPL
always good to hear factual truth and not the stuff we've been conditioned to understand and listen to
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