Friday, November 29, 2013

Mount Vernon: GW's "Spurious Quotations"

From Mount Vernon here. The most notorious as it relates to America's founding political theology: "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."

3 comments:

Tom Van Dyke said...

The most notorious as it relates to America's founding political theology: "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."

"Notorious" also means widely-known. Since this isn't, it's a bit of a straw man, a condemnation of nobody in particular.

A quick google turns up a few uses, but mostly debunkings. I don't quite see the point. Over at Warren Throckmorton's at least he attacks his political enemies by name if they punt a quote.

Jonathan Rowe said...

It's one of David Barton's "Uncomfirmed Quotations" that I oft see repeated.

Tom Van Dyke said...

Where?

It's sort of like doing a post on how 2 and 2 doesn't equal 5. OK, fine, but we really didn't learn anything. Obsession with error isn't the same as the search for truth.

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens." ---GWash

BF mine. A lot of so-called "patriots" out there these days, keeping America safe from God. ;-)