I never
really thought about fakes quotes attributed to the founding fathers until I came
across this video from 2010. In it, MSNBC explores a growing movement to
dissolve the separation of church and state. Leading the coalition, activist
David Barton wrote a book called The
Myth of Separation in which he propagates fakes quotes to give historical
credence to his claim that the founding fathers wanted only for government to
stay out of religion—not vice versa. Readers of Barton’s work will find (among several others)
this “James Madison” quote:
“We have
staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of
government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political
institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves…according
to the Ten Commandments of God.”
Of course,
this quote is completely fabricated, as anyone who has read his sourced quotes will immediately recognize.
Indeed, Barton’s latest book titled The
Jefferson Lies was pulled from shelves two months ago when his own lies
were discovered.
MSNBC calls
attention to an interesting phenomenon. Namely, when people hold unsupported
opinions, they rewrite history. Maybe this is the key to understanding how any
fake quote comes about. When people hold certain (usually misguided)
preconceptions about another, they write quotes which reinforce those
preconceptions.
Thus, the
quality which renders false quotes annoying is the same quality which makes them
salient and easily propagated: they cater to myth and popular misconceptions.
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