Has been singer rewrite US history for Jesus.

Pat Boone is a has-been, a very old has been. Half a century ago he was a popular singer for a period of time. Not anymore. Some years ago he got sucked into the fundamentalist movement. One guarantee of holding on to some “fame” is for a “has been” to be “born again” and the fundies will act as if he still is the person he used to be. It’s part of their desperate need for status -- when you consider most fundamentalists are not very educated or well off you can understand this.

Boone’s career faded and by the 70s he was on the Gospel circuit -- a refuge for has beens. Desperate to revive Grandpa Boone tried to release a heavy metal album in 1997 while in his mid 60s. He even appeared in full leather at the American Music Awards to the howls and laughter of anyone watching. He only managed to lose his Christian following, the only following he had left. He apologized and was accepted back.

Boone is a far Right Christianist and a believer in miracles. He harassed the poor Rock Hudson when the man was dying of AIDS. He and and his wife would invade the Hudson home and preach at the man who was incoherent and suffering dementia. Boone and his entourage of nutters would gather around, pray at Hudson and babble in tongues.

Boone declared that through his prayers Jesus had healed Hudson. And they took the incoherent actor and dressed him in bright clothes to celebrate his healing. Hudson died instead. At this point, without missing a beat, Boone announced the clothes were really Hudson’s “going home” clothes since Hudson whttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifas now going home to Jesus instead of being healed. Apparently Boone believes he “saved” Hudson. Friends of Hudson say he was incapable of understanding anything that was happening around him -- probably a good thing. He had suffered enough.

Over at the Far Right nut site World Net Daily Boone is a regular author. He has used his column to defend Mel Gibson saying that he personally knows “Mel and Christ” and “my friend Mel is no anti-Semite.” Now to fit his Christianist far Right views.

In his current rant at WND Boone says that Jefferson openly said that the American constitution is founded on the Christian Bible. Jefferson would be surprised. He wrote: “There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites.” Certainly the fundies of Jefferson’s day knew his views and attacked and smeared him constantly. Boone never actually tells us where Jefferson supposedly said this.

Boone then repeats the falsehood about having to swear on oath of office on the Bible. He says because America was founded on the Bible “we expect men and women we’ve elected to place their hands on a copy of the Holy Bible as they take their oaths of office.” As we’ve pointed out here most office holders never take an oath on the Bible. Congressmen do not use any book when they take their oath of office. The president elect may, if he wishes, do so but it is not required.

Boone says this oath “serves as an acknowledgement that the Bible, God’s holy word, is the very basis of the Constitution...” Yet the Constitution says that there is NO religious test for holding office and no says that the Bible, or any other book, is required for the oath. And he attacks those who “insist on changing a couple hundred years of our tradition” ignoring the fact that no such tradition exists only individual choice.

Jefferson did write about the inspiration for the principles of the Declaration of Independence. But

And when it comes to the American Constitution the main work explaining the origins and ideas of the Constitution was The Federalist Papers, written to convince the American people to support the Constitution. The Bible is not mentioned once. Odd to neglect this if the Bible was the foundation for the Constitution.

In fact Boone’s own stupidity regarding history is found in this quote: “As Madison and Jay and Hamilton composed the Federalist Papers, which led directly to the Constitution itself, they were greatly influenced...” The US Constitution was sent to the states for ratification in 1787. It was attacked by many critics and a series of letters were written in defense of the new document. These were the Federalist Papers which did not, as Boone ignorantly believes, led to the Constitution. They Constitution predates the Federalist Papers. This is elementary American history and easily verified. Boone doesn’t even know this much yet he wants to lecture on the history of the Constitution. His claims on the Constitution are about as well researched as his medical claims regarding the healing of Rock Hudson.