We *have* forgotten our history...

So Glenn Beck has Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) on his show to talk about the latest faux conservative outrage about secularism being too prevalent in the new Captiol Vistors Center in Washington, D.C.   Both DeMint and Beck have taken particular umbrage with a certain obscure quote:

GLENN: You know, in the Smithsonian there is the giant statue that was carved I believe for the rotunda of the Capitol at one point of George Washington where he's in a toga and he looks God-like, he looks Caesar-like and it was made a long, long time ago. I believe it's still in the Smithsonian and it was never allowed to sit in the rotunda. It sat in the basement of the Capitol for a very long time because it was offensive to so many because it made George Washington look like a God. And yet we have now in the visitors center that has just opened up in a large engraving it says "We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common Oracle but the Constitution." Well, first of all, I don't believe the Constitution is being consulted by at least one, maybe two branches, maybe three branches of government. But it's so offensive to me that our Capitol, it is becoming a temple. Our government and our leaders are positioning themselves. We could see wit Obama and we can see it quite honestly, when you take God out, who is giving law? The law's got to be coming from lawmakers, from the Supreme Court or the capital.

Another bone of contention is that the Visitor's Center mistakenly stated that the Latin phrase, "E Pluribus Unum" was the nation's offical motto.  While DeMint is correct that the Congress declared "In God We Trust" the official national motto in 1956, the error was not as profound as DeMint makes it out to be.  "E Pluribus Unum" ("Out of Many One") was considered the de facto national motto as it was on the official seal of the United States in 1776 and adopted by the Congress in 1782, under the then existing Articles of Confederation.  The motto's adoption by this only predates the presidency of George Washington, the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution.  In fact, the phrase is still the only phrase to be found in the official seal of the United States.  So the error was in not pointing out that after 180 years of its use, the Congress declared the never officially used before phrase "In God We Trust" the national motto even though "E Pluribus Unum" has been the motto on the Great Seal of the United States from the Continental Congress, through the Articles of Confederation, the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and even today.

Anyways, then Beck and DeMint bemoan how the whole situation is the result of the lack of history being taught, the rise of secularism as a herald to socialism, etc., etc.

And I agree... Glenn Beck and Senator DeMint are prime examples of how we've forgetten our history.

Meet Rufus Choate.  He's the individual who actually said: "We have built no national temples but the Capitol; we consult no common oracle but the Constitution."  Ironically for Glenn Beck, he said this in a lecture on New England history.

Rufus Choate is no athiest, either.  At the precious age of six, he had the ability to recite large sections of the Christian bible from memory.   He served in Congress briefly in 1830 until 1834, and again in the U.S. Senate from 1841 until 1845.  He was a member of the Whig Party, the predecessor to the modern day Republican Party Senator DeMint belongs to.  He is his partisan forefather.

And what Rufus Choate said was an accurate assessment of the view of the U.S. Captol Building at the time.  Washington, D.C. was an entirely planned city designed purely to serve as the new capital of the United States federal government under the newly enacted U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Capitol building was designed in 19th Century neo-classical architecture (heavy influences from the classical architecture of classic Athens and Rome, a nod to the birthplace of Western republican democracy.)  During the construction of Washington, D.C. the site selected for the U.S. Capitol building was chosen because of the physical prominence the building would have over the city (located on an elevated portion of land known then as Jenkins' Hill.)  French engineer/D.C. designer Pierre Charles L'Enfant called the site for the new Capitol Building "a pedestal awaiting a momument."

The Capitol Building was not only intended to be a temple of American democracy, but its lengthy construction and development history is, itself, a symbol of the development of our nation itself.  There's a reason the First Article of the U.S. Constitution deals with the legislative branch, and the time it was expected that the democratically elected Congress would tower over the Executive branch which was relegated to the much smaller White House and the judicial branch which was, literally, placed in the basement of the Capitol.  The Capitol building was designed to be striking and has become an internationally recognized landmark.

One of the most famous paintings of President George Washington is a portrait of him laying the cornerstone for the new Capitol building, and event that lead to pomp and celebrations into the night.  A year earlier, there was no formal ceremony or celebration when the cornerstone for the White House was laid in contrast.

So, yes, Glenn Beck, the Capitol Building is a temple.   It was intended to be a political temple, but that doesn't mean at the expense of religion.

And yes, we have forgotten our history.