Original Intent

An essential resource for anyone interested in our nation's religious heritage and the Founders' intended role for the American judicial system. "Original Intent" combines hundreds of quotes from primary sources with the author's exposition on hot topics such as revisionism, judicial activism, and separation of church and state. A substantial appendix encompasses full texts of the founding documents, biographical sketches of numerous Founders, and extensive reference notes.

In their own words, the Supreme Court has become “a national theology board,” “a super board of education,” and amateur psychologists on a “psycho-journey.” The result has been a virtual rewriting of the liberties enumerated in the Constitution. A direct victim of this judicial micromanagement has been the religious aspect of the First Amendment. For example, the Court now interprets that Amendment under: • a “Lemon Test” absurdly requiring religious expression to be secular, • an “Endorsement Test” pursuing an impossible neutrality between religion and secularism, • and a “Psychological Coercion Test” allowing a single dissenter to silence an entire community’s religious expression. Additional casualties of judicial activism have included protections for State’s rights, local controls, separation of powers, legislative supremacy, and numerous other constitutional provisions. Why did earlier Courts protect these powers for generations, and what has caused their erosion by contemporary Courts? "Original Intent" answers these questions. By relying on thousands of primary sources, "Original Intent" documents (in the Founding Fathers’ own words) not only the plan for limited government originally set forth in the Constitution and Bill of Rights but how that vision can once again become reality.

David Barton is the Founder and President of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious and constitutional heritage. David is the author of numerous best-selling books, with the subjects being drawn largely from his massive library of tens of thousands of original writings from the Founding Era. He also addresses well over 400 groups each year.