Brannon Howse: Aired on March 3, 2011

Brannon’s guest is Chris Pinto. Brannon is covering this topic so Christians do not fall into the trap of Americanism or patriotic ecumenicalism. Chris has produced a documentary explaining that not all of the founding fathers were Christians. While some of the founders were Christians, men like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and George Washington were actually hostile to the Gospel while friendly to Christian ideals. This same battle continues today as we see with Glenn Beck being friendly to Christian principles for public policy but extremely hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of the founders, like Glenn Beck, embraced universalism and New Age teachings, enlightenment and the age of reason. This helps us understand why Beck and Mormon Church leaders such as Ezra Taft Benson hold up many of the founders as being special spirits sent to earth by their Mormon god to write the Constitution. Benson said that the Constitution was equal to the Bible. Chris does point out a few of the founders that seemed to express a genuine faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their savior. Chris explains that the pilgrims and puritans did truly desire a Christian nation and worked to that end for around 150 years. However, once some of the founders showed up with their universalism, their influence heighted the spiritual battle between those who wanted to honor the Lord and those that wanted to deny the gospel. This is the same battle raging in America today.