December 8, 2008 11:12 AM
New Capitol Building Visitors' Center deconstructs history
Downplaying important historical events and rewriting history at taxpayer expense is now big business in Washington, D.C.
Those who do not live near our nation's Capitol may not be aware at how much 1984 Ministry of Truth-type censorship is going on in museums and monuments and new construction in Washington, DC.
It used to be that you could not visit the Nation's Capitol Building without many profound reminders of the Christian roots of our nation, but history is being rewritten more and more boldly - not just to eliminate all traces of God, but also core values of the Constitution.
The much-ballyhooed, over-budget, newly-opened 580,000 square foot Visitor Center at the U. S. Capitol is a case in point. For photos, see Capitol Visitors Center.
From the Washington Post (surprise!):
Is the Capitol Visitor Center 'Left-Leaning'?
This display in the exhibition hall originally -- and erroneously -- touted E Pluribus Unum as the national motto.
By Ben Pershing
The massive new Capitol Visitor Center has been open to the public for four days now, and the reviews so far have generally been good. A few critics have found the design to be uninspiring, and others have complained about the cost of the much-delayed, $621 million project.
But another subset of critics has emerged this week, and their complaints have nothing to do with the center's price tag or its architectural aesthetics. Their charge: That the CVC's exhibits are too liberal and deliberately ignore or downplay the importance of religious faith in the history of Congress and the nation as a whole.
read entire article here.
From CNA:
Senator criticizes new capitol visitor center for ignoring religious roots
Sen. Jim DeMintWashington DC, Dec 4, 2008 / 06:06 am (CNA).- The new Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC has drawn criticism for minimizing references to God and to religious faith but depicting the U.S. Capitol as the sole American-built "temple" and the U.S. Constitution as Americans' only "common oracle."
On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader John Boehner opened the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) to the public with a ceremony in Emancipation Hall.
Later on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R - S.C.) criticized the CVC design in a press release, charging "it fails to appropriately honor our religious heritage that has been critical to America's success."
Noting that the Architect of the Capitol has pledged to include "some references to faith," DeMint continued:
"More needs to be done. You cannot accurately tell the history of America or its Capitol by ignoring the religious heritage of our Founders and the generations since who relied on their faith for strength and guidance. The millions of visitors that will visit the CVC each year should get a true portrayal of the motivations and inspirations of those who have served in Congress since its establishment."
Read entire article here.
From OneNewsNow - another comprehensive news source for families:
Does visitor center misrepresent American history?Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 12/4/2008
A constitutional scholar says the new Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC, is an extremely biased and historically inaccurate exhibit that "twists and distorts" the Constitution.
The new $621 billion Capitol Visitor Center features an exhibition hall that is dominated by a very large marble wall called "The Wall of Aspirations." Dr. Matthew Spalding of The Heritage Foundation says the exhibit is not about the Constitution's limits on powers delegated to the government, but instead lists aspirations such as unity, freedom, common defense, knowledge, exploration, and general welfare, and then points back to where they are found in the
Constitution.Spalding, director of the Simon Center for American Studies at Heritage, notes those words all appear in the Constitution, but argues they were taken out of context and used to justify much larger activities by Congress.
"The job of Congress, according to the exhibit, is to achieve these aspirations. So the old notion that says Article 1, Section 8 [of the Constitution] lists the powers that Congress has -- these are the things that Congress can do. [But] that old notion is set aside," he contends. "In its place we have this kind of open-ended 'aspirations' which Congress is going to define and achieve. And to get there, they do very selective quoting and...mangle many phrases in the
Constitution to get them where they want to go."The new Visitor Center project was overseen by the Capitol Preservation Commission, which mostly consists of elected officials like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Spalding says it is unclear who actually designed the exhibit and wrote the text for it, but he is advising people with complaints about the Visitor Center to contact the Architect of the Capitol, the officer charged with upkeep of the Center and its programs.
The underground 580,000-square-foot Visitor Center, which opened to the public this week, was completed three years behind schedule and almost $360 million over budget. It is approximately two-thirds the size of the entire Capitol itself.
HT: Catherine
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Comments
Barbara,
The "Truth Project" from Focus on the Family talks about how history is being re-written like this. If you get the opportunity in your area to watch this series, jump at the chance, _you_ especially would LOVE it.
Becky
Posted by: B | December 9, 2008 9:03 AM
