Ok, so what exactly is the question again..?

Mr Medved sounds right on target. Would be interesting to listen to him on the radio. Does his show have a live internet stream as I live way out of the "Radio wave" zone?

Medved is right on the money. How far will destructive, "American Guilt" go and what might be the end result?

The interviewer was correct to declare that Medved has created a straw man to knock down. Of all the "Lies" that Medved has tried to debunk, none are being promulgated as truth to any extent.

The point of the book is to sell books to those who are not smart enough to realize that Medved himself is lying when he promotes these issues as big lies.

Don't buy books from liars.

I Think he is absolutely correct......We are a christian nation Christmas is a christian Holiday and I say MERRY CHRISTMAS.. IN GOD WE TRUST....

dear mr. medved,

it's abhorrent that you downplay the disgusting legacy of slavery in the US, and get yourself off the hook by saying, "OK, while bad, it was not AS bad as people think." oh right. americans have a lot of analysis to do about this institution and its present-day ramifications.

it's not about guilt. it's about critical analysis so that we might learn and grow, and not go about our lives with our heads in the clouds and chests puffed out. we must know what our history is, much of which is shameful and remains to be so. if we deny that, we're ignoring reality. we're refusing to look critically at ourselves. we can't afford to do that. Seattle Public Schools is right it consider using a multitude of approaches to thanksgiving. For many, it's a happy time, such as myself. I love spending time with family and eating a fab meal. But no thanksgiving passes in which i do not consider the history of this country, largely bloody and very cruel.

I agree with the comments of Medved this morning. There is always a struggle in America with groups that do not agree with each other but that is what makes us great. We do not have to accept what we are told by our politicians, our schools or the media. We do have to be alert enough to realize that what we read or view is only one interpretation of the facts. Our schools should be more active in preparing students to deal with this instead of pushing only one point of view.

Over the generations this country is being put in a position of uninformed personal opinion. That drives what people believe and after a few generations go by you will find most Americans have became truly unclear on our history and the actual facts. And most unknowingly are keeping the lies Mr Medved is writing about alive and well and driving them on with a legacy of personal opinions that are generating controversy.
Go truthful Free speech! - Go Michael!

Michael Medved reminds me of the mother who just can't accept that her beloved son can do any wrong and excuses his bad conduct as "others do worse" or "he had good intentions". Mr. Medved is a phony patriot who believes his duty is to preserve the "supremacy" of "American Culture". I believe real patriots stand up to voice outrage when America fails to meet the ideals of its Constitution, whether it be slavery, civil rights, unjustified war, torture or extraordinary rendition. Medved claims America is uniquely superior but turns a mother's blind eye to the very serious political and policy decisions that have undercut our Constitution, desecrated our ideals, and severly damaged America's moral standing in the eyes world.

Mr. Medved is, as usual, right on target. He wrote his book for people exactly like the third commentor (dointacoma) at this site, too ignorant to know American History and too arrogant to learn. The progressives of the early 20th century, especially from the Wilson administration or era, and on into the FDR administrations and the New Deal, believed that America's Democracy was failing and a stronger central government was necessary. Many of these leaders were enamored with the European fascist governments, until after World War II exposed them for what they really were. Now we have a dumbed down citizenry, thanks to a public education system including universities that do not teach unbiased or accurate history and a media that invents and interprets the news rather than objectively telling it. It is not our democracy, as designed by our founding fathers that has failed, it's our citizens, those who let others slowly eat the heart out of our system of government and our culture, that have failed. The lies told about us need to be exposed and made right. Medved, as usual, takes us in that direction and provides a balance to the constant anti-American drival coming from the Left.

it's important to note that people on the left, just as on the right, have a love of country. myself included, and i'm on the left.

we cannot assume that someone who is critical and analytical, wants to look at history and take into account mistakes, that they are "anti-american." it's a farce, and does more to divide us than unite us.

Mr. Medved is way too right of target, of course. He is just another Christian spewing his Christian "family values" nonsense. It is time for Christians to "put up or shut up" or at the very least keep in their church. It's time for some proof. Christians and other religious people are like four year old children believing in Santa Claus. They can't seem to process that what they believe in is sheer total nonsense. It is interesting how as the level of education goes up, the belief in religious nonsense goes down. Why can't people seem to understand that Jesus was just a man that lived some 2000 years ago? We are supposed to have separation of Church and State in this country, but for some reason Christians feel compelled to push their religion on others. It is time for Christian oppression to be a thing of the past. The Bible is a fictional work written by men. Just as Medved's book is also fiction and opinion. Writing a book does not make you an authority on anything. It is all just opinion after all.

Self loathing, hatred and victimology is the mothers milk of the far left, with liberalism the glass is not only half empty but filled with radioactive waste water and flaming plastic shopping bags. The problem is the liberal left is trying to re-write history, making changes to reality to a perceived reality is a dangerous path to travel.
Their agenda is guilt, distorting history to make us feel bad. When we feel bad or shamed we are then more receptive to punitive controls; More regulations, higher taxes, more intrusion by government into our daily lives.

Mr. Medved does have an agenda, that agenda is exposing the truth. You can call him a liar all day long but the FACTS simply won't support your allegation if you were so inclined to do some research on your own.

Medved hardly deserves the energy it takes to respond to his idiocy. However, people like him, and other extremists are dangerous to the integrity of this country and humanity, when they are left unchecked.

Medved is spot-on. Merry Christmas!

Thanks for having Medved on. He's a breath of fresh air in a Seattle that has become so far left I don't recognize it as the wholesome city I grew up in.

While I agree with Mr. Medved that we are country of Christian traditions, and that we have an agreement that the goverment will not make a religion, it does not mean that as society our traditions can not be celebrated in civil institutions. I do take exception as his statement in which he says the founding fathers were al christinas, as if christian values and religion were the source where they drew their inspiration for the foundation of persecute-less goverment. The founding fathers where mostly Masons, Rosicrucians, and Quakers, who learned in Europe that christianity had lost its focus of elevating man to higher ideal. Sir Francis Bacon wrote the plan for America in his New Atlantis book, and the plan included a tolerance for all beliefs, as Masons, Rosicrucians, and Quakers had inherited from other world religions a tolerance unseen by Catholics, and Protestans christians. Check you facts Mr. Medved, calling in some lies while repeating others is hypocresy.

Religion is the opium of the masses.

Mr. Medved must super High:)

The Medved book deserved to have third party in the discussion. This was a good example of how solo radio personalities promote an agenda. One-dimensional, emotionally charged arguments can be presented without discussion and sound plausible.
Many historical realities were not factored into his argument.
This may have been a better subject for a longer program, as these one-sided presentations can do much to increase our social and political divide.

Dear Mr. Medved,
We all know how the Salvation Army was founded.(They collect money at Christmas time to help the poor).

The woman that runs the thrift shop gets donations for free to sell. She was fired from her former job because she raised the prices so high the poor could not afford to shop there. She is doing it in Auburn...

In Auburn, they hired a man who is homeless,and dirty(Ballys give out guest passes) to ring the bell at Fred Meyers, he is greeting people with "Happy Holidays" not only did he not get my donation but was rude about it. They used to be a good organization but they have changed.

I would like to hear your views on the homeless and how to help them up without being a sucker.

I have loaned some of them money which I will never see again. One was a Vet and needed $20.00 to get around Seattle to get his check. Yes, I have been a sucker. The flyers who ask for money make their living that way. I try and help the one who don't ask for money.

I am against bailouts!
If they would send each American $5,000 the economy would go back up.Would some abuse it no doubt but it could make a few house payments for some. The govt. is not there to make moral judgements for us.

Thank you,
Julie

Michael Medved is like the little old church lady who is out to outlaw petting in cars by kids in 1952 and is looking back in the law books all the way back to the 1600's to prove that there's a law somewhere that says it's illegal. Real important stuff in a time of a collapsing economy and 2 quagmire wars.
You see, he's part of that orthodox Republican base that can't stand the fact that the American people have so soundly rejected Republican ideology that he resorts to bringing up these petty(and quite debatable)concerns. Calling these petulant, non-issues, "Big Lies" to get more attention, and not writing about the actual big lies of Bush and Cheney, such as lying us into a war and claiming the U.S. doesn't torture, makes Medved's book a "big" waste of money.

Mr. Medved is way off the mark. He uses the argument that the Pilgrims and many of the earliest immigrants came to this land not because of their desire to escape religious persecution in their home countries, but rather to form religiously pure enclaves, so therefore America today should not feel any shame in claiming to be a "Christian Nation".

It is exactly that type of bellicose rant that gives strength to the religious fundamentalists in the Mid-East that believe our "real" goal isn't to spread freedom and democracy around the world, but rather to convert all of the "Non-Christian" nations to Christianity.

Our Constitution was written to protect the views of the minority, not just those in positions of power. The framers of the Constitution rejected any religious test for office, and the First Amendment specifically denied the central government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion, or prohibiting its free exercise.

The framers considered the concerns of minority religious groups who did not want to be under the power or influence of a state religion that did not represent them.

Medved bemoans the many losses of the GOP and its shrinking base as seen in the last two elections. Perhaps it is due in part because the religious right continues to the party of exclusion and litmus tests, and the democrats have shown themselves to be the party of greater tolerance to a wide range of views.

Those of us on the Left want America to be held in high esteem by the rest of the world once again. Respecting the views of ALL our citizens would be the best way to demonstrate to the rest of the world that America is the last, best hope for freedom (including religious freedom and freedom of speech) for the world.

The America Mr. Medved purposes exists in - and only in - the actions of those who would believe a version of history as chauvinistic and apologetic as his. It is a myth.
To argue of single culture the way he has denies the reality of so much of OUR history it would prove impossibe to retort here.
Please, educate yourselves to the struggles of your fellow AMERICANS. White, Black, brown, woman,'gay', immigrant,endentured servant, sharecropper, Theist, Atheist, Anarchist, Muslim, Witch-hunting America. We have all been walked on, and then swept under the rug of history. To allow men like this to purpose ideas like this ... is to deny the American dream.

He's pretty far off the mark. Too many of his "lies" are extremely open to interpretation. Medved is not nearly as educated as he wants to appear. I'm pretty sure he believe creationism is a science as well.

Let's not rewrite history about government and religion. Read the following:

The Founding Fathers Were Not Christians

by Steven Morris, in Free Inquiry, Fall, 1995

"The Christian right is trying to rewrite the history of the United States as part of its campaign to force its religion on others. They try to depict the founding fathers as pious Christians who wanted the United States to be a Christian nation, with laws that favored Christians and Christianity.

This is patently untrue. The early presidents and patriots were generally Deists or Unitarians, believing in some form of impersonal Providence but rejecting the divinity of Jesus and the absurdities of the Old and New testaments.

Thomas Paine was a pamphleteer whose manifestos encouraged the faltering spirits of the country and aided materially in winning the war of Independence:
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of...Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all."
From:
The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine, pp. 8,9 (Republished 1984, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY)

George Washington, the first president of the United States, never declared himself a Christian according to contemporary reports or in any of his voluminous correspondence. Washington Championed the cause of freedom from religious intolerance and compulsion. When John Murray (a universalist who denied the existence of hell) was invited to become an army chaplain, the other chaplains petitioned Washington for his dismissal. Instead, Washington gave him the appointment. On his deathbed, Washinton uttered no words of a religious nature and did not call for a clergyman to be in attendance.
From:
George Washington and Religion by Paul F. Boller Jr., pp. 16, 87, 88, 108, 113, 121, 127 (1963, Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, TX)

John Adams, the country's second president, was drawn to the study of law but faced pressure from his father to become a clergyman. He wrote that he found among the lawyers 'noble and gallant achievments" but among the clergy, the "pretended sanctity of some absolute dunces". Late in life he wrote: "Twenty times in the course of my late reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out, "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!"

It was during Adam's administration that the Senate ratified the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which states in Article XI that "the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
From:
The Character of John Adams by Peter Shaw, pp. 17 (1976, North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC) Quoting a letter by JA to Charles Cushing Oct 19, 1756, and John Adams, A Biography in his Own Words, edited by James Peabody, p. 403 (1973, Newsweek, New York NY) Quoting letter by JA to Jefferson April 19, 1817, and in reference to the treaty, Thomas Jefferson, Passionate Pilgrim by Alf Mapp Jr., pp. 311 (1991, Madison Books, Lanham, MD) quoting letter by TJ to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, June, 1814.

Thomas Jefferson, third president and author of the Declaration of Independence, said:"I trust that there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian." He referred to the Revelation of St. John as "the ravings of a maniac" and wrote:
The Christian priesthood, finding the doctrines of Christ levelled to every understanding and too plain to need explanation, saw, in the mysticisms of Plato, materials with which they might build up an artificial system which might, from its indistinctness, admit everlasting controversy, give employment for their order, and introduce it to profit, power, and pre-eminence. The doctrines which flowed from the lips of Jesus himself are within the comprehension of a child; but thousands of volumes have not yet explained the Platonisms engrafted on them: and for this obvious reason that nonsense can never be explained."
From:
Thomas Jefferson, an Intimate History by Fawn M. Brodie, p. 453 (1974, W.W) Norton and Co. Inc. New York, NY) Quoting a letter by TJ to Alexander Smyth Jan 17, 1825, and Thomas Jefferson, Passionate Pilgrim by Alf Mapp Jr., pp. 246 (1991, Madison Books, Lanham, MD) quoting letter by TJ to John Adams, July 5, 1814.

James Madison, fourth president and father of the Constitution, was not religious in any conventional sense. "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."
From:
The Madisons by Virginia Moore, P. 43 (1979, McGraw-Hill Co. New York, NY) quoting a letter by JM to William Bradford April 1, 1774, and James Madison, A Biography in his Own Words, edited by Joseph Gardner, p. 93, (1974, Newsweek, New York, NY) Quoting Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments by JM, June 1785.

Ethan Allen, whose capture of Fort Ticonderoga while commanding the Green Mountain Boys helped inspire Congress and the country to pursue the War of Independence, said, "That Jesus Christ was not God is evidence from his own words." In the same book, Allen noted that he was generally "denominated a Deist, the reality of which I never disputed, being conscious that I am no Christian." When Allen married Fanny Buchanan, he stopped his own wedding ceremony when the judge asked him if he promised "to live with Fanny Buchanan agreeable to the laws of God." Allen refused to answer until the judge agreed that the God referred to was the God of Nature, and the laws those "written in the great book of nature."
From:
Religion of the American Enlightenment by G. Adolph Koch, p. 40 (1968, Thomas Crowell Co., New York, NY.) quoting preface and p. 352 of Reason, the Only Oracle of Man and A Sense of History compiled by American Heritage Press Inc., p. 103 (1985, American Heritage Press, Inc., New York, NY.)

Benjamin Franklin, delegate to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, said:
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion...has received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his Divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble." He died a month later, and historians consider him, like so many great Americans of his time, to be a Deist, not a Christian.
From:
Benjamin Franklin, A Biography in his Own Words, edited by Thomas Fleming, p. 404, (1972, Newsweek, New York, NY) quoting letter by BF to Exra Stiles March 9, 1970.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The words "In God We Trust" were not consistently on all U.S. currency until 1956, during the McCarthy Hysteria.

The Treaty of Tripoli, passed by the U.S. Senate in 1797, read in part: "The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." The treaty was written during the Washington administration, and sent to the Senate during the Adams administration. It was read aloud to the Senate, and each Senator received a printed copy. This was the 339th time that a recorded vote was required by the Senate, but only the third time a vote was unanimous (the next time was to honor George Washington). There is no record of any debate or dissension on the treaty. It was reprinted in full in three newspapers - two in Philadelphia, one in New York City. There is no record of public outcry or complaint in subsequent editions of the papers.

Michael Medved is a unique Seattle resource who articulates a reasonable and well thought out perspective that should make us proud. He expouses the values that made our country great. We are unique

Medved is arguing about topics that are of no relevance in this country now. We are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the great depression and fighting two wars. I would like to read a book that at least attempts to find solutions to some of the real issues that face this country.

Religion had a baby and the baby was Law.
Law grew up and moved out on its own.
Even though it is all grown up it still likes to keep a picture of Mama on the wall.
History, not scaryness.

Mr. Medved is spot on, and I say this based on having studied and taught American for years! His views expressed tonight on Up Front are nothing new - for informed people, but unfortunately they are almost overwhelmed by zealous, reactive secular journalists many of whom are products of the liberal, situational relativism so in vogue for the past 40 - 50 years! Just because those journalists speak so loudly and so desirous of creating and stirring up controversy does not mean they are a credible source of information. The interviewer tonight blatantly advanced the bias of liberal, situational relativists because of his own bias or his desire to simply be controversial. Was the interviewer informative? No! And to the posted comment that Mr. Medved was downplaying the disgusting legacy of slavery in the US, he is NOT doing that if one listens carefully! Mr. Medved was just putting the admittedly disgusting legacy of slavery in perspective supported by facts - not by emotions! Slavery in any form in any age by anyone is disgusting and shameful, and Mr. Medved acknowledges that. Thanks for the chance to dialog.

It is amazing that the America haters crawl out of the woodwork at every opportunity. Are we really supposed to listen to the uninformed such as Scott, who thinks Mr. Medved is Christian so that he can show his bigotry and bash Christianity (Medved is Jewish), or Jose Maat who should better know how to spell hypocrisy, as he likely is a hypocrite. Mr. Medved is of such historical genius to which the leftist/revisionists in this thread cannot hold a candle.

I'm watching Mr. Medved (aka "The Bear" if any of you speak Russian..haha...sorry) on King 5's 'Up Front' right now and he says Americans don't know anything about US history, but neither does he. He described this nation as Christian because founding fathers came here to set up religious utopias and then he went on to describe the Protestants and their individual 'theocracies'. While Protestants most certainly did come to America to flee religious persecution, it seems that Mr. Medved seems to forget that the first Pilgrims landed in the US in 1620 while the Declaration was signed in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787. That leaves a significant time gap and simply lumping our Fore Fathers in with the Pilgrims as if they came over together is a very serious historical mistake. Thomas Jefferson didn't believe in Jesus' miracles and even edited the New Testament to his own liking. There was a very profound difference between Mr. Medved's religious zealots who sought America as a way of escaping the Anglican Church and the people who are responsible for leading us to freedom from the tyrannical rule of the British monarchy and Houses of Parliament.

As for the whole Christmas thing, sure say Merry Christmas, whatever, but while the idea of Christmas or at least celebrating Christ's birth is obviously a Christian idea, no where does it say that Christ was born on Dec. 25th and it is preposterous to assume so. So technically, since we don't know exactly when Christ was born, December 25th is more religious than say, July 30th.

And it would seem I missed the slavery portion of the interview.

Sorry, I had a typo in my first post. I meant to say that December 25th is NO more religious than say, July 30th. Sorry for any confusion.

What a loss that Mr. Mak has left Upfront. As a result, KING-TV's Upfront is struggling with a lack of professionalism in presenting controversial issues. Mr. Mak's deft and intelligent handling of sensitive issues was such a bonus to KING-TV. What a loss for you all that he has moved on.

Mr. Mak's successor demonstrates the profound loss KING has sustained to thoughtful and professional feature reporting. What a shame that Mr. Medved was given such an unwarranted forum for his nervous conservatism. Any college freshman, after a course in basic logic, can point out the fallacies in his thinking. It truly was undeserving of air time.

BTW, it would truly behoove KING-TV to hire writers with a basic grasp of grammar:

"Medved things wrong-headed ideas about American history are pervasive in schools and government..."

How sad.

Medved would have this nation become something that it is not, a "Christian nation". It is "America". It was, and "IS" a land where freedom of and from religion is protected. It is a land where government and religion live side by side, and neither intruding upon the other. It is also a land where one may decline a belief in any religion.

I do not want, nor require any government entity to validate my personal faith in God. My faith resides in my heart, not in public displays or signs. My faith also tells me to respect others in theirs, including how others might feel about such days as Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is not an assault upon me that other views might be discussed, displayed, or taught. It is that freedom to do so which gives me the strength to enjoy all our differences, and to battle against they who would choose to dominate in some form or another. The majority in this nation may be Christian, but so what? That does not mean then that Christians should demand anything special or that 'non-Christians' need to seek permission. I was born an American, became Christian later. I do not need to declare anything or to display anything, it's in my heart.

even as a moderate democrat i agree a lot with medveds points of view including the opinion that America is sadly and slowly leaving behind our christian heritage...i remember in history classes of past that settlers left to get away from the church of England but still wanted to practice their christian faith(in its puritan form) as they saw fit...they didn't come here to escape Christianity but to escape persecution to practice Christianity as they saw fit..i still believe in my heart that a majority of this country still believes in god and the christian faith...and the view point of the minority basically atheists who choose not to have any beliefs but want to force that idea any where they can...its truly sad...and a warning to my party ill become an independent if we dont stop this silly embrace of "i selfishly choose to believe in my self and nothing else." this is the one thing that irritates me to the bottom of my soul that we are know as the party that embraces atheism...im all for inclusion and tolerance i mean i am a democrat but it goes to far when we support leaving the traditions of out founding fathers...i support a move back to nationalism pro American ways of yesteryear...not necessarily protectionist but i hate the sell out at the expense of America's best interests attitude this country has taken to...to mr.medved i dont like much of your party but i do respect your opinion and ideas and wish you many more years of productive debate on air...thank you for all that you do...

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