As Right Wing Watch has noted multiple times in the past, one of the defining characteristics of Christian nationalists is their willingness to misrepresent history, as time after time they spread blatant falsehoods in defense of their right-wing ideology. Often, this is rooted in their own ignorance about the Founding Era and the creation of the Constitution, and that tendency was on full display during a recent episode of Tim Pool's podcast.
Pool and guest Milo Yiannopoulos were trying to convince conservative journalist Elad Eliahu that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. The debate was largely incoherent and uninformed, as exemplified by Pool's ludicrous assertion that the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments in the Bill of Rights were "literally" derived from the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
"Do you know why the Founding Fathers created the 4th, 5th, and 6th [Amendments]?" Pool asked, confidently. "It's the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is literally as the spoken word of the Founding Fathers. Benjamin Franklin said, 'It is better that 100 guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer,' which was a play on Blackstone's formulation; it is better that 10 guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer which is literally the story of Sodom and Gomorrah [where God said] 'If but one righteous person exists, I will not destroy this land.' It was literally the Bible, which is why they said we should enshrine this in the Constitution."
Pool's claim is, of course, nonsense and frankly doesn't even make sense, as it is exceedingly difficult to even imagine how the story of Sodom and Gomorrah could have been responsible for the various due process amendments included in the Bill of Rights:
Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Fifth Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Sixth Amendment
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Furthermore, Benjamin Franklin had nothing to do with crafting the Bill of Rights, which was drafted by James Madison before being edited and consolidated by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Additionally, Madison's draft largely originated from him choosing from among the dozens of amendments suggested by the states during their various constitutional ratifying conventions.
In fact, many of the things contained in Madison's initial draft were versions of thing already contained in state Bills of Rights or were provisions designed to address issues that had outraged American colonists leading up to the American Revolution.
As historian Carol Berkin explained in her book, "The Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure America's Liberties":
Many of the guarantees Madison laid out conformed to traditions and expectations established by almost two hundred years of Anglo-American political culture. Some reflected an adaptation of the "rights of Englishmen” to the new experiment in republican government. But many of them also revealed the Revolutionary generation's persistent memory of the abuses arising from imperial policies in the 1760s and 1770s.
We have listened to countless professional Christian nationalist activists make a myriad of baseless and misleading statements over the years, but this is the first time we'd ever heard anyone claim that a key portion of the Bill of Rights was rooted in the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Needless to say, if there was even a shred of evidence to support this notion, we are confident that we would likely have heard it first from someone other than Tim Pool.
