I think that Thomas Paine – the man who came up with the name, “United States of America” and who is arguably the founding father of America and of the age of American enlightenment – has largely been forgotten by the people who benefited from his courage, charisma, logic and rhetoric. Instead, we in America treat Paine as some type of neglected step-child that is hidden away. I was never introduced to Paine until college, we don’t honor his efforts with great memorials or on our money and he is usually only (wrongly) quoted by the right wing. Ronald Reagan quoted Paine a lot even though he was the inventor of and staunch advocate for welfare. Personally, I suspect that Paine is hidden away because he unrepentantly lays bear our true secular roots. To understand how and why Paine fueled the revolution is to cast away the Christian Nation myth. I think Paine is forgotten because he said things like:

and…

and…

He is arguably the founding father of the left wing in as much as Adams was a founding father or the right. Thomas Paine wanted the wealthy to pony up for paying for the war in a way that was commensurate with the poor’s contribution. Of course, the wealthy didn’t like that notion any more than they like that idea now.

When Paine is remembered mainly through the delusional quotes of the likes of teabaggers and Reagan, it becomes an exercise in Orwellian propaganda. Their misrepresentation of the truth of his purposeful contributions blemishes, distorts and relegates his social philosophy as being irrelevant to the very people who would benefit from reading his stuff: mainstream America.

Glenn Beck’s remaking of Thomas Paine’s
revolutionary hit “Common Sense”

While Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson – all freethinkers and anti-theists – often quoted each other, Paine was the only one who actually made his feelings about the Church explicitly and widely known. I think that this is the major reason for Paine’s relative obscurity and rebranding.