David Barton, Glenn Beck's Favorite "Historian," Called Out by Christian Scholars
Bill Berkowitz printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Thu Aug 09, 2012 at 10:48:45 AM EST
David Barton, president of the Christian conservative WallBuilders organization and a frequent guest on Glenn Beck's broadcasts, has for years been getting away with historicide. Criticism of Barton's politically motivated and tenuous grasp of history, once the sole province of liberal scholars, church-state separationists, and left wing political activists and bloggers, is now spreading beyond liberal enclaves, as several Christian scholars are criticizing Barton for just plain making stuff up.

In a recent World magazine article titled "The David Barton controversy", Thomas Kidd reported that "some conservative Christian scholars are publicly questioning Barton's work."

Barton's book voted "Least Credible History Book in Print"

World Magazine's Kidd reported that Barton's book, "The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson," was recently voted the "Least Credible History Book in Print," by readers of George Mason University's History News Network. At the end of polling, Barton's "The Jefferson Lies" barely edged out Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" by nine votes -- 650 to 641.

According to Kidd, "Jay W. Richards, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, [a conservative Catholic] and author with [televangelist] James Robison of 'Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It's Too Late,' ... said in recent months he has grown increasingly troubled about Barton's writings, so he asked 10 conservative Christian professors to assess Barton's work."

The responses were uniformly negative. Kidd pointed out that Glenn Moots of Northwood University, "wrote that Barton in The Jefferson Lies is so eager to portray Jefferson as sympathetic to Christianity that he misses or omits obvious signs that Jefferson stood outside 'orthodox, creedal, confessional Christianity.'"

Another professor, Glenn Sunshine of Central Connecticut State University, "said that Barton's characterization of Jefferson's religious views is 'unsupportable.' Yet another, Gregg Frazer of The Master's College, evaluated Barton's video 'America's Godly Heritage' and found many of its factual claims dubious, such as a statement that '52 of the 55 delegates at the Constitutional Convention were 'orthodox, evangelical Christians.'"

Kidd noted that the book "Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President" (Salem Grove Press), by Professors Warren Throckmorton (psychology) and Michael Coulter (humanities and political science) of Grove City College, a largely conservative Christian school in Pennsylvania, "argues that Barton 'is guilty of taking statements and actions out of context and simplifying historical circumstances.' For example, they charge that Barton, in explaining why Jefferson did not free his slaves, 'seriously misrepresents or misunderstands (or both) the legal environment related to slavery.'"

Writing for Talk2Action, Rob Boston, a senior policy analyst with Americans for Separation of Church and State, pointed out that Throckmorton and Coulter "look at numerous pieces of disinformation spread by Barton and give the real story, usually backing up their claims with words from Jefferson's own writings" (http://www.talk2action.org/story/2012/5/8/123341/5130).

"The duty of Christians as scholars," the professors write, "is first to get the facts correct.... Engaging in scholarship as a Christian is not about who is on our team; it should have as an aim of uncovering the facts about a subject, whether it is a historical figure or a theory of social science, and following the data where they lead."

Barton, who maintained that Throckmorton and Coulter are "academic elitists" and oppose his "personal religious beliefs," still has a legion of conservative supporters, including Beck, former Arkansas Governor, and Chick-fil-A booster, Mike Huckabee, disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachman.

Beck claimed that Barton's book, "really opened his own eyes to America's true history that so many Americans have never heard before."

"If you've never read a David Barton book, you've not read a history book," Beck said. "David is one of the best, if not the best historians in America. He is doing everything he can to turn history back and write it and put it back to where it was and tell history like it was, and to tell the truth, both good and bad. Thomas Jefferson is such an important figure. This is a watershed book that you need to equip yourself with and equip your family and children with, so they know about the truth about Jefferson."

Barton denounces critics

On his WallBuilders website, Barton blasted his critics, arguing that they are jealous of the sales figures of his books: "I have penned numerous best-selling history works, and characteristic of each is a heavy reliance on primary-source documentation ... Not many individuals in America have read more original works (or fewer modern ones) than I have; and the general public has responded enthusiastically to this history based on original documentation... [T]ypical history works by modern elitist professors generally sell very poorly; and seeing their own influence wane, they often lash out and condescendingly criticize the more popular documentary works.

"...significantly, however, the public does not respond well to these works, for publishers claim that with few exceptions most academic scholars' books sell only two hundred or so copies a year.

"After 'The Jefferson Lies,' rose to a New York Times best-seller, similar attacks were launched against it from academic elitists. I will address three of these attacks below, but first, I must tackle their oft-repeated talking-point that I am not a qualified historian - a claim they make to cast a shadow of doubt over all the facts I present. However, this charge, like their others, is completely false.

"After all, I am: Recognized as an historical expert by both state and federal courts; Called to testify as an historical expert by both the federal and state legislatures; Selected as an historical expert by State Boards of Education across the nation to assist in writing history and social studies standards for those states; Consulted as an historical expert by public school textbook publishers, helping write best-selling history texts used in public schools and universities across the nation."

In mid-July on Wallbuilders Live, Barton, who often wanders far afield and who, according to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch "compares homosexuality to smoking and celebrates the fact that there isn't a cure for AIDS," basically endorsed Mitt Romney's candidacy: "So why do we have a question here? Because he's a Mormon? Hey, we've got to get past labels. Just like Obama's Christian label means nothing, Romney's Mormon label means nothing. What matters is the fruit, which one is going to produce more biblical fruit ...

"There's only two options Christians have. Christians do not have the option of sitting this one out. You do not have that option, it is not a possibility. You will stand before God and He will say "I gave you your vote, what did you do with your vote?" And we can't just say "well, I chose to sit this one out."




Display:

WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (329 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.