Comments on: Williams v. Barton

By: Byron

Byron — Wed, 30 May 2018 22:01:02 +0000

Yeah, I think you’re probably right about the “Kevin Bacon game”—it may not take too many steps to get from the Tea Party to David Barton, just like it doesn’t take too many to get from Obama to avowed communists, but that doesn’t mean that Obama is a communist, nor does a Kevin Bacon-type connection mean that the best juxtaposition is “Willams v. Tea Party”. With Warren, I agree that “Williams v. Barton” works best (and I’ll take Williams, by the way).

By: Becky Garrison

Becky Garrison — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:37:03 +0000

There are numerous postings over at RD that clearly link David Barton to the Christian Reconstruction movement that informs a number of the leaders who claim affiliation to the Tea Party – Julie Ingersoll in particular has written extensively on this subject.

By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:37:03 +0000

Thanks Byron and Becky for the observations from a couple of angles. I think of overlapping circles here. Some Tea Partiers, around Western PA for instance, are really focused on taxes to the exclusion of social reformation. However, some of the Tea Party leaders are using the movement as a vehicle for more radical change. The challenge is to portray the situation completely. On balance, I think the Williams v. Barton is an accurate match up as they represent competing visions about how the church and state should relate.

By: StraightGrandmother

StraightGrandmother — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:37:03 +0000

Above comment make that God revealed this to her.

By: Byron

Byron — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:37:01 +0000

OK, followed the links to Posner and Ingersoll, and they must have written other stuff linking Barton to the Tea Party movement (and attempting to prove that the Tea Party is more explicitly Christian than most of us believe), because the articles I read didn’t do much of a job of substantiating that claim. I totally agree with you on Barton, and he’s linked to Beck, and Beck is a mover in the Tea Party movement, sure. And Beck has said some nutty stuff, particularly with regard to faith, sure. But all that said, I just think it’s a big stretch to pit Roger Williams against the Tea Party. Pit him against Barton, or Falwell, or what-have-you, but I just think her concern is misplaced.

By: Becky Garrison

Becky Garrison — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:18:43 +0000

Thanks Warren for the assessment – and this is what makes the Tea Party movement so fascinating to watch. You have religious conservatives and social conservatives who would describe themselves as agnostic at best who came together after the 2008 election over their shared hatred of Obama and the direction they feel he is taking the country. This is somewhat similar to some of the left fringe movements that folks like Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann have tried to mount but those have fizzled for a host of reasons.
But play the Kevin Bacon game with the Tea Party players and no matter what player you pick, David Barton’s name will come up rather quickly. You will find Barton’s footprints over the speeches of a number of people such as Glenn Beck who have helped this movement get its momentum. Here’s an example of how Barton’s distorts history, which is then picked up by other leaders and presented as gospel. http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=125
The point of my article was not to do a point by point analysis of Barton’s ideology but to highlight how this overall debate has been going on since the 17th century with Wintrop v Williams, a move that predates the Founding Fathers by about 130 years. And I also want folks to think about the dangers of imposing a pre-Enlightenment ideology on to a 21st century post-secular culture. For example, try to “reason” with anyone who is convinced that George Washington accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior that such language represents a construct not present until the Second Great Awakening and you’re called a heretic. 🙂

By: Byron

Byron — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 15:40:59 +0000

By: Becky Garrison

Becky Garrison — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:50:04 +0000

By: Warren

Warren — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:08:08 +0000

By: Becky Garrison

Becky Garrison — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 06:16:19 +0000