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: StraightGrandmother

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

Above comment make that God revealed this to her.

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: 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.