Comments on: Wallbuilders #2 Man Compares David Barton’s Critics to Hitler and Alinsky

By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:37:24 +0000

In reply to Jen. @Jen - It really is humorous to consider a Porchmuth native elitist, especially this one.

By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:43 +0000

Byron – Just think of how elite those ten minutes would have been if I had been awake…

Your turn.

By: Michael Lynch

Michael Lynch — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

I had never heard of Green before finding a link to his response on a religious history blog, and found it to be downright bizarre. He lambasts Barton’s critics for innuendo and derogatory references while at the same time comparing them to Hitler, denouncing them as “elitists,” and impugning their supposed motives. He claims that the critics haven’t documented any specific problems with Barton’s work, which is simply not true. And he argues that Thomas Nelson pulled the book because of the HarperCollins acquisition, despite the fact that Nelson still offers books by the likes of Billy Graham and Max Lucado. This is not the way to engage in historiographical give-and-take.

–ML

By: Lynn David

Lynn David — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

It seems that the main defense put on by Barton aficianados has been a religious gathering-round as if Barton’s writings have all the power and faith-demands of Genesis. And in that I would rest my own point.

By: StraightGrandmother

StraightGrandmother — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

That Bad Dog- FOR THE WIN!!!

I have been following WThrockmorton on Twitter for a while now and I must say I am really enjoying this. I never really thought of him as “elitist” though.

By: Michael Miles

Michael Miles — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

I can’t divine the sincerity of the beliefs, but they are nothing if not highly calculated and effective. This flank of the culture war is purely political, ambitious and targeted. The academy needs to do much more than react to individual skirmishes.

I jumped on that thread. It is a much different perspective than I am used to experiencing. And quite hostile.

By: That Bad Dog

That Bad Dog — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

I heard Rick Green on a Christian talk radio show last year in which he was discussing, among other things, the relationship of art and culture to church history. During the course of the interview, he made an extended argument that the Protestant Reformation caused the Renaissance. This was not a slip of the tongue. It was an elaborate and detailed argument that went on for several minutes, in which he appeared blithely unaware that he had reversed events by centuries. He then went on to talk about several important “Reformation artists”, including Raphael, and Michelangelo. All he listed were Roman Catholics, and most of them were dead before the Protestant Reformation began. One of them was an active participant in the Counter-Reformation. The bumpkin hosts were too ignorant to call him on any of it, and just went along saying “yep yep yep” like the Martians on Sesame Street and talking about how they “never learned any of this stuff in school”. Perhaps that was because none of it was actually true.

I was left with a series of unpleasant options as to how to interpret this event:

1. Rick Green is an idiot who actually knows nothing about history.

2. Rick Green is a liar who knows what he is saying is false, but says it anyway because there is a market for it and he is making a good living by it.

3. Rick Green is a delusional and actually believes what he is saying is true even though it is clearly contra-factual.

Clearly any one of these would be a disqualifier for a position near the head of an organization that promotes itself as dealing with history.

By: ken

ken — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

‘I thought everybody knew the first rule of arguing: the first one to invoke Hitler loses the argument. ‘

FYI: that is known as “Godwin’s Law” Attributed to Mike Godwin in the early 90s.

By: William

William — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

Green thought that the Protestant Reformation caused the Renaissance and that Raphael and Michelangelo were Reformation artists? That’s priceless. It’s almost as good as a certain deceased British celebrity who didn’t know that East Anglia was an area of England but thought it was somewhere abroad, and who didn’t realise that the USA was an English-speaking country.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:30:41 +0000

Elitist appalachian? This would mean your car doesn’t have holes in the floor, you quit eating squirrel & possum, & you have less than 3 broken down cars in your front yard?

On behalf of the REAL members of our culture I am offended & believe you should be forced to speak English in the way it was intended & let the non-elitists continue the traditions elisits spurn.