https://wthrockmorton.com/2013/03/02/david-barton-tells-some-stories-in-montana/ A [retired] college psychology professor's observations about public policy, mental health, sexual identity, and religious issues Wed, 30 May 2018 19:02:03 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://wthrockmorton.com/2013/03/02/david-barton-tells-some-stories-in-montana/#comment-86347 Wed, 30 May 2018 19:02:03 +0000 https://www.wthrockmorton.com/?p=14110#comment-86347 If Christian historians like Prof. Fea want to improve the standards, I don’t oppose that. But it’s done by clear reasoning about abstract matters, and you can’t substitute that by attacking persons.
I’ve just read what Prof. Fea tells about the Washington story. In the beginning he says:
“Over two hundred years later David Barton appeared in the U.S. Capitol building and tells a story about George Washington that has been proven over and over again to be false.
Thereafter he says:
“These discrepancies, coupled with the fact that Weems was known for writing stories about Washington based upon scanty evidence, have led historians to discredit it.”
Now there’s an obvious difference between unsufficient evidence and proven falsehood (i.e. sufficient counter-evidence). And when a spokesman for “Christian historians” like Prof. Fea is unsure about such a simple distinction, “Christian historians” have to do a lot of epistemological study in order to improve their standards.

]]> https://wthrockmorton.com/2013/03/02/david-barton-tells-some-stories-in-montana/#comment-55228 Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:53:37 +0000 https://www.wthrockmorton.com/?p=14110#comment-55228 If Christian historians like Prof. Fea want to improve the standards, I don’t oppose that. But it’s done by clear reasoning about abstract matters, and you can’t substitute that by attacking persons.
I’ve just read what Prof. Fea tells about the Washington story. In the beginning he says:
“Over two hundred years later David Barton appeared in the U.S. Capitol building and tells a story about George Washington that has been proven over and over again to be false.
Thereafter he says:
“These discrepancies, coupled with the fact that Weems was known for writing stories about Washington based upon scanty evidence, have led historians to discredit it.”
Now there’s an obvious difference between unsufficient evidence and proven falsehood (i.e. sufficient counter-evidence). And when a spokesman for “Christian historians” like Prof. Fea is unsure about such a simple distinction, “Christian historians” have to do a lot of epistemological study in order to improve their standards.

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