I don’t have much to say about this story but I want to link to it.
Dale Partridge, Christian ‘influencer’ and church planter, haunted by plagiarism claims
Dale Partridge is a hip social media influencer, pastor type who has been lifting other people’s words and using them to make himself look good. Cue Bob Smietana:
Discouragement, he said in a now deleted Instagram post, is a temptation that needs toughness and tenderness to overcome.
“But in any case, discouragement is not to be tolerated or wallowed in,” his post read. “It’s to be fought.”
This spiritual advice, typical of Partridge, can stand with the words of the best religious thinkers.
Perhaps because, it turns out, his advice came from two top religious thinkers.
The above sentiment about discouragement was borrowed nearly word-for-word from DesiringGod.org, a website founded by the widely read evangelical author and preacher John Piper. The “not guilty” line comes from the late author and theologian A.W. Tozer. (A post on the Relearn Church website was later updated to include the correct attribution and link to Piper’s site.)
A review of Partridge’s writings shows that the plagiarism in these posts is not a one-time mistake. According to critics who have tracked his tweets and Instagram posts, Partridge has commonly passed off quotes from celebrities, musicians, fellow entrepreneurs, authors and public figures including Ricky Martin, John Wooden, Ron Finley and Martin Luther King Jr. as his own. Partridge’s habit of plagiarizing quotes even inspired a “Fake Dale Partridge” Twitter account, which reposted Partridge’s tweets from October 2014, along with the correct attribution.
Go read the rest if you want to learn more about how hip influencing is done. I just can’t see how this stuff appeals to people but since I warn folks about this kind of thing, I thought I should post it.
This one is interesting to me. I understand how plagiarism works in books and articles, but I’m not sure how to think about it in terms of social media posts. I’m not an “influencer,” just a guy with a couple social media accounts. This morning I posted something I heard recently, but I don’t know where it came from it was, “If you watch Friday the 13th in reverse, it’s really a beautiful story about a guy resurrecting people with his machete.”
I didn’t think to attribute it or attempt to find its origin. I just thought it was funny and I tweeted it out to my paltry dozens of followers. Am I plagiarizing? If I reached a degree of fame or notoriety, would a blogger have a case to accuse me of some kind of misconduct?
And what if I tell a joke or an anecdote in a sermon — one that I’ve heard, but don’t exactly know where?
I’m not trying to be obtuse; I know that these are not the exact same situations, but I wonder where the lines lie. Are aphorisms and jokes fair game? Memes? Pithy sayings that can’t be exactly attributed? This all seems especially willowy when it comes to social media, especially for us non-verified social media peons. I’m open to perspectives on this…
Just don’t take credit for stuff that you know isn’t yours. If you heard it somewhere else but you don’t know who said it, then attribute it to unknown or lead with I heard this from somewhere and… (e.g., the sermon anecdote)
The main thing is to source when you know it and say when you don’t. Accidents happen all the time and mistakes can easily be made. If you use something and you really thought you made it up but later find out someone else used it first, then just say so. This guy and so many other Christian “influencers” try to hide it or take credit knowingly for other people’s work.
Just don’t take credit for stuff that you know isn’t yours. If you heard it somewhere else but you don’t know who said it, then attribute it to unknown or lead with I heard this from somewhere and… (e.g., the sermon anecdote)
The main thing is to source when you know it and say when you don’t. Accidents happen all the time and mistakes can easily be made. If you use something and you really thought you made it up but later find out someone else used it first, then just say so. This guy and so many other Christian “influencers” try to hide it or take credit knowingly for other people’s work.
when you posted the quote did you actually use quotation marks (” “) to at least indicate you were quoting someone else?
I steal a lot of quotes/sayings/phrases I’ve heard in the past but can’t remember where I heard them. However, it is pretty easy to indicate you aren’t the originator of the phrase with quotation marks. Or a simple prefix of “I heard this somewhere…”
From Bob Smietana, Religion News Service:
Until recently, the [Partridge’s] site included a quote promoting Partridge’s “Real Christianity” book that was attributed to Richard Jennings of Dallas Theological Seminary.
However, a spokesman for Dallas Theological Seminary said the school has no record of a faculty member, student or staff member by that name.
On a recent episode of the “Real Christianity” podcast, Partridge’s wife, Veronica Partridge, read the endorsement aloud, this time citing its author as Richard Davis.
Dale Partridge told RNS that as far as he is aware, Davis does not exist either. The quote praising the book, he said, was a “mock quote” used during the design of the store on the Relearn Church website.
He and Driscoll, thick as thieves. Oh wait, they are thieves.
Many clicks on your web site or Facebook page makes more and more money. Attribution can fade into the background when chasing the dollar.
Who cares about “You shall not steal” when there is such a quick shortcut to getting the like button pushed more often? We live in an age where being popular with people is passed off with a “Christian” label. Are we supposed to be “God-pleasers instead of “man-pleasers?” Popularity is required for success that brings in all that Mammon that we lust after. Narcissism is what drives this kind of thing. And that certainly is not pleasing to God. This year is going to turn into a very difficult one for many before it is over.
The pastor made the mistake of doing in writing what many preachers do while sermonizing from the pulpit: borrow heavily, even word for word, from a multitude of other sources.
Does Partidge have a college degree? If so, academic study would have made him aware of standard conventions in written discourse.
He should definitely be exposed, early and often.
I have a lot of cynicism about it (as I do a lot of things these days) because repeated exposure of David Barton seems to have had little deterrent or substantive effect. Fracturing idols is not for the impatient.
But plagiarism is theft. And thieves should be exposed.