Category: david barton

David Barton Offers Spring Break Teachers Conference

Instead of relaxing and refreshing, school teachers can now look forward to several days with David Barton over Spring Break.
Wallbuilders Teachers Conference
Barton left off some of the “how-to” topics he should cover.

So many topics, so little time.

David Barton Criticizes Public Schools Then Incorrectly Links Quote to Lincoln

You can’t make this up.
Writing for OneNewsNow today, David Barton claimed to know the thinking behind the protestors who descended on Washington DC during the inauguration weekend. Without providing any polling or even anecdotal evidence, he said the protestors were unaware of the reasons why a candidate for president could win the popular vote but lose the election. He said the protestors were unaware that America is not a pure democracy. Somehow, Barton knows the views of all those protestors.

The protestors believe that only the national popular vote matters (which Hillary won – barely). But even though she garnered the votes of most of the largest cities in America, she did not win the majority of the states, cities, or counties. In fact, Trump won 30 of the 50 states, more than 80 percent of America’s 3,141 counties, and an equally lop-sided percentage of its 35,000 cities. The protestors were unaware (as are most Americans) that the Constitution establishes an election system that balances diverse measurements. Shame on schools for not teaching the Constitution.

How does he know this? Because some of the protestors carried signs saying, “Trump is not my president.” Of course, legally Trump is the POTUS. However, I suspect many of the protestors know that but had a different meaning in mind. They don’t believe Trump represents their beliefs and values, or that he is someone they can be proud to call president. Thank God for the freedom to protest and express one’s views.
After ranting and mind reading a little more, Barton pronounces more shame on the schools.

Shame on schools for teaching students to elevate personal opinion above absolute facts.

Speaking of facts, I cannot help but point out that Barton ends his article with a quote that cannot be found in Lincoln’s writings. This is a quote Barton himself once said couldn’t be confirmed.

It’s time that Americans demand that their schools once again teach American history (so students know that the popular vote winner does not always win the presidential election), American government (so they know we are a republic and not a democracy), the Constitution (so they understand our bicameral federal and election system), and absolute truth (that personal opinion must submit to truth and reality). If we don’t make these changes, we will not want to imagine, much less experience, the horrifying results from Abraham Lincoln’s warning that “the philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” (emphasis added)

After awhile of looking for this quote in Lincoln’s works, I got that familiar feeling that this was a misattributed quote. Indeed, I can’t find it in any Lincoln source or in any reputable source about Lincoln. I could find no instance of the quote with a citation of anything Lincoln said or wrote.
So after shaming schools for questionable sins, Barton blatantly commits an actual one.
Who should we blame, Mr. Barton or his schools?

Ecclesia College Bans Questions about Arkansas Bribery Scandal

Ecclesia
Ecclesia College

Last week, Arkansas state representative Micah Neal pleaded guilty to fraud and accepting bribes from two non-profits in his district in exchange for state government discretionary funds. One of the non-profits has been identified as Ecclesia College, a Bible college in Springdale, Arkansas. In the plea agreement with Rep. Neal, the president of Ecclesia College — Oren Paris III –  is referred to as one of those who authorized payments to Rep. Neal. After this news emerged, Paris issued a statement via Facebook denying any wrongdoing.
After Paris posted his denial, I left a comment asking about specific elements of the plea agreement. The agreement claimed Paris (“Person B”) authorized payment of $18,000 to Neal through a consultant (“Person C”). On the Facebook page comment section, I asked about the identity of Person C is and why Ecclesia College paid Person C $65,000 as stated in the plea agreement. According to the agreement, $18,000 was authorized to go to Rep. Neal. Two other commenters also called on Paris to provide more information.
As of yesterday, Ecclesia College has removed those comments from their Facebook denial and banned my account from commenting. I heard from one other commenter who is also banned. Instead of addressing what are fair questions based on the plea agreement, Ecclesia removed the comments.
It seems likely that additional charges will come in this case and that the questions for Ecclesia will not go away. If there is truly no wrongdoing Ecclesia should be transparent about this deal which involves tax payer funding and a breach of public trust.

Ecclesia College Benefited from Arkansas Bribery Scheme

UPDATE: Ecclesia College president Oren Paris III tonight issued a statement denying any wrongdoing in this case.
A news report out of Arkansas sounds ominous for some of the blog’s favorite people.
Ecclesia College received $200,000 from an Arkansas government agency to build a building on campus. According to the report a sitting State Representative took a $18,000 bribe in order to funnel the money to Ecclesia.
This isn’t the first time Ecclesia benefited from public funds. The school received $592,000 via the same discretionary fund in calendar years 2013 and 2014. Only the Arkansas Energy Office received a higher amount of funding over the same period.  Despite lack of regional accreditation, Arkansas tax dollars have been spent lavishly on Ecclesia.
David Barton and Eric Metaxas are on the Board of Regents at Ecclesia, although there is nothing in the report suggesting they knew anything about the matter.
According to the plea agreement, the president (not named in the agreement) of “Entity B” was aware of the arrangement. The president of “Entity B” (Ecclesia College) is Oren Paris III.
According to a contact at Ecclesia president Paris is meeting with the board about the plea agreement this afternoon.
Here’s part of the agreement involving the only named participant, Representative Micah Neal:

Honest Services Fraud Concerning Entity B
v. In or around 2014, Senator A told NEAL that if NEAL, as an Arkansas Representative, authorized and directed GIF money to Entity B, then Person B would pay NEAL a portion of the money in exchange for EAL’s official action.
w. NEAL and Senator A agreed to authorize and direct a total of $200,000 of GIF money to Entity B in exchange for kickbacks from Person B. Of the $200,000, NEAL agreed to direct $50,000 of the GIF money to Entity B, and Senator A agreed to direct $150,000 of the GIF money to Entity B.
x. On or about December 18, 2014, the NWAEDD issued a check in the amount of$200,000, and drawn on the NWAEDD’s Arvest Bank account ending in 8611, to Entity B. The check constituted GIF monies that had been appropriated by NEAL and Senator A, and was awarded pursuant to a GIF grant application signed by Person B that had been emailed, via interstate wire communications, to the NWAEDD from Entity B in Springdale, Arkansas, on or about December 5, 2014. The application requested a $200,000 GIF grant and listed NEAL and Senator A as sponsors.
y. On or about December 19, 2014, the $200,000 check from the NWAEDD to Entity B was deposited into Entity B’s Centennial Bank account ending in 0681. Arvest Bank subsequently settled the check totaling $200,000 with Centennial Bank via an interstate wire communication.
z. The spreadsheets maintained by the NWAEDD for NEAL and Senator A showed a deduction in December 2014 of $50,000 and $150,000, respectively, for the GIF grant awarded to Entity B.
aa. A check dated January 5, 2015 and drawn on Entity B’s Centennial Bank account ending in 0681 in the amount of $65,000 was issued to Person C’s company and deposited that same day into Person C’s company’s Arvest Bank account ending in 7761. The check was issued at the direction of Person B. Over the following three days, Person C made three cash withdrawals per day totaling $53,700 from his company’s Arvest Bank account ending in 7761.
bb. Between approximately December 19, 2014 and approximately January 30, 2015, and following Entity B’s receipt of NEAL’s and Senator A’s GIF money in the amount of $200,000, Senator A contacted NEAL and told him that Person C would be bringing $18,000 in cash to NEAL in exchange for NEAL having authorized and directed the appropriation of the GIF money to Entity B.
cc. Between approximately December 19, 2014 and approximately January 30, 2015, and following NEAL’s communication with Senator A, Person C met with NEAL and, on behalf of Person B, paid NEAL $18,000 in cash.
dd. NEAL agrees and stipulates that he conspired with Senator A and others in the Western District of Arkansas and elsewhere to deprive the citizens of the State of Arkansas of his honest services as an Arkansas state legislator by taking official actions and using his official position to appropriate and direct funds to Entity A and Entity B in exchange for kickback payments, and that the conspiracy and scheme to defraud the citizens of the State of Arkansas of his honest services involved the use of interstate wire communications and mailings that were sent and/or received in the Western District of Arkansas.

Stay tuned…

Trump Transition Team Member Darrell Scott Touts Doctorate from Unaccredited, Unlicensed College

Recently, I have been looking into diploma mills and questionable doctorate degrees given to celebrity Christians. One such celebrity is Darrell Scott.

Darrell Scott and TrumpIn two weeks, Cleveland pastor and Donald Trump supporter Rev. Scott will be honored by former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown’s charity Amer-i-can for his work in support of Trump’s election. Throughout the presidential campaign, Scott promoted Donald Trump. He served as CEO of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump. Scott was rewarded for his efforts by an appointment to the executive committee of Trump’s transition team.
Dr D Scott Tweet
In his Twitter profile above (and his Facebook page), Scott refers to himself as Dr. Darrell Scott. During the campaign, Trump also referred to Scott as “Dr. Darrell Scott.”
Trump Dr. Darrell Scott
On his church bio, Scott describes himself as

Already a 21st Century Theologian and Scholar in his own right, Dr. Darrell went on to receive his Doctorate of Divinity in November of 2004. His astute wisdom of religious and biblical studies not only qualifies him as a 21st Century Theologian but also serves to further amplify the fact that he is a gifted and anointed teacher and preacher of God’s Word.

Twenty-first century theologian and scholar Scott did get an honorary doctorate in 2004 (since deleted but archived here) from St. Thomas Christian College (now University). However, his bio is worded in a way that creates the impression that he earned the degree. As noted above, Scott uses the title “Dr.” in referring to himself which is inappropriate and misleading since the degree was not earned.

Compounding the problem is the questionable status of the college. St. Thomas Christian University is not accredited by any Department of Education or Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognized accrediting body. The Chancellor of the school Zamekio Jackson told me in a tweet that the school was accredited but declined to tell me the name of the accrediting body. A search of the ED and CHEA websites failed to turn up any proof of accreditation by any federally recognized accrediting body. St. Thomas’ website does not describe any accrediting agency.

St. Thomas is currently unlicensed in the state of Florida. In Florida, religious colleges can be exempted from state licensing if they file a request for exemption (see this post for the process). St. Thomas is not on the list of exempt schools maintained by the state. A representative of the Commission on Independent Education told me this morning that 2014 was the last year St. Thomas had filed for exemption. Chancellor Jackson said the school needs to update their paperwork.
Z Jackson tweets
Mr. Scott appears to be using his degree from an unaccredited school to create an impression that he earned a doctorate. He joins other celebrity Christians such as David Barton, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, and and Lance Wallnau who use questionable degrees in a questionable manner.