Category: Warren Throckmorton

A military religious freedom watchdog group is asking Commanding General Major General Pete Johnson to uninvite Kenneth Copeland from the February 1 prayer breakfast at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Kenneth Copeland has a rather checkered history but the main reason for the outrage is Kenneth Copeland’s past teaching on how to address post-traumatic stress disorder. On that topic, the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation Mikey Weinstein told the General:

But there’s something else that makes Copeland an even more outrageous choice to speak to any military audience. He has claimed that PTSD isn’t real because it isn’t biblical, saying on a 2013 Veterans Day episode of his TV show:
“Any of you suffering from PTSD right now, you listen to me. You get rid of that right now. You don’t take drugs to get rid of it, and it doesn’t take psychology. That promise right there [referring to a Bible verse he had just read] will get rid of it.”
Copeland’s guest that day, Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton, wholeheartedly agreed, adding that warriors in the Bible fighting in the name of God were “esteemed” and in the “faith hall of fame” because they “took so many people out in battle.”

At the time, Barton and Copeland took a lot of heat over that “advice.” Before I go on, here is the segment:

Gospel Destroying and Demonic Advice

The Gospel Coalition’s Joe Carter called this advice “gospel destroying” and “demonic.” Copeland still has aspects of this advice on his website (source and source). I did a short series on PTSD which highlighted damaging aspects of Copeland’s and Barton’s advice. In short, their advice was insulting to PTSD sufferers. The military should warn their people about Copeland, not invite him to lecture them.

Copeland Disqualified Himself

I hope the General decides to find another speaker. In my opinion, Copeland disqualified himself to speak to our service men and women. In addition to his bogus advice about PTSD, he teaches that people who recite certain Bible verses will survive war. In essence, his teaching is that Christians will survive if they do the right things and recite the right magic Bible verses (Psalm 91 is one he suggests). In his PTSD video, he claims that the Bible gives a promise of survival to soldiers who fight for God. I don’t know what happens to people who don’t believe these things according to Copeland.
I can’t imagine what he will say that will be of general benefit or encouragement to people of all faiths. His teaching in his Veteran’s Day video and on his website requires a rather close adherence to his specific interpretation of the Bible. There are many Christians who reject this approach, not to mention those of other faiths and no faith. Surely, General Johnson can find someone who can bring people together and respect troops of all faith traditions.
Here is the announcement in the Fort Jackson newsletter:

National Prayer Breakfast to take place Feb. 1 at NCO Club sponsoring the National Prayer Breakfast for the Fort Jackson Community 7:30-9 a.m. Feb. 1 at the NCO Club. Nationally recognized televangelist Kenneth Copeland will be the speaker. Tickets are available from your unit. The event is free, but offerings will be accepted at the event. Attire will be duty uniform or civilian equivalent. The purpose of the NPB is to emphasize the importance of prayer for the Nation, Fort Jackson, our armed forces, and our Families. The themes for the breakfast are: prayers for the nation, community relationship and spiritual fitness.

 
This tip came from fellow Patheos blogger Hemant Mehta (who got it from Chris Rodda).

Out today, Vox has an article by Tara Burton hoping to help progressive readers understand the David Barton phenomenon. Over the years, Barton

has been identified as the “historian” behind a Christian nationalist narrative of the nation’s founding. Burton correctly connects newly appointed Religious Liberty Ambassador Sam Brownback and PA Republican candidate for Congress Rick Saccone with Barton. Brownback and Barton have a long relationship. I wrote about the Saccone-Barton link early last year.
Overall, to me as a long time student of this subject, there isn’t much new here.

When an Earned Degree Isn’t Earned

I am disappointed that Burton didn’t use the Vox platform to point out Barton’s academic fraud. She touched on it but left an incomplete impression:

Barton is a self-taught historian and activist. He’s received little formal historical training and his sole credentialed degree is a bachelor’s in religious education from evangelical Oral Roberts University, although he later claimed to have earned a doctorate from officially unaccredited Life Christian University on the basis of his published works.

Yes, he claimed one day to have an earned doctorate, but then the very next day, he took down his boastful claim when I revealed that the “earned doctorate” wasn’t earned but came from diploma mill Life Christian University. Barton no longer claims the degree. He won’t answer questions about his initial claim. Given that Burton said Barton gives Christian nationalism a “veneer of academic respectability,” I think this detail is quite significant.
The issue isn’t simply that he claimed a degree from an unaccredited school. Such that it is, he does have a piece of paper from Life Christian University. The claim which goes to Barton’s credibility is that he said that the degree was earned without specifying the means of earning it. Barton never said the degree was earned based on his published works. That rationale came from the president of Life Christian University, Douglas Wingate.
Despite this missed opportunity, I think Burton’s gets Barton’s influence mostly right when she says:

Barton remains a prominent figure in evangelical and dominionist circles and a regular on conservative conference circuits. He continues to speak on his nationally syndicated WallBuilders radio show, on which he describes himself as “America’s premier historian.” That said, since his fall from grace, Barton has publicly been cited by fewer and fewer prominent politicians, which makes Saccone’s choice to feature him at an early rally striking. But despite this, his influence is such that his particular narrative of American history is still taken by some on the right as, well, gospel.

These days almost no students who take my classes know who Barton is. More younger people seem wary of his claims. However, among those who strongly believe America is a Christian nation, Barton can do no wrong.

The title of this post summarizes what I get out of this Tony Perkins interview with Politico. Tony Perkins is the head of the Family Research Council which claims to promote family values. Because FRC has historically called for politicians to exemplify family values, Perkins gets a lot of questions about his support for Trump.  This exchange between Perkins and reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere  is especially revealing:

Evangelical Christians, says Perkins, “were tired of being kicked around by Barack Obama and his leftists. And I think they are finally glad that there’s somebody on the playground that is willing to punch the bully.”
What happened to turning the other cheek? I ask.
“You know, you only have two cheeks,” Perkins says. “Look, Christianity is not all about being a welcome mat which people can just stomp their feet on.”

Shorter Perkins: when Christian teachings don’t get you want you want, then try something else. As I understand Perkins here, there is a limit to Christianity. You can follow it so far, but when it doesn’t work to get power in the situation, you resort to whatever tactics might be necessary. Otherwise, the unthinkable might happen: Christians might lose political power.

Christianity? What Christianity?

To me, this is another example of an evangelical leader changing Christianity to fit the requirements of being a Trump follower. Today, it is Perkins; often it is Franklin Graham, most days it is Jerry Falwell, everyone’s favorite fallen angel. After Trump’s indecorous reflections on third world nations earlier this month, Jerry Falwell went out with an defense – Trump was being presidentially authentic.  Columnist Jonah Goldberg was having none of that.

Falwell, in a riot of sycophantic sophistry, not only wants to argue that whatever a president does is presidential but also seeks to elevate the idea that authenticity is its own reward. This is contrary to vast swathes of conservative and Christian thought. A person can be authentically evil, crude, bigoted, or asinine. That is not a defense of any of those things. I’m no expert, but my understanding of Christianity is that behavior is supposed to be informed by more than one’s “authentic” feelings and instincts. Satan is nothing if not authentic.

We live in a time when some of our Christian leaders model how Christian leaders act when they believe Christianity has failed as a practical matter. “You know, you only have two cheeks,” Perkins said. Once you’ve turned both of them, it must be time to move on to some other approach.
And nearly every day, we see evidence that they have moved on.

Scroll down for a satirical look at Franklin Graham’s defense of Trump.
……………………….
Erick Erickson is a conservative pundit who is an evangelical Christian. If Erickson has given up on Samaritan’s Purse, Franklin Graham should start to worry that his unwavering support for Trump will hurt his bread and butter. After watching Graham’s defense of Trump’s morality in the face of Trump’s deceptions, Erickson has had enough.

I’m afraid I have to stop recommending Samaritan’s Purse. The judgment of its leadership raises too many questions. https://t.co/tPwQZ5wHoA

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 21, 2018

When Bill Clinton was president, Christian leaders expressed so much concern about the corrosive effect of Clinton’s immoral behavior on the morals of the nation. Now, Trump’s behavior is rationalized or denied.
Many people commenting on Erickson’s tweet agree but some don’t. There are many reasons to consider another charity. Franklin’s excessive salary ($800k or so) is a good reason. Franklin spends a lot of time on political commentary which is ultimately underwritten and associated with his non-profit ministry.
If you have some extra funds to donate, I suggest your local food pantry.
 
 
A satirical look at Graham’s reaction to Trump. This is satire.
 

Graham: Trump Isn’t the Same Person as Five Minutes Ago
Boone, NC – Son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, Franklin Graham yesterday brushed off reports from the Wall Street Journal claiming that President Trump had an affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels and then covered it up with payment of hush money during the 2016 campaign. He said President Trump wasn’t the same man today he was a couple of days ago.
“He is constantly changing,” the evangelist said. “President Trump, at 70 years of age, is a much different man than he was last week or even five minutes ago. God isn’t finished with him yet.”
“I am sure he isn’t done changing. I don’t think anyone but God knows what’s coming next,” said the famous preacher.
Graham said even if the charges leveled by the WSJ are true, Trump isn’t the pastor of the nation and shouldn’t be held to the same standard as evangelicals have held other politicians.
Graham asserted that America has a sin problem and no one has a grasp on that problem like President Trump. He said Trump uses his own resources to address the problem head on and used the Stormy Daniels situation as an illustration. Graham explained, “In Donald Trump, we have a president who isn’t afraid to put his money where his mouth was.”

On January 11, Assistant Secretary Elinore McCance-Katz addressed the controversy over the terminated National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. After several days of silence from SAMHSA, the McCance-Katz sought to explain why SAMHSA ended the registry which lawmakers and mental health providers alike had both lauded and criticized.
Her defense of the move was forceful and appealed to the nation’s opioid addiction crisis. In a conference call with reporters she said, “We in the Trump administration are not going to sit back and let people die.” Without giving any instances linked to NREPP, she added that people will die “if we leave things up on the website that don’t help people.”
In her statement, McCance-Katz lamented that the registry was inadequate. She especially regretted the lack of evidence-based treatments for severely mentally ill persons. She added, “If someone with limited knowledge about various mental and substance use disorders were to go to the NREPP website, they could come away thinking that there are virtually no EBPs for opioid use disorder and other major mental disorders – which is completely untrue.” In fact, I was able to find two such treatments but they were short term interventions.
McCance-Katz also faulted developers of evidence-based practices. She said:

We at SAMHSA should not be encouraging providers to use NREPP to obtain EBPs, given the flawed nature of this system. From my limited review – I have not looked at every listed program or practice – I see EBPs that are entirely irrelevant to some disorders, “evidence” based on review of as few as a single publication that might be quite old and, too often, evidence review from someone’s dissertation.
This is a poor approach to the determination of EBPs. As I mentioned, NREPP has mainly reviewed submissions from “developers” in the field. By definition, these are not EBPs because they are limited to the work of a single person or group. This is a biased, self-selected series of interventions further hampered by a poor search-term system. Americans living with these serious illnesses deserve better, and SAMHSA can now provide that necessary guidance to communities.

There is some evidence for her criticism. I found at least one program which had next to no peer reviewed evidence (“moral reconation therapy”). The journal listed as providing the bulk of the data was a newsletter published by the originators of the therapy.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

However, one proponent of evidence-based practice said SAMHSA shouldn’t assign blame exclusively on developers and providers. Steven Hayes, Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Nevada and one of the developers of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy told me that SAMHSA set the standards for developers and should raise them if the agency wants better results.
Hayes told me, “If SAMHSA was unhappy with the standards, why didn’t they raise them?” Hayes said there are gaps in research knowledge, but wonders how SAMHSA is going to bridge that gap by terminating NREPP. Hayes asked, “If large bodies of such research exist, why didn’t researchers submit the data before? If it existed, why didn’t SAMHSA just take steps to ensure that it was submitted to NREPP?”
Hayes continued, “The reasons there are gaps in research knowledge is that gaps can only be filled by creativity, linked to adequate funding to test creative ideas. Of course SAMHSA can declare that providers should do this or do that based on what their experts say, but this will be a far more political process and it is certain to be both conventional and more dominated by experts who are beholden to those with strong financial interests in the current system.”
Hayes is concerned that drug companies may play an outsized role. He said, “We know who those voices are in the main. We are already at a place in which more than 60% of those with mental health needs receive medications only, and 10% or less receiving psychosocial methods only. Given the issues of side effects, long term effects, opponent processes, and cost effectiveness, the data simply do not support this huge imbalance.”
Since NREPP was a way for developers to get their programs to the public, Hayes said, “Cutting off one of the few avenues program developers had available to them to provide scientifically valid information to the public, will likely leave the public with access to fewer voices and less information rather than more.”

Timing of SAMHSA’s Move to the Policy Lab

One of my concerns about the termination of the NREPP has been the lack of anything to replace it. Chris Garrett, spokesman for SAMHSA told me that SAMHSA is sensitive to this concern and provided this statement:

SAMHSA is working as expeditiously as possible to stand up the Policy Lab in order to carry forward this important work. Expert staff from SAMHSA are being reassigned to the Policy Lab as it stands up. We expect basic operations of the Lab to follow within the next month. In the meantime, SAMHSA has a number of evidence-based approaches already available on our website in the form of Treatment Improvement Protocols and Technical Assistance Publications. We highly recommend their use. The TIPs series can be found here. The TAPs series can be found here. The SAMHSA store also has a number of toolkits that describe evidence-based practices, as well as provide instructions on how to implement them.

Garrett said users could search for “toolkits” in the SAMHSA store to access these resources.