Ten Years of Blogging: My Early Posts About David Barton's Historical Claims
I started fact checking David Barton’s historical claims in April of 2011. I had been writing about Bryan Fischer’s odd claim (seemed odd to me) that the First Amendment only covered Christians. Examining Fischer’s claims, I found that Barton was a big influence on Fischer. My first post on Barton related to the Jefferson Bible (see also this…
Read MoreDaily Jefferson: June 20, 1803 Letter to Meriwether Lewis
Thomas Jefferson had a vision for American expansion. He also had a keen interest in scientific exploration as displayed by his notes to Meriwether Lewis on the assignment to scout out the Missouri River. In a nutshell, the mission was framed as a precursor to trade and relations with the native people in the region.…
Read MoreTen Years of Blogging: A Birther Post Brings Almost 3,000 Comments
Through the years, commenters have come and gone and at times the discussion is vigorous. The post with the most comments was a news item on a case regarding President Obama’s birth certificate (remember that?). At risk of starting a long series of comments from birthers, truthers and their opponents, I link to the post…
Read MoreThe Institute on the Constitution Posts Another Incorrect Quote Attribution – This Time They Get Thomas Paine Wrong
The Institute on the Constitution claims to be an educational outreach of Michael Peroutka’s law firm. Miseducational outreach would be a better term. They claim to teach about the founders but they often are sloppy and attribute things to the founders they didn’t say. Once, they claimed Jefferson said something he didn’t say and then they botched…
Read MoreWhy Christians Should Listen to the Pope's Encyclical on Climate Change
The Pope’s encyclical on climate change will probably change the conversation among religiously conservative people. Writing on the Biologos website, Katherine Hayhoe and Edwin Maurer argue that religiously conservative Christians should heed and follow the encyclical. Biologos’ press release begins: INTRO: Yesterday saw the release of “Laudato Si’,” an encyclical letter from Pope Francis. Although the massive…
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