Written by Don Byrd
For years, Texas pseudo-historian David Barton has been on a mission to convince Americans that the Founding Fathers did not believe in the separation of church and state, and intended the United States to be a “Christian nation.” Under Barton’s view, taken to its logical conclusion, the American experiment is an exercise in Christianity. Every time the rights of a religious minority are upheld, or government officials are criticized for using their official jobs to promote Christianity, the Founders’ intent is undermined.
That story is, of course, not true. As BJC Director Brent Walker wrote a few years ago, “[Barton’s] work…is laced with exaggerations, half-truths and misstatements of fact.” Sadly, though, Barton has managed to convince many who want to hear it. His influence among those who oppose the separation of church and state has only grown.
Hopefully, his work will receive renewed scrutiny following the publication of a new book called “Getting Jefferson Right: Fact-Checking Claims About Our Third President” (Kindle edition), written by a pair of professors from Grove City College, a Christian institution in Pennsylvania. AU’s Rob Boston is reading it.
I started the book last night after dinner and couldn’t put it down. To be blunt, it’s a hammer. Throckmorton and Coulter look at numerous pieces of disinformation spread by Barton and give the real story, usually backing up their claims with words from Jefferson’s own writings.
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So why did Throckmorton and Coulter write it? Their answer is remarkably refreshing: “The duty of Christians as scholars is first to get the facts correct…. Engaging in scholarship as a Christian is not about who is on our team; it should have as an aim of uncovering the facts about a subject, whether it is a historical figure or a theory of social science, and following the data where they lead.”
The book is now on my summer reading list. I’m especially glad to hear the authors associate their Christian faith with the need to tell the truth, rather than a need to promote as truth whatever story promotes Christianity. There is, though, another misguided layer to Barton’s work beneath the historical inaccuracies: the idea that Christianity is indeed furthered by being placed at the head of America’s national identity. The Kingdom of Christ is bigger than that. Its Truth lives in the soul freedom of its followers, not the official stamp of approval from a national government.
Neither Barton’s means nor his ends do the cause of Christ any favors. Even if his story were true, it would not uplift the faith. Christ needs no governmental platform for His message of Peace, Love and Truth.
