Politico on David Barton

In case you have not seen it yet, Stephanie Simon of the blog Politico has written a piece about Christian culture warrior David Barton.

Here is a taste:

An informal adviser to several prominent Republican politicians, including Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann, Barton argues that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and must return to those roots.

His ideas have shaped the social studies curriculum in his home state of Texas. Now, he’s gunning for even bigger influence, advising state legislators across the country on how to fight the Common Core academic standards that the Obama administration is promoting. And that’s not all; Barton hints he’ll soon be back in the arena of presidential politics, advising candidates looking to appeal to the religious right.

“I remain available to whoever wants to move that ball down the court,” Barton told POLITICO.

According to Simon, Barton has “bounced back” from the criticism surrounding The Jefferson Lies.  It seems as if he has found a new hobby-horse: The Common Core.

Barton may be on a new crusade, but I am hesitant to say that he has “bounced back.” In fact, nothing has really changed. He still gives the faithful what they want to hear–a skewed view of American history designed to serve Barton’s political ends.  As long as people want a sanitized past that they can use to fight the culture wars, Barton will have followers.  But I can’t help but think that he is a lot weaker than he once was in the wake of so many historians–many of them evangelical Christians–discrediting his approach to the American past.

I wish Simon would have said more about the credible evangelical historians who have spoken out against Barton’s propaganda crusade.

RECOMMENDED READING

In a sermon on “defending truth,” Tim Barton makes multiple false claims David Barton spreads blatant falsehoods about the AP US History course, state history standards, and a bunch of other stuff. David Barton’s son talks slavery and Black history with sportswriter Jason Whitlock. It is a train wreck. Anyone who wants to believe that Independence Day is a Christian holiday should read Frederick Douglass’s “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” David Barton speaks at First Baptist-Dallas.