Dutch Sheets is a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation, a brand of charismatic evangelicalism that powers the Christian MAGA movement. Sheets leads pro-Trump prayer tours around the country, travels around with Lance Wallnau, Charlie Kirk and others where he...
bad history
One of Doug Mastriano’s dissertation committee members speaks out about his “dishonest” and “sloppy” work
Here is the latest on Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano’s “academic” career: One of the members of his dissertation committee called his work, “dishonest, sloppy, tinged with religious zealotry, and indifferent to facts that contradicted his claims.” The committee member...
In a sermon on “defending truth,” Tim Barton makes multiple false claims
The son of Wallbuilders founder David Barton recently gave a rambling “history” sermon at Christian Missions Church in Jacksboro, Texas. This is what can happen when the past is only useful as a form of activism. Here is Barton: Let’s...
David Barton manipulates the past for political ends. The latest.
At a recent Family Research Council event, David Barton, the GOP political activist who uses the past to promote his politics, confused an early 19th-century Sunday School for a “public school.” For some, this might be an honest mistake. But...
Does Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of…the U.S. Constitution?
A lot of people grow tired of me calling this stuff out. I grow tired of having to call it out. But somebody’s got to do it. This stuff is not going away anytime soon. If the words of the...
Mastriano compares gun control to Nazism
He is a “historian with a doctor in history.” No historian worth his salt would make such a sloppy and manipulative comparison. Watch: Mastriano’s claim here has been widely debunked and/or problematized. Also here. Also here. Get up to speed...
If you want to get a sense of how many white evangelicals understand American history, check out megachurch pastor Jack Hibbs’s Facebook page
We have written about Hibbs before. He is the vaccine mandate-hating, Larry Elder-loving, pro-Trumper who pastors Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California. Over the last several years, Hibbs seems to have become a bit of a history buff. In a...
Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center just released the summer issue of its journal “Reclaiming 1776.” Let’s take a look.
Liberty University president Jerry Prevo begins the journal with a quote from John Adams: Before my God, I believe the hour has come. My judgement approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and...
When it comes to the Second Amendment, Matt Gaetz has no clue
Watch the Florida congressman in action at a recent rally: Actually… no. Here is Saul Cornell, our best historian of the Second Amendment, writing in 2012: The founders had a word for a bunch of farmers marching with guns without...
Rick Santorum is out at CNN
Here is The New York Times: Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator and Republican presidential candidate, has been dropped from his role as a CNN political commentator amid controversy over recent remarks in which he seemed to erase the role...
Did Benjamin Franklin successfully thwart cancel culture?
Here is “presidential historian” Jane Hampton Cook yesterday on Fox News: Cook’s appearance follows this article at Fox News. What qualifies one as a “presidential historian?” Unfortunately, Cook doesn’t really know what she is talking about here. Cook comes from...
GOP Convention: Night 3
Yesterday was my first day of face-to-face teaching since March. I am not yet in “classroom shape,” so I was exhausted by the end of the day. Mentally, I was still reeling from multiple technology failures (mostly due to my...
David and Tim Barton: The Boston Tea Party was not a “riot.” Don’t you know they called it a “party?”
Thousands of white evangelicals get their history from David Barton (founder) and Tim Barton (president) of an organization called Wallbuilders. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txieT4ufDZI&w=560&h=315] In light of the recent peaceful protests and riots in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the Bartons...
Talking David Barton, Christian nationalism, court evangelicals, usable pasts, and a bunch of other stuff with Warren Throckmorton
Get some context for this conversation here. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmd3ymSGFe0&w=560&h=315]...
Don’t Forget to Cast Your Vote for This Year’s Weemsy Awards
What are the Weemsy Awards? Historian Ed O’Donnell, the creator of the awards, explains: The Weemsy Awards™ spotlight the most egregious lies ad screwups about U.S. History in the past year. These include both incidents emanating from mere ignorance and...
David Barton’s Latest: The Reference to “Free White Persons” in the Naturalization Act of 1790 Was Meant to Curb Slavery
Earlier today on his Wallbuilders Live radio show, Christian Right activist David Barton made the following case about the Naturalization Act of 1790 and its assertion that citizenship in the new United States be afforded to only “free white persons”:...
Pastor Greg Laurie Wrongly Tells Fellow Court Evangelicals that the United States Was “founded in a time of spiritual revival”
Here is what Laurie recently told his congregation (as reported by the Christian Post) about his speech (and prayer) at the August 27 court evangelical celebration at the White House: Laurie reminded those in attendance for the dinner that the...
Why We Must Challenge “Hackish History”
Some of you may recall our very popular podcast interview with Princeton University American historian and twitterstorian Kevin Kruse. You can listen to it here. Kruse has been busy lately. He got a lot of attention when he challenged conservative...
Evangelicals, American History and Support for Donald Trump
The ideas and proposals I put forth in the last section of this piece I just published with History News Network are very important to me. Thanks for considering them and sharing the piece with those who may need...
Yes, I am Biased!
Watch this: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ku-_UFIEU&w=560&h=315] At about the 3:40 mark, one of the hosts on The View asks Tapper if he has a liberal bias. Tapper says: “I am absolutely biased against lies. When there are people lying, I am absolutely...