Be Careful Who You Lionize: Bio of "Historian" David Barton's Hero Devours His "Founders Bible" With Slavery, Incest and Homosexuality

This one ranks along with the Creation Museum's "Adam" being a gay actor with a porn site.

David Barton has been pushing the "American Is A Christian Nation" meme so hard and so long that he's now at his sloppiest in establishing it: he has now created "The Founders' Bible", a copy of the New American Standard Bible (naturally) combined with:

... more than 150 articles (averaging 4 pages each) by our Signature Historian David Barton covering everything from the founding of the first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia, on May 14 of 1607, forward to the present day. It deals with virtually every political hot button including Radical Islam’s current Jihad against America.

And if the articles are at all like Barton's public rants for his organization Wallbuilders (considered a hate group), The Founders Bible is sure to find its way into the homes of every homophobic, anti-feminist, Islamophobic, and Dominionist believer in the country. He will be signing copies of the Bible at Glen Beck's Restoring Love rally in Dallas on July 26th.

Before that event, however, Barton might have to do some serious backpeddling, since this piece just came out:

William Throckmorton:
Founders’ Bible Cites Pro-Slavery Leader as Proponent of America as a Christian Nation
William Throckmorton's piece is worth reading and his subsequent articles will definitely be interesting. What caught my eye (and the eyes of many others) was a comment citing the wikipedia entry for man in question, James Henry Hammond: he was THE most ardent advocate for slavery on RELIGIOUS grounds and constantly opined in Congress and as Governor of South Carolina that even as inferior as they were, black slaves had it better than the poor industrial workers of the North. He was the politician who coined the term "Cotton is King." And if this isn't enough to make people wince about David Barton's hero, like a Popeil product commercial, we can say "Wait! There's more!!":

His Secret and Sacred Diaries reveal that his appetites did not end there. He describes, without embarrassment, his 'familiarities and dalliances' with four teenage nieces - the daughters of Wade Hampton II. Blaming the seductiveness of the “extremely affectionate” young women, his political career was crushed for a decade to come, and the girls with their tarnished social reputations never married.

AND...

As a young man, Hammond had a homosexual relationship with a college friend, Thomas Jefferson Withers, which is attested by two sexually explicit letters sent from Withers to Hammond in 1826. The letters, which are housed among the Hammond Papers at the South Carolina Library, were first published by researcher Martin Duberman in 1981, and are remarkable for being rare documentary evidence of same-sex relationships in the antebellum United States.

In The Founders Bible, Barton gushes with admiration about how Hammond so eloquently supported one of John Adams' pro-Christian statements and practically puts Hammond on a saint's pedestal. But now people like Throckmorton are gushing with disgust about Hammond's pro-slavery pronouncements. And other people (like me) are gushing laughter at the ardent "Christian Nation" politician's incest and homosexual dalliance.

Don't Think - Believe
- inscription at the entrance of the Creation Museum

Vetting is a process examination and evaluation: a process which always seems to elude those like David Barton and his followers. And the inclusion of St. Hammond into The Founders Bible is yet another piece of hilarity in the world of the Right's non-vetting process: we saw it in the VP pick of Sarah Palin, but it was evident back in 2007 when the Creation Museum discovered (6 weeks after its opening) that the beautiful "Adam" for their creation video was a gay actor with a website selling soft-core porn.

Then again, the process of vetting involves some deep thinking, and when searching for just the right quote from a distant, relatively obscure (to the American public), blind belief takes hold and the thought process is cast aside.

David Barton's work has been based upon blind belief - a belief that the United States of America was actually founded as a totally Christian nation. His "proof" has been laughed at by true historians the world over. Would that this latest gaff might get even more people laughing.

Mitt Romney Is A Satanist!!!

From Right Wing Watch:

Johnson made the case that Christians are misinformed about the true nature of Mormonism, thanks to people like David Barton who is "hugging and kissing all over Glenn Beck," and asked whether Christians would be willing to vote for a member of the First Church of Satan if the candidate supported the conservative agenda, warning that the "anybody but Obama" mindset was going to drive the nation and the church "into the arms of perdition" and prevent God from blessing America...

Have Yourself A Merry Little Scandal: Pandering To The Christian Right Is VERY Expensive ($1M) For Rick Santorum's Campaign

Bob Vander Platts doesn't come cheap.  In 2010, Newt Gingrich gave Vander Plaats' campaign to unseat Iowa judges $350,000. The Family Leader's leader also demanded a cushy paid position on Mitt Romney's staff back in 2008 in exchange for an endorsement (he didn't get it, and backed Huckabee instead).


Now word is out that Vander Plaats has received $1 million to endorse Rick Santorum and others, after which he told Michele Bachmann to bow out of the race.

Earlier this week, Santorum admitted that Vander Plaats approached the campaign with an indirect solicitation of money to help promote his support, but now other sources familiar with the talks between Vander Plaats and GOP candidates are characterizing the tactics as “corrupt.”

Of course, "pay for play" is not new in the political Christian-Right arena: it was disclosed last week that Newt Gingrich's campaign had donated $125,000 to American Family Association Action (a PAC), after which he resoundingly received an endorsement from the American Family Association itself. And it was rumored back in 2010, that Mike Huckabee sold an endorsement in the Florida gubernatorial campaign for the princely sum of $250,000. 



POWER CORRUPTS


Ever since the Christian Right re-invented itself as a voting block, its power has been unmistakable: Tony Perkins' Values Voters Summit has now been a lightning rod for Right Wing candidates courting the "social conservative" group (est. up to 25 million - or almost half of Republican votes in a Presidential election). And with pulpits jeopardizing their tax-free status in daring to endorse candidates, their power is flaunted with a righteous arrogance that almost exceeds comprehension. Indeed, it is quite amazing that the same group cries "persecution" whenever a law is passed endangering that power. Their opposition to hate crimes bills, for example only demonstrates just how much they value the control they have over their congregations. Witness the outright lies "historian" David Barton promotes in his polemic about evil "homosexual activists" in the video below.


And Vander Plaats' pronouncements about gays, Muslims and "activist judges" have sparked controversey - the kind that Vander Plaats' shrugs off as "persecution."*


So power in the Christian Right corrupts people into telling lies for the sake of control. But in the case of Vander Plaats, we now see financial gain afoot, with candidates and their campaigns willing to pay the price of endorsements and support. 


With all the "pay to play" shenanigans going on, it begs the question: where are the campaign managers in all of this? Sources referring to the $1 million in contributions to the Family Leader imply that Santorum was one of several candidates who contributed for endorsements. In a forthcoming article, we'll look at the role these pivotal figures have as drivers of the clown car we now call the GOP Presidential campaign. And as it turns out, Mike Biundo, Santorum's campaign manager, may look to be as inept as his candidate: both Vander Plaats and Santorum said that Santorum did not know about the endorsement until well after the announcement by Vander Plaats, even though Biundo was present during the announcement.*


Bachmann's Dickerson


There is no word yet on how John Dickerson, Michele Bachmann's campaign manager reacted to the story that Vander Plaats suggested that she "merge" with another faith-based candidate but it's clear that the "merge" story came after Bachmann shot out that she was asked to "quit" the race by Vander Plaats. Dickerson must have a helluva time reining in his mistress, especially since he has enough on his hands trying to formulate enough effective ads in Iowa to propel Bachmann from fourth place to the position her straw poll win put her in. 


From where we sit, John Allbaugh (Perry), Michael Krull (Gingrich) and the aforementioned Biundo probably have more to say about donations to Vander Plaats.


Whither will they fly?






*Santorum said he heard it from a blind man who, in turn, heard it from someone "in the kitchen" of the convention hall. Real good coordinating, gents.  



* From Think Progress:

The FAMiLY Leader has its own long history of anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric. An early version of the group’s fidelity pledge suggested that children were better off under slaverythan they are under Obama, and the document likens homosexuality to polygamy, adultery, or polyandry, attacks gays as a public health risk, and foments the non-existent “Sharia” threat to America. Vander Plaats himself led a successful campaign to oust three state Supreme Court justicies who overturned Iowa’s anti-gay marriage law and played in instrumental part and leading Mike Huckabee to victory in Iowa in 2008.

The Fine Print: Beck's Demise Is No Demise ... and No Surprise

SHOCK!! Glenn Beck announced that his FOX News show is being canceled! It truly is the END OF THE WORLD!!

With a totally disingenuous statement ("Fox is one of the only places you will find truth"), Glenn Beck said goodbye to his blackboards and his cable TV viewers. But lest we feel sorry for The Beckster, we should look at the bigger picture: rosier than ever for Glenn Beck. 

 From The Hollywood Reporter:

Beck, who Forbes estimated made over $32 million last year (only $2 million of which was for the FNC show), insisted he was not making this change because he can make more money elsewhere. It is not, said Beck, “because it’s good or bad for business but II think you, of all people, will truly get this, our only business is the business of freedom and our country at this time.

Yeah, right. Glenn Beck will still retain his daily radio show, his lecture/performance circuit and, of course, more free time to "write" books. He will also be doing "specials" for FOX. 

Still, there will be a great wailing, ripping of garments, gnashing of teeth as conspiracy theorists (his biggest following) will somehow blame the show's demise on President Obama. Even I am a little sad to see such an incredible source of material (and mockery) go away. No doubt, the makers of Vicks Vapo-Rub will also shed a tear (sorry).  Certainly David Barton - Beck's all-American-Christian pseudo historian - will have to find another cable show to appear on (other than Pat Robertson's The 700 Club, of course). There will be articles about BB and AB - Before Beck and After Beck. 

That this was an expected and calculated media move there is no doubt: ratings (relatively) tanked in the last year to the point that Beck couldn't have expected to be around very long: Uncle Rupert (Murdoch) liked him, but Uncle Rupert never shoved money down a rat hole, either. People speculated that Beck had gotten too full of himself calling together rallies and such, but for my money, I think Beck with welcome the relative quiet this will bring to his career. For all the show of being in touch with today's common man, Glenn Beck was and always will be for Glenn Beck. 

Another indication that he's resigned in his FOX situation: his calm. People have gotten to know his mercurial tantrums, peppered by his overactive tear ducts. His deportment was dignified in his announcement - very unusual for a man who has ordered people off his radio show with bouts of screaming. His macular dystrophy (disorder of the eyesight) might play into his acceptance of cancellation, since no one wants to see a blind pundit on TV. Knowing Beck, he might be able to play loss of eyesight into his persona.

OK, the last is a bit cruel, but Beck has parlayed a lot about himself into media gold, even his Mormonism: it isn't easy to host people like David Barton, who think Mormonism is just a "cult." His new persona (and there will be one) may morph into the kind of character Rush Limbaugh wish he had if he could emit more sincerity and compassion and if both would get him ratings. Limbaugh is wise in that he has always played to his core market, whereas Beck has been taking chances (e.g., his occasional lapse into being gay-friendly) and gone too far out in conspiracy theories. 

Some Republicans may even be heavy a sigh of relief: Beck's forays into various ideologies have been a bit too fringe for them to hang their hat on and what they don't need right now is any more fringe candidates. 

With his benign cancellation and his ability to work medias like radio, stage and print, Glenn Beck will still be around for a long time. 

Unfortunately.

Rotten Rhetoric? What Rotten Rhetoric? David Barton Does Not Want "Seculars" To Survive

In other words, David Barton, the pseudo-historian and USA-must-be-Christian-only freak wants to do away with people who are "secular."


From Right Wing Watch:

Barton cited a time in the past when the Chicago Tribune had published a new version of the New Testament and lamented that something like that could not happen today. The solution, Barton asserted, is for Christians to take control of the culture and media so that "guys that have a secular viewpoint cannot survive" because Christians will "chop that kind of news off":

America As A Hostage To Stupidity

                          

If one thing came out of the Quran-burning threat of "Pastor" Terry Jones, it's that America looked the fool for kowtowing to the machinations of an ignorant snake oil salesman. Some people might say that the media is to blame, but in this case, demonizing the messenger comes a little too late: the warning was announced months ago and very few paid attention. It was General Petraeus' outspoken concern that made the eyes of America focus on Jones. Then Terry Jones made his mark, not caring about American troops in Afghanistan, nor condemnation by his "peers" nor even about any spiritual message he so disingenuously (and quite ineptly) conveyed. By Sept. 7th, it was all done. He was in the history books; and since thousands of people had actually given their support, (in the form of  Qurans to burn) he knew he'd garnered more followers than he'd ever dreamed of. Terry Jones realized power, the kind of power he'd craved all his life. The entire United States of America was BEGGING him not to do something, and he so kindly acquiesced to its entreaties, but only after it acquiesced to his demands. For several days, he had soldiers' lives in his hands. The power boggles the mind.

Perhaps it's the combination of media and "God God God" "Bible Bible Bible" "Send Money" that is irresistible to American Christians. Perhaps it's the "Rev." or "Dr." that Jones put in front of his name (the latter just now being investigated both here and abroad). Maybe it was Jones' charisma (albeit a bit dull to those having an I.Q. above that of a dead flashlight battery) Or maybe, just maybe, it's that Jones had provided a form of entertainment to his little "flock" and to the rest of the nation. After all, America's foremost God-given birthright is ... to be entertained. Jones' escapade gave the public the same kind of thrill as would the latest Armageddon flick. He had all of us looking at our calendars and ticking off the hours.

Yet Terry Jones must have done something right. After all, his mentor, Fred Phelps, has been apoplectic ever since his acolyte received the kind of attention deemed only for his holiness, the God-Hates-Fags Phenomenon. You could say that to cause riots in the streets of foreign countries takes a certain savoir faire. And if Fred Phelps lacks anything, it's savoir faire. By playing for time, Jones had accomplished some bloodshed BEFORE he made his off-again-on-again pronouncements: dozens of people had been hurt in the ensuing riots. Of course, he prayed for them all to be healed, such is the way of the charismatic form of religion.

As anti-heroes go, Jones will fare better than Phelps because, in the end, he seemed to be reasonable and his (steadily increasing) flock will point him out as a stalwart, rather than just a wart on the face of today's Christianity.

But for all of it's looking the fool, we have to fear for an America where the Phelps' and the Jones' have any followers at all: does anyone want to actually MEET any of their followers? Only the bravest journalist would actually venture into their territories, intellectual black holes sucking out their entire I.Q. and journalistic integrity in an instant.*

And beyond the Phelpses and the Joneses, we have Inerrantists (the Bible is totally iwithout error), Fundamentalists (Bible "inspired"or maybe just faxed by God),  Geocentrists (the Church was right and Galileo was wrong), Christian Reconstructionists (government by the the Bible, for the Bible, and with the Bible), Dominionists (Christians Rule), Young Earthers (Creationism-to-the-max), Premillenialists (the Rapture is coming soon), snake handlers, Lou Engle, Sharron Angle, Rod Parsley, Pat Robertson, David Barton, Glenn Beck, Bryan Fischer, and Michele Bachmann, to name but a very few. 

And along with these people we have institutions like the Creation Museum.

From The Creation Museum:

The themes of the exhibits resound in the theater presentations: Men in White, Six Days of Creation, The Last Adam, and Dinosaurs and Dragons. Our Special Effects Theater, complete with rumbling seats and rising mists, takes visitors on a fantastic quest to find the real purpose and meaning of life.

Each seat is a rocket launching pad in our Stargazers Planetarium. Prepare for lift-off. The digital projector showcases a spectacular gravity-defying spaceflight, a thrilling ride billions of light years away to the vast outer regions of our universe.

The contradiction is lost on those who have given up reason for belief: how can an enterprise such as the Creation Museum expect you to believe in a 6000 year-old earth and talk about "billions of light years" using the same science it rebukes?

The willingness of some Americans to accept such folly as the Creation Museum overshadows a deeper strain of stupidity if you will: the Christian Right school board. Texas school boards, in particular, have not only maximized Creationism, but they have insisted on revisionist history books and banned books they consider too radical or "activist" to even Laura Bush's consternation. Political pundits like Glenn Beck and politicians like Sharron Angle have pushed for the elimination of the federal government's Department of Education, ostensibly to save money. The possibility exists, however, that Christian Right pundits, politicians, and clergy might just feel the need to control future generations by keeping them stupid: feed them lots of religion, whitewashed history, and extreme competition, while starving them of sociology, science, the arts, and any ability to be individual or creative. Even if a place like the Creation Museum closes its doors, more dinosaurs might wind up sporting saddles in the future. 

This last "conspiracy," if you will, is not as far fetched as it seems on the surface: inroads into Africa (particularly Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe) have shown us what they can do to a poverty-stricken and backward area of the globe. Sending zealots like Lou Engle to prophesy and announce the coming of anointed ones like Scott Lively to "pagan" countries is working: if they can get heads of state and their legislatures to heed their proselytizing and "advice," the spread of the Christian Right's politicized religion will be much easier than it has been here in the U.S. Yet the audacity of the Christian Right passing off people as "experts (like George Rekers, David Barton and Scott Lively) and by allowing their own fringe to go on uncensored proves that they still believe a viable portion of America is susceptible to anything they proffer as truth and authority. They are still making inroads. And as with Terry Jones' power, it boggles the mind.

                            

* The stalwart rightwing John Stossel interviewed the Phelps clan once, and even he had to conclude that they were stupifyingly dogmatic, and bemoaned the fact that their children were being taught to hate just about everyone outside of the family. 

The Church of St. Beck: Can "Divine Destiny" Help Restore Honor To The Christian Right?

 

Will 

Gay Marriage 

And 

Mormonism 

Sever Ties?

August 28th, the day Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally hits the nation's capitol, may become a notable date in history: it will be the first time that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin will meet to extol the glory that was our country and what we should do to regain its former stature among nations and among ourselves. It will be notable because it surely will not be the only time these two world-renowned people will be together under the shadow of Abraham Lincoln to put forth their philosophies and theologies. History is ready to enshrine their wisdom.

Then again...

Ben Dimiero, Media Matters:

Beck's messianic religiosity took the next logical step this week, when he announced a new event scheduled on the eve of the 8-28 rally. Employing his characteristic humility, the event will be titled "Glenn Beck's Divine Destiny" and will feature "nationally-known figures from all faiths." Beck describes the evening as an "eye-opening" event "that will help heal your soul."

"... from all faiths." Will that panoply of religion include Islam? For Beck's sake, it had better not. It shouldn't include Hinduism. Or Buddhism. Or Mormonism. Or even Judaism (to any extent - tokens may be accepted since he's actually had several rabbis on his radio show). The guest list MUST be packed with such notables as Tony Perkins (FRC), Bryan Fischer (AFA), Lou Engle, Rick Warren, Richard Land (SBC), Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and (if he's feted enough), Pat Robertson. If Glenn Beck wants to solidify his power-base, he needs these men and needs to keep within their boundaries. Through his historian-guru, David Barton, Beck has firmly placed the Christian Nation ideology on the political map. With rallies like this one, however, he must make certain that the meme is stretched to mean "Christian-Only Nation."

There will be points that Beck will need to punctuate or else the Tony Perkinses and Franklin Grahams will walk away and leave a very unpleasant tension in the air:

• First: America is a Christian Nation. Beck's "historian" David Barton must be able to point to every founding father and declare that without a doubt he was a Christian and that this country was founded solely on Christian principles.
• Gay rights are not Civil Rights. The fact that August 28th is the 47th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have A Dream speech will not be lost on the multitude, hopefully sprinkled with African American pastors.
• America must repent. It must feel utter remorse in the fact that it let hedonistic and immoral forces take over the country.
• If America does not stop the machinations of the Obama administration, it will be doomed to become a totalitarian, Socialist - and Godless - state.
• The Freedoms of Religion and Speech are being strongly curtailed and, if we do not act now, Christian churches and congregations will be persecuted.
• Traditional marriage is under attack by a small but powerful minority of homosexual, Socialist activists.
• The current administration seeks to uphold immoral laws allowing abortion.
• Our justice system has been corrupted by the ideologies of lawless Socialists.
• If our country does not turn away from Socialist ideas, Socialist science, and Socialist education, then it is doomed both spiritually and physically.
• Muslims - especially the ones who practice Islam - should be looked upon as potential terrorists.

I don't think the Beckian concept of "social justice" will be featured, since all of Beck's apostles know it by heart.

I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, the idea - hang on, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!

That now-famous statement has been enshrined in the halls of the Christian Right while being scorned from the pulpits of the progressives. With that one statement, Beck defined both sides: Progressive=evil, Conservative = good. 

Beck's definitions are not, however, quite balanced: "conservative" should be replaced by "regressive." And then "Restoring" would make more sense, for according to the Right's philosophy, we must reach back in time to retrieve the principles, to take back the Christian morals that we don't have today. And Beck's definition of "honor" is also amiss: isn't hypocrisy one of the opposites of honor? Isn't hiding behind the Bible, cowering behind the pulpit and evoking the First Amendment to justify hate speech dishonorable? Isn't bloviating about religious freedom while (literally) demonizing other religions dishonorable? What is so honorable about turning one's rights into something to be feared? And what is so unifying about "us" versus "them"? Restore Honor, by its very name says that "we" are better than "them."  

That begs the question: who's honor needs to be restored? 

Cracks In Divine Destiny

Unfortunately for Glenn Beck, his ship of Divine Destiny this Friday has already had some serious bailouts:


Brannon Howse, of World View Matters:

He has swerved into theological and doctrinal realm in the last few weeks. He’s said things on the air that makes my skin crawl. . . a ‘works based’ theology that is based in Mormonism. . . . We are not serving the god of Mormonism that says you can be like God… a religion that said Jesus and Satan were brothers. . . . Leave your pagan—your cult—religion. . . .

It's important to know that Howse was a big supporter of Beck and David Barton's "Christian Nation" meme, but the prospect of Mormonism creeping into Beck's "Daily Prayer" (on radio) and into his new found religionist theories makes many Christians' "skin crawl".

Coupled with Beck's promoting Mormonism is the even worse possibility that he might also promote the tolerance he showed for same-sex marriage on Bill O'Reilly's program:

O'Reilly: ... Is it going to harm the country?

Beck: I believe that Thomas Jefferson said: "If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket what difference is it to me?

Alan Keyes on Restoring Honor:

The MSM will undoubtedly tout attendance at the event as evidence of support for his patently false view that promotion of "gay marriage" poses no threat to our Constitution, sovereignty and liberty; that the majority of Americans are willing to allow the legal abandonment of the natural family and a redefinition of rights that makes them figments of government power rather than authoritative assertions of God's will for justice.

Famous CR homo-Islamo-everyone-who's-not-CR-phobe Bryan Fischer:

Count Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck as the latest deserters in the culture war and in the battle for sexual normalcy. They have flinched at "precisely that little point which the world and the devil are ... attacking," and so have forfeited the right to consider themselves any longer culture warriors.

Glenn Beck's Minister Of Chauvenism

Of course, a laissez-faire attitude towards gay marriage will oppose Beck's most ardent promoter, Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego and one of the men who spearheaded Proposition 8. 

Below is an audio clip from one of Beck's most recent radio shows which can serve as a guide to what thought processes will be used during the two-day fete. It really bears listening to, because Garlow regurgitates all the points above with (unfortunate) sincerity and piety. His sermon is  supposedly based on the book of Hosea (on which he so proudly says that he based his master's thesis).  Garlow then uses the usual supposition that no one actually reads the Bible (let alone an obscure  book like Hosea) and procedes to carve out his own fictitious story that Hosea forgave this wanton wife and she obediently followed him home.  Look it up in the KJV (Hosea), and see if there's any way you can conceivably make out his story from what is written.

The above anecdote serves to tell us the kind of "honorable" men Beck has been surrounding himself with.

Beck's homespun demagoguery is at times reminiscent of Andy Griffith's character in A Face In The Crowd. In the clip below, Griffith gloats to the late Patricia Neal about his political power. The horror on her face looks familiar, because you can see the same horror in the faces of Beck's critics: here is a man who has is enraptured by his own effect on people. With Beck, the medium has become the message.

I ask that you would come and bring your family, bring your children, this is going to be a historic day, it is going to be a day that I think will shock those naysayers, those people on the far left, those people who think we are going to dishonor...it is about Restoring Honor.

So whose honor will Divine Destiny Beck restore? The country's? The Christian Right's? His own?

When musing on Glenn Beck's many scattered (and even contradictory) philosophies, someone used the old saw "a broken clock is right twice a day." That may be true. However, a brocken clock is also wrong 1438 times a day. Whatever happens on Satruday, let's not give Beck too much credit.*

Listen to internet radio with glennbeckprayer on Blog Talk Radio

Here’s the clip, via Media Matters:

*After all, he'll have Palin with him, too.

And This Is Who They Listen To

Scott Lively May Trump Beck As Prince Of Fools

But The Christian Right Still Insists On Quackery

People listen to Glenn Beck. Yes, they do. And because they do, the rest of the country has to suffer the slings and arrows of unreasoned hatred fueled by an insipid lust for power. But who does Glenn Beck listen to? Does he listen to anyone? Do the writings of some pseudo-historian drive Beck's history and blackboard shenanigans?  

They do.

Beck introduced David Barton as the "historian" who is "The Library of Congress In Shoes." Unfortunately, those shoes only hold a "career upon his claim that United States government was founded on Biblical precepts."

wikipedia:

Barton is a collector of early American documents, and his official biography describes him as "an expert in historical and constitutional issues." Barton holds no formal credentials in history or law, and critics dispute the accuracy and integrity of his assertions about history, accusing him of practicing misleading historical revisionism and "pseudoscholarship."

Barton's claim that ours is a Christian Nation is specious at best. His discourses on slavery dodge the bullet when he skirts around the subject by citing his friend, Stephen McDowell, whose close relationship with R.J. Rushdoony (THE Reconstructionist) shines through in his explanation: America's slavery was not BIBLICAL Slavery! In other words, "Southern Slavery Wrong -  Biblical slavery Right!"

Reconstructionism has long been a taboo subject for American Christians because it advocates "reconstructing" government to conform strictly to Biblical law. For years, pastors, churches and denominations were quick to disassociate themselves from the Chalcedon Foundation, founded by Rushdoony. But today, unreason has taken hold and Reconstructionism is hiding in plain sight: in the teachings of people like David Barton.

Barton is a fraud. Beck knows it. Groups like Tony Perkins' Family Research Council know it. But neither of them care, because they need people like Barton. 

FRC and Scott Lively

It took the "kill the gays bill" in  Uganda to bring Scott Lively to the forefront of influential "historians." His book, The Pink Swastika, was debunked by legitimate historians condescending to talk about such idiocies: Hitler was gay, he surrounded himself with gay men because they had no conscience and were the most vicious, therefore Nazism was founded by gays. Lively brought forth his precepts in Kampala, Uganda last year, along with the principle that the criminalization of homosexuality was the best way to eradicate it:

[from a statement made in 2007 in a letter to Russia]

However, homosexuality is destructive to individuals and to society and it should never [be] publicly promoted. The easiest way to discourage gay pride parades and other homosexual advocacy is to make such activity illegal in the interest of public health and morality. 

Wikipedia:

Scott holds a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Trinity Law School, and a Certificate in Human Rights from the International Institute of Human Rights.

Whoa! Such credentials! But with a little investigation comes a great big disappointment. For one, Trinity Law School has had an abysmal rate of its students passing the bar (only 22% pass the first time and some almuni have wound up taking it as many as six times - without success). Nowhere is Lively's bios does it say that he was a ceritifed attorney. For another thing, a Certificate in Human Rights is rather dubious, considering that the IIHR's founder was key in drafting the Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 9:

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.     

The proposed "kill the gays bill" of Uganda is nothing if not arbitrary. And one more thing about Mr. Lively's credentials, his letters are all signed with "J.D., Th.D." but no other documents reference a doctorate in theology or any accredited institution that would have awarded him one - even an honorary one. Additionally, a doctorate in theology is not the same as a Master or Doctor of Divinity which Lively would have to use in labeling himself as "pastor."  

And his other books, Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child: A Parent's Guide to Protecting Children from Homosexuality and the "Gay" Movement (1998) and Why and How to Defeat the "Gay" Movement (2000) cite no professional expertise, Lively being neither a professional child psychologist nor a psychologist specializing in gender "disorders." 

Lively is a silly fraud. But Family Research Council will support Lively, distributing his works as manna from heaven - especially in Uganda.

O.K, so I've mentioned Paul Cameron and Joseph Nicolosi before,  but it's worth repeating that Family Research Council depends heavily on the writings of these two for the "research" in its name. Along with Perkins and Lively, I've called them the Four Horsemen of the Homosexual Agenda.

Let's face it: it's so easy  Jon Daily to poke fun at the idiocies of someone like Lively, but the likes of the Christian Right - aka Tony Perkins, James Dobson and Rick Warren - HAVE to listen and repeat. 

The only other choice they have is to listen to their consciences.

No, that would never do.

 

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