The Texas Tribune reports:
For nearly four decades, Texas activist David Barton has barnstormed statehouses and pulpits across the nation, arguing that the separation between church and state is a myth and that America should be run as a Christian nation. Now, he’s closer to power than perhaps ever before. One day after little-known Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was elected as the new House speaker last week, Barton said on a podcast that he was already discussing staffing with Johnson, his longtime ally in deeply conservative, Christian causes.
Barton has been arguably the most influential figure in a growing movement to undermine the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Barton, a self-styled “amateur historian,” has for years been debunked and ridiculed by actual historians and scholars, who note that he has no formal training and that his work is filled with selective quotes and inaccuracies — critiques that Barton has claimed are mere attacks on his faith.
Read the full article. There so much more. No paywall. As Right Wing Watch has exhaustively documented for years, Barton tours the country, telling avid Christian audiences that virtually every line of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence was taken verbatim from the bible. Barton is such a notorious liar that even his own Christian publishing house retracted his book. And now he’s advising the Speaker of the House.
Texas activist David Barton wants to end separation of church and state. He has the ear of the new U.S. House speaker. https://t.co/069T5laR2o
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) November 3, 2023
David Barton: Americans Have The Right To Own Tanks – https://t.co/pOks4LgYWn pic.twitter.com/zse43Ljcrj
— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) July 3, 2019
Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton claims that Patrick Henry and George Washington quoted numerous Bible verses in their speeches and writings. We decided to take a look at Barton’s “evidence” and—surprise, surprise—he was lying. https://t.co/6U0sfA5eHd pic.twitter.com/fetyq3BxqF
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) September 29, 2022
We hate to sound like a broken record, but if Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton is going to keep making false claims, we’re going to keep pointing it out: No, James Kent did not create the federal circuit court system based on the Bible. https://t.co/xG7v7bD7zj pic.twitter.com/SzmWlynPiQ
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) February 14, 2023
Pseudo-historian David Barton is constantly finding new “proof” the US was founded as a Christian nation. Lately, he’s been claiming that 1st & 2nd grade public schools students in 1816 were required to memorize large portions of the Bible. They weren’t. https://t.co/4fWoDnQL0m pic.twitter.com/iam7YY4h7x
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) September 21, 2022