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{{Short description|American political activist and author (born 1954)}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| name = David Barton | name = David Barton
| image = David Barton in 2016 -- photo by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}}
| image_size =
| nationality = American
| caption = Barton in 2016
| occupation = writer, activist
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|01|28}}
| birth_place = ], U.S.
| occupation = Author, political activist
| alma_mater = ] (BA)
| footnotes =
}} }}


'''David Barton''' (born January 28, 1954) is an American ] author and ] for ] causes.<ref>{{Cite news|author = Shimron, Yonat|title=A campaign to blitz the country with 'In God We Trust' laws takes root|date=July 3, 2018|url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/campaign-blitz-country-god-we-trust-laws-takes-root|access-date=February 16, 2023|periodical=]|language=en}}</ref><ref>Peterson, Kurt W. (October 31, 2006). "American Idol". ''Christian Century''. '''123''' (22): 20–23</ref> He is the founder of WallBuilders, LLC, a ]-based organization that promotes ] about the ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/08/157754542/the-most-influential-evangelist-youve-never-heard-of|title=The Most Influential Evangelist You've Never Heard of|newspaper=NPR.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rightwingwatch.org/report/david-barton-propaganda-masquerading-as-history/|title = David Barton: Propaganda Masquerading as History}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://religiondispatches.org/huckabee-channels-rushdoony/|title = Huckabee Channels Rushdoony|date = April 8, 2011}}</ref>
'''David Barton''' (born 1954) is an ] ] ] minister,<ref name=Blakeslee/> ] ] and author. He founded WallBuilders, a ]-based organization with a goal of exposing the claimed US constitutional ] as a myth.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kwsqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BtMEAAAAIBAJ&dq=wallbuilders%20barton&pg=5837%2C1813659 |title=First Amendment specialist views church/state separation as "myth" |publisher=Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal |author=Billy Bruce |date=1992-02-18 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcriptNOW217_full.html |title=NOW: God's Country |publisher=PBS |date=2006-04-28 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> Barton is the former co-chair of the ].


Barton's work is devoted to advancing the discredited idea that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation and rejecting the notion that the ] calls for ].<ref name="Blakeslee" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kwsqAAAAIBAJ&dq=wallbuilders%20barton&pg=5837%2C1813659 |title=First Amendment specialist views church/state separation as "myth" |publisher=Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal |author=Billy Bruce |date=February 18, 1992 |access-date=September 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcriptNOW217_full.html |title=NOW: God's Country |publisher=PBS |date=April 28, 2006 |access-date=September 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=May 14, 2006|author=Michelle Goldberg|author-link=Michelle Goldberg|title=What Is Christian Nationalism?|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-is-christian-nationa_b_20989|access-date=February 16, 2023|website=HuffPost|language=en}}</ref> Scholars of history and law have described his research as highly flawed, "pseudoscholarship" and spreading "outright falsehoods".<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="Specter" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
Barton collects early American documents, and his official biography describes him as "an expert in historical and constitutional issues".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/ABTbioDB.asp |title=David Barton Bio |publisher=Wallbuilders |date=2001-09-11 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> Barton holds no formal credentials in history or law, and critics (for example those discussed ]) dispute the accuracy and integrity of his assertions about history, accusing him of practicing misleading ], "]" and "outright falsehoods".<ref name=Specter>{{Cite journal| last = Specter | first = Arlen | authorlink = Arlen Specter | coauthors = | title = Defending the wall: Maintaining church/state separation in America | journal = Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy | volume = 18 | issue = 2 | pages = 575–590 | publisher = | location = | date = Spring 1995 | url = http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/1027400469.html | accessdate = }}</ref><ref>, ]</ref><ref>, Rob Boston, ]</ref><ref>{{cite web
| last = Harvey
| first = Paul
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Selling the Idea of a Christian Nation: David Barton’s Alternate Intellectual Universe
| work = ]
| publisher =
| date = 10 May 2011
| url = http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/4589/selling_the_idea_of_a_christian_nation%3A_david_barton%27s_alternate_intellectual_universe
| doi =
| accessdate = }}</ref> His research has been described as flawed by many historians, who dismiss his work as that of "a biased amateur who cherry-picks quotes from history and the Bible."<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/us/politics/05barton.html |title=Using History to Mold Ideas on the Right| first=Erik |last=Eckholm
|date=May 4, 2011|work=New York Times}}</ref>


Barton is a former vice chair of the ] and served as director of Keep the Promise PAC, a political action committee that supported the unsuccessful ].<ref name="Bloomberg.com/politics">{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-09-09/pac-built-by-ted-cruz-mega-donors-gets-evangelical-leader|title=PAC Built by Ted Cruz Mega-Donors Gets Evangelical Leader|date=September 9, 2015|work=Bloomberg.com/politics|access-date=September 12, 2015}}</ref>
A 2005 ] article entitled "The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals" called Barton "a major voice in the debate over church-state separation" who, despite the fact that "many historians dismiss his thinking... a hero to millions&mdash;including some powerful politicians."<ref name="time"/> He has been described as a ] and "one of the foremost Christian ]"; much of his work is devoted to advancing the idea, based upon research that many historians describe as flawed,<ref name="NYT"/> that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation.<ref>, ], ], May 14, 2006</ref> Barton has appeared on television and radio programs, including those of former Republican presidential candidate ] and ], who has praised Barton as "the Library of Congress in shoes".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/07/07/glenn-beck-university/ |title=Perusing the Glenn Beck University Curriculum Guide |author=Kayla Webley |publisher=Time Magazine |date=2010-07-07 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref>
{{toc limit|3}}


==Early life, education, and family==
==Biography==
Barton graduated in 1972 from ] in ]; a suburb of ].<ref name=Blakeslee>{{Cite journal| issn = 01487736| volume = 34| issue = 9| page = 1| last = Blakeslee| first = Nate| title = King Of the Christocrats| journal = Texas Monthly| accessdate = 2008-11-10| date = 2006-09 |url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2006-09-01/feature5.php}}</ref> He received a ] ] in ] from ] in 1976.<ref>, ]</ref><ref name="alumniweb">, David Barton</ref> Barton is a lifelong resident of ], a suburb of the ]. He graduated from ] in 1972.<ref name="Blakeslee">{{Cite journal|issn = 0148-7736|volume = 34|issue = 9|page = 1|last = Blakeslee|first = Nate|title = King Of the Christocrats|journal = Texas Monthly|access-date = November 10, 2008|date = September 2006|url = http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/king-of-the-christocrats/}}</ref> He received a ] ] in ] from ] in 1976.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/september/8.76.html|title=Healing Oral Roberts University|first=John W. Kennedy in|last=Tulsa|website=ChristianityToday.com|date=September 3, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JQrHCQAAQBAJ&q=barton+1976+oral+roberts+%22religious+education%22&pg=PT235|title=Building God's Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian Reconstruction|first=Julie J.|last=Ingersoll|author-link=Julie Ingersoll|date=July 1, 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-939028-1|via=Google Books}}</ref>


Barton is married and has three grown children, including a daughter who performs minority outreach for the ].
After graduating, Barton served as a church youth director.<ref>, David Barton, ]</ref> He taught math and science and eventually became principal at Aledo Christian School, a Christian school of fewer than 100 students which grew out of Aledo Christian Center, a nondenominational ] church started by Barton's parents.<ref name=Blakeslee/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/texas/aledo/aledo-christian-school/ |title=Aledo Christian School |publisher=Education.com |date=2011-06-22 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://aledocc.org/hillhistory.pdf |title=Aledo Christian School history |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref>


== Career ==
In 1987 Barton formed Specialty Research Associates, which "focuses on the historical research of issues relating to America's constitutional, moral, and religious heritage." Specialty Research Associates has submitted ] briefs in court cases.<ref name="alumniweb"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nlf.net/Activities/briefs/warren_commissioner.nlf.PDF |title=Brief Amicus Curiae of Specialty Research Associates, Inc. |format=PDF |date=2002-05-03 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://supreme.justia.com/us/496/226/case.html |title=Westside Community Bd. of Ed. v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226 (1990) |publisher=Justia.com |date= |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref>
After graduating from college, Barton served as a youth pastor at churches in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was employed as a teacher of math and science and eventually became principal at Aledo Christian School, a ministry of the ] church started by Barton's parents.<ref name="Blakeslee" />


In 1987, Barton formed Specialty Research Associates, Inc.,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/conservative-author-david-barton-says-obama-is-most-biblically-hostile-us-president.html |title=Conservative Author David Barton Says Obama Is Most Biblically Hostile US President |date=March 11, 2012 |website=] |first=Paul |last=Stanley |access-date=June 9, 2020 }}</ref> a company which said it focused on historical research "relating to America's constitutional, moral, and religious heritage".<ref name="splc">{{cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-barton |title=David Barton |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=June 9, 2020 }}</ref> Specialty Research Associates submitted ] briefs in court cases.<ref>, David Barton, ]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nlf.net/Activities/briefs/warren_commissioner.nlf.PDF |title=Brief Amicus Curiae of Specialty Research Associates, Inc. |date=May 3, 2002 |access-date=September 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://supreme.justia.com/us/496/226/case.html |title=Westside Community Bd. of Ed. v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226 (1990) |publisher=Justia.com |access-date=September 28, 2011}}</ref> In 1988, the company became WallBuilders.<ref name="splc" />
Barton is the founder and president of the Aledo-based group WallBuilders, an organization which says it presents "America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious, and constitutional foundation on which America was built."<ref name="Wallbuilders Overview">{{cite web|url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/ABTOverview.asp |title=Wallbuilders Overview |publisher=Wallbuilders |date=2001-09-11 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> WallBuilders publishes and sells most of Barton's books and videos, some of which present Barton's position that the modern view of separation of church and state is not consistent with the views of the ]. Among other beliefs about the religion clauses of the First Amendment, they argue that its religion clauses were not intended to include such faiths as paganism and witchcraft, but only monotheistic religions, and perhaps solely Christianity.<ref></ref>


Barton is the founder and president of WallBuilders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/news/marshall-prayer-force-banquet-to-honor-first-responders-prayer-warriors/article_1bed7172-3e3e-11ea-b059-77a309d42e56.html|title=Marshall Prayer Force banquet to honor first responders, prayer warriors|first=Bridget|last=Ortigo|website=Marshall News Messenger|date=January 24, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://world.wng.org/2012/08/the_david_barton_controversy|title=The David Barton controversy|first=Thomas|last=Kidd|website=]|access-date=March 9, 2020|archive-date=June 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619161059/https://world.wng.org/2012/08/the_david_barton_controversy|url-status=dead}}</ref> WallBuilders publishes and sells most of Barton's books and videos, some of which present Barton's position that the modern view of separation of church and state is not consistent with the views of the ].<ref>{{cite web|last=Barton|first=David|title=The Separation of Church and State|url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=123|publisher=Wall Builders|access-date=August 20, 2012}}</ref> Barton has argued that the religion clauses of the First Amendment were intended only for ], and perhaps solely Christianity.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2010/02/religious_rights_for_christian.html | newspaper=] | title=The Faith Divide: Christian Right's attack on rights | first=Barbara | last= McGraw | url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524074025/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2010/02/religious_rights_for_christian.html|archive-date=May 24, 2011}}</ref> A 2005 ] article entitled "The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals" called Barton "a major voice in the debate over church–state separation" who, despite the fact that "many historians dismiss his thinking&nbsp;... a hero to millions&mdash;including some powerful politicians."<ref name="time">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1993235_1993243_1993261,00.html|title=David Barton - The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America |date=February 7, 2005|magazine=]|access-date=September 12, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822130328/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1993235_1993243_1993261,00.html|archive-date=August 22, 2013}}</ref> Barton has appeared on television and radio programs, including those of Republican presidential candidate ] and ]. Beck has praised Barton as "the Library of Congress in shoes".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2010/07/07/glenn-beck-university/|title=Perusing the Glenn Beck University Curriculum Guide|date=July 7, 2010|magazine=Time |author=Kayla Webley|access-date=September 28, 2011}}</ref> In September 2013, he returned to the political arena and advised state legislators on how to fight the ] academic standards promoted by the ].<ref name="Sept 8, 2013" />
Barton is married and has three grown children, including a daughter who does minority outreach for the ].<ref name=Blakeslee/>


Barton was the vice chairman of the ] from 1997 to 2006<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |last1=Jedeed |first1=Laura |last2=Bittle |first2=Jake |last3=Bittle |first3=Jake |last4=Ford |first4=Matt |last5=Ford |first5=Matt |last6=Covert |first6=Bryce |last7=Covert |first7=Bryce |last8=Duss |first8=Matthew |last9=Wertheim |first9=Stephen |date=January 3, 2023 |title=My Week Inside a Right-Wing "Constitutional Defense" Training Camp |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/169563/patriot-academy-right-wing-constitutional-defense-training-camp |access-date=January 5, 2023 |issn=0028-6583}}</ref> under state chairman Susan Weddington. He has also acted as a ] to the ] on outreach to ].<ref name="time" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.texasgop.org/site/PageServer?pagename=library_history |title=History of the Republican Party of Texas |access-date=March 30, 2007 |archive-date=April 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424053454/http://www.texasgop.org/site/PageServer?pagename=library_history |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=March 2020}}<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009091628/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/050117/17evangelicals.htm |date=October 9, 2012 }}, Dan Gilgoff, ], 1/9/05</ref> There was a ] to get him to run against Senator ] in the ] from ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/texas-tea-party-david-barton-ted-cruz-99278.html|title=Texas tea party seeks Cruz 2.0|work=]|date=November 3, 2013 |access-date=September 12, 2015}}</ref> However, Barton announced on November 6, 2013, that he would not run for the seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/david-barton-john-cornyn-99459.html?hp=r1|title=David Barton won't run against John Cornyn|last=Kopan|first=Tal|work=Politico|date=November 6, 2013 |access-date=November 6, 2013}}</ref> Barton headed the Keep the Promise PAC, a political action committee supporting ] during his ].<ref name="Bloomberg.com/politics" /> Cruz failed to receive the Republican nomination.<ref name="tribune">{{Cite web|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2016/05/17/cruz-super-pac-story/|title=The Super PAC Experiment That Bankrolled Ted Cruz|first=Patrick|last=Svitek|date=May 17, 2016|website=The Texas Tribune}}</ref> Barton has also advised ].<ref name=":0" />
==Affiliations==
Barton is a former Vice Chairman of the ] and has acted as a ] to the ] on outreach to ].<ref name="time">, ] {{Dead link|date=September 2011}}</ref><ref> {{Dead link|date=September 2011}}</ref><ref>, Dan Gilgoff, ], 1/9/05</ref>


Barton's first non-self-published work was a 2003 article in the '']'', (Volume XVII Issue No. 2, 2003, p.&nbsp;399), a survey of Jefferson's writings about the First Amendment.<ref name="Blakeslee" />
He serves on the Board of Advisors of the ], publisher of a controversial Bible curriculum for use in public schools (not to be confused with '']'' curriculum).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bibleinschools.net/About-Us/Board-of-Directors-and-Advisors |title=NCBCPS Board of Directors and Advisors |publisher=National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schoolz |date= |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> This curriculum contains direct quotations from Barton's books, recommends the resources published by WallBuilders, and advocates showing that group's video, ''Foundations of American Government'', at the beginning of the course.<ref>, Mark A. Chancey, Assistant Professor, Department of ], ], October 2005</ref>


Barton is the initial funder of ], a right-wing organization that says it gives participants "the physical training you need to be able to defend your family" and "intellectual ammunition to defend the Constitution."<ref name=":0" />
One of the WallBuilders speakers is ], a former Republican member of the ] and a failed candidate for the ] in an April, 2010 ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texas_lawyer_blog/2011/04/former-texas-supreme-court-candidate-rick-green-files-libel-suit.html |title=Former Texas Supreme Court candidate Rick Green files libel suit |publisher=Texas Lawyer Blog |date=2011-04-20 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref>


==Affiliations==
Barton serves on the Board of Advisors of the Providence Foundation.<ref name="providencefoundation.com">{{dead link|date=September 2011}}</ref> According to its website, the Providence Foundation is a nonprofit Christian educational organization whose mission is to spread liberty, justice, and prosperity among nations by instructing individuals in a Biblical worldview. Emphasis is said to be upon educating in principles, rather than issues, drawing upon examples in history for illustration.<ref name="providencefoundation.com"/> In an article discussing Barton, '']'' described the Providence Foundation as "a ] group that promotes the idea that biblical law should be instituted in America."<ref>, ], ], April 11, 2005</ref>
Barton has served on the board of advisors of the Providence Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.beliefnet.com/news/politics/2004/10/david-barton-the-myth-of-church-state-separation.aspx |title=David Barton & the 'Myth' of Church-State Separation |website=Beliefnet |date=October 2004 |access-date=June 8, 2020 }}</ref> In an article discussing Barton, '']'' described the Providence Foundation as "a Christian Reconstructionist group that promotes the idea that biblical law should be instituted in America."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050425/blumenthal/2 |title=In Contempt of Courts |first=Max |last=Blumenthal |author-link=Max Blumenthal |magazine=] |date=April 11, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520184036/http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050425/blumenthal/2 |archive-date=May 20, 2006 }}</ref>


In Barton’s book ''The Myth of Separation'', the author states his belief that Christians were the ones who were intended to hold public office{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} and that Jews and members of other sects were not. According to Skipp Porteous of the Massachusetts-based Institute for First Amendment Studies, Barton was listed in promotional literature as a "new and special speaker" at a 1991 summer retreat in Colorado sponsored by Scriptures for America, a ] ] ministry headed by ], which has been linked to neo-Nazi groups.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Rob|last=Boston|title=Sects, Lies and Videotape: David Barton's Distorted History|url=http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/1993/sects-lies-and-videotape.pdf |work=Church & State |volume=46|number=4|date=April 1993|page=8–-12 |accessdate=2011-10-12}}</ref> However, Barton said he was unaware of the group's anti-Semitic and racist views at the time.<ref name="splcdave"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=144 |title=Article from Wallbuilders.com, retrieved 6, July, 2010 |publisher=Wallbuilders.com |date=2001-09-11 |accessdate=2010-07-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/downloads/newsletter/IsPresidentObamaCorrectIsAmericaNoLongeraChristianNation.pdf |title=Is President Obama Correct: Is America No Longer a Christian Nation? |author=David Barton |format=PDF |date=2009-04 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> In September, 2011, Barton sued two former Texas State Board of Education candidates for posting a video on YouTube that stated that he was "known for speaking at white supremacist rallies".<ref>{{cite web|author=Christin Coyne |url=http://weatherforddemocrat.com/local/x1078459320/WallBuilders-files-libel-suit-against-three |title=WallBuilders files libel suit against three |publisher=Weatherford Democrat |date=2011-09-14 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> According to Skipp Porteous of the Massachusetts-based Institute for First Amendment Studies, Barton was listed in promotional literature as a "new and special speaker" at a 1991 summer retreat in Colorado sponsored by Scriptures for America, a ] ] ministry headed by ], which has been linked to neo-Nazi groups.<ref name=CST>{{cite news|last=Luckett|first=Bill|title=Speaker Accused of Racist Ties: Christian Coalition denies Barton's links to white supremacists|url=http://www.tfn.org/site/DocServer/Barton_CST_6.20.97.pdf?docID=2864|access-date=May 3, 2012|newspaper=Casper Star-Tribune|date=June 20, 1997|archive-date=July 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718191520/http://www.tfn.org/site/DocServer/Barton_CST_6.20.97.pdf?docID=2864|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tfn.org/images/content/pagebuilder/Barton_Lawsuit_CST_2.22.97.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=June 2, 2012 |archive-date=July 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718184745/http://www.tfn.org/images/content/pagebuilder/Barton_Lawsuit_CST_2.22.97.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref> Barton's assistant Kit Marshall said in 1993 that Barton was previously unaware of the anti-Semitic and racist views of these groups.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.publiceye.org/ifas/fw/9606/barton.html |title=David Barton&nbsp;– Master of myth and misinformation |last=Boston |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Boston |journal=Public Eye |date=June 1996 |publisher=Institute for First Amendment Studies |access-date=August 17, 2012}}</ref> In September 2011, Barton sued two former Texas State Board of Education candidates for posting a video on ] that stated that he was "known for speaking at white supremacist rallies".<ref>{{cite web|author=Christin Coyne |url=http://weatherforddemocrat.com/local/x1078459320/WallBuilders-files-libel-suit-against-three |title=WallBuilders files libel suit against three |publisher=Weatherford Democrat |date=September 14, 2011 |access-date=September 28, 2011}}</ref>


Barton has been a guest on the television programs '']''<ref>{{cite web
Barton is a lecturer for Glenn Beck's online ].<ref name="beck">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/glenn-beck-university-opens/19543970/|title=Beck University|accessdate=July 8, 2010}}</ref>
|url=http://www.cbn.com/media/player/search.aspx?search=%22David+Barton%22
|title=David Barton on the 700 Club
|publisher=Christian Broadcasting Network
|access-date=November 23, 2012
}}</ref> and '']''.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-may-1-2012/david-barton
|title = David Barton
|access-date = September 1, 2012
|date = May 1, 2012
|work = ]
}}</ref> In 2013, Barton appeared on ] ''Believer's Voice of Victory'' program where he suggested that ] caused ] because God no longer protected the environment as punishment for legalized abortion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/11/04/potential_senate_candidate_david_barton_explains_how_abortion_caused_climate_change/|title=Potential Senate candidate David Barton explains how abortion caused climate change|author=Lindsay Abrams|work=salon.com|date=November 4, 2013|access-date=September 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/barton-explains-global-warming|title=Barton explains global warming|author=Steve Benen |author-link=Steve Benen|work=MSNBC|date=November 4, 2013 |access-date=September 12, 2015}}</ref>


He has been influential in the faith and intellectual life of ] ].<ref>Mike Hexinbaugh. (October 26, 2023). "Meet the evangelical activist who's had a 'profound influence' on Speaker Mike Johnson". Retrieved October 26, 2023.</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />
==Media==
Barton received two Angel Awards (awarded to "people in any form of the media who have successfully contributed to the advancement of quality in life without the unnecessary need for violence, profanity and sexual content to sell to their audience"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelawards.com/history.html |title=Angel Awards History |publisher=Excellence in Media |date= |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref>) from the group Excellence in Media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelawards.com/2007_video.html |title=Angel Awards 2007 Winners |publisher=Excellence in Media |date= |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> He has appeared in '']'', and has been a guest on ], '']'', ], ], ''],'' and ].


==Reception of Barton's work== ==Reception==
Barton has been praised by ], including ], ], ],<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last=Eckholm|first=Erik|title=Using History to Mold Ideas on the Right|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/us/politics/05barton.html|access-date=May 5, 2010|newspaper=]|date=May 4, 2011}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.baylor.edu/pr/bitn/news.php?action=story&story=34559 |title=A man with a message; Self-taught historian's work on church-state issues rouses GOP |first=Chris |last=Vaughn |publisher=Baylor University |date=May 22, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920013836/http://www.baylor.edu/pr/bitn/news.php?action=story&story=34559 |archive-date=September 20, 2006 |access-date=April 13, 2013}} Originally published in the '']'', .</ref> and ] president ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.tbn.org/blog/faith-freedom-and-our-christian-heritage |title=Faith, Freedom, and Our Christian Heritage |date=June 14, 2019 |first1=Matt |last1=Crouch |first2=Laurie |last2=Crouch |website=tbn.org |publisher=Trinity Broadcasting Network|access-date=June 8, 2020 }}</ref> By contrast, ] wrote, "This guy is David Barton, a Republican Party activist and a fast-talking, self-promoting, self-taught, self-proclaimed historian who is miseducating millions of Americans about U.S. history and the Constitution."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://files.pfaw.org/pfaw_files/rwwif-david-barton-final-4-18-11.pdf|title=Hack 'Historian' Hits the Big Time in Tea Party America|website=files.pfaw.org}}</ref>
===Support===
{{Integrate-section}}
Barton has been praised by ] such as ], ], and ].<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last=Eckholm|first=Erik|title=Using History to Mold Ideas on the Right|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/us/politics/05barton.html|accessdate=May 5, 2010|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 4, 2011}}</ref> Huckabee's praise was effusive when he followed David Barton as a speaker at the Rediscover God in America Conference in Iowa March 26, 2011:<ref> March 26, 2011, accessed May 5, 2011</ref>
{{quotation|I wish that every single young person in America would be able to be under his tutelage and understand something about who we really are as a nation. I almost wish that there would be a simultaneous telecast and all Americans would be forced, at gunpoint no less, to listen to every David Barton message. And I think our country would be better for it. I wish it would happen.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fea|first=John|title=Should Christians Trust David Barton?|url=http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Should-Christians-Trust-David-Barton-John-Fea-05-11-2011.html|work=Confessing History|publisher=Patheos|accessdate=20 May 2011}}</ref>{{Dead link|date=October 2011}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Bob|title=Huckabee defends praise for controversial historian|url=http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12410&Itemid=53|work=The Baptist Standard|accessdate=20 May 2011}}</ref> }}


His work has been criticized by J. Brent Walker of the ],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bjconline.org/a-critique-of-david-bartons-views-on-church-and-state/|title=A Critique of David Barton's Views on Church and State|website=BJC}}</ref> ] of ],<ref name = "TextbookHP">{{Cite web|author = Ryan Grim|date=August 26, 2010|title=David Barton, Texas Textbook Massacre Architect, Backs Daniel Webster, Grayson's Opponent|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-textbook-massacre-a_n_695788|access-date=February 16, 2023|website=HuffPost|language=en}}</ref> ] history professor Stephen Phillips,<ref name=Pierard> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317021107/http://www.bostontheological.org/publications/pdf/2004-2005/jan252005.pdf |date=March 17, 2009 }}, January 25, 2005</ref> Senator ],<ref name=Specter/> the ],<ref name=ADL>{{cite book|last=Cantor|first=David|title=Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance and Pluralism in America|url=https://archive.org/details/religiousrightas00cantrich|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith|isbn=978-99946-746-9-5}}</ref> Senior Research Director for the ] ],<ref>Warren Throckmorton, an evangelical professor of psychology at Grove City College, a conservative Christian school in Pennsylvania. "If that's what people are passing off as Christian scholarship, there are claims in there that are easily proved false."
Senator ] praised Barton’s work for providing "the philosophical underpinning for a lot of the Republican effort in the country today—bringing God back into the public square."<ref>, Chris Vaughn, ], May 22, 2005</ref>
{{cite news|url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/do-well-by-doing-good_b_858148.html|access-date= May 20, 2011|title= Do Well By Doing Good|first= Chris|last= Rodda|work=Huffington Post|date=May 5, 2011}}</ref> ] history professor John Fea,<ref>{{cite book | last = Fea | first = John | title = Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Introduction | publisher = Westminster John Knox Press | location = Louisville | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-664-23504-8|page=xxvi }}</ref> ] historian Barry Hankins,<ref>{{cite book | last = Hankins | first = Barry | title = Uneasy in Babylon | url = https://archive.org/details/uneasybabylonsou00hank | url-access = limited | publisher = University of Alabama Press | location = University | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0-8173-1142-1 |page=}}</ref> and ] professors ] and Michael Coulter.<ref name=":3">{{cite book | last1=Throckmorton | first1=Warren | last2=Coulter | first2=Michael | title = Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President | publisher = Amazon Digital Services, 2012}}</ref>


===Criticism=== ===Accuracy===
Barton's official biography describes him as "an expert in historical and constitutional issues".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/ABTbioDB.asp |title=David Barton Bio |publisher=Wallbuilders |date=September 11, 2001 |access-date=September 28, 2011}}</ref> Barton holds no formal credentials in history or law, and scholars dispute the accuracy and integrity of his assertions about history, accusing him of practicing misleading ], "pseudoscholarship" and spreading "outright falsehoods".<ref name="Specter">{{Cite journal|last=Specter|first=Arlen|author-link=Arlen Specter|title=Defending the wall: Maintaining church/state separation in America|journal=Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy|volume=18|issue=2|pages=575–590|date=Spring 1995|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9510305125/defending-wall-maintaining-church-state-separation-america|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234314/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9510305125/defending-wall-maintaining-church-state-separation-america|url-status=unfit|archive-date=December 30, 2013|access-date=April 9, 2013}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|author=]|year=2007|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Dissecting+the+religious+right%27s+favorite+Bible+Curriculum.%28Church+&...-a0170729742|title=Dissecting the religious right's favorite Bible Curriculum|work=Americans United for Separation of Church and State|publisher=American Humanist Association|access-date=April 9, 2013}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web| last = Harvey|first = Paul|title = Selling the Idea of a Christian Nation: David Barton's Alternate Intellectual Universe|work = ]|date = May 10, 2011|url = http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/4589/selling_the_idea_of_a_christian_nation%3A_david_barton%27s_alternate_intellectual_universe|access-date=April 9, 2013}}</ref> According to the ''New York Times'', "Many professional historians dismiss Mr. Barton, whose academic degree is in Christian Education from Oral Roberts University, as a biased amateur who cherry-picks quotes from history and the Bible."<ref name="NYT" />
He has received criticism from secular groups and professional historians:


Jay W. Richards, senior fellow at the Christian conservative ], said in 2012 that Barton's books and videos are full of "embarrassing factual errors, suspiciously selective quotes, and highly misleading claims."<ref name=Kidd2012>{{cite journal |url=http://www.worldmag.com/2012/08/the_david_barton_controversy |title=The David Barton controversy |last=Kidd |first=Thomas |journal=World |date=August 7, 2012 |publisher=God's World Publications, World News Group |access-date=April 9, 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905061332/http://www.worldmag.com/2012/08/the_david_barton_controversy|archivedate=September 5, 2012}}</ref> The ] describes Barton's work as "anti-gay" "historical revisionism", noting that Barton has no formal training in history.<ref name="splc" /> A number of credentialed historians have called Barton's work "]."<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2023 |title='He Seems to Be Saying His Commitment Is to Minority Rule' |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/27/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-ideas-qa-00123882 |access-date=November 2, 2023 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Stephens|first1=Randall J.|author-link1=Randall J. Stephens|last2=Giberson|first2=Karl|author-link2=Karl Giberson|title=The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age|date=2011|publisher=]|page=|isbn=978-0-674-04818-8|url=https://archive.org/details/anointedevangeli0000step|url-access=registration|access-date=October 8, 2016}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Wehner |first=Peter |date=October 31, 2023 |title=The Polite Zealotry of Mike Johnson |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/polite-zealotry-mike-johnson/675845/ |access-date=November 2, 2023 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
Rob Boston of '']'' wrote
{{quotation|The ]'s leading practitioner of this type of ] is David Barton ... Barton makes a lucrative living traveling the right wing's lecture circuit where he offers up a cut-and-paste version of U.S. history liberally sprinkled with gross distortions and, in some cases, outright factual errors. Crowds of ] from coast to coast can't get enough of it.<ref name = "TextbookHP"> by Ryan Grimm, '']'', August 26, 2010</ref>}}


===="Unconfirmed Quotations"====
{{quotation|Many historians dismiss his thinking, but Barton's advocacy organization, WallBuilders, and his relentless stream of publications, court amicus briefs and books like ''The Myth of Separation'', have made him a hero to millions—including some powerful politicians.<ref name="time"/>|25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America|]}}
In 1995, in response to criticism by historian Robert Alley, Barton conceded, in an online article titled "Unconfirmed Quotations",<ref name="Blakeslee" /> that he had not located ] for 11 alleged quotes from ], ], ], and ] decisions (hence, the title of the article), but maintained that the quotes were "completely consistent" with the views of the Founders. (By 2007, the article listed 14 unconfirmed quotations.)<ref name="uq">{{cite web| title = Unconfirmed Quotations | last = Barton | first = David |url = http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=126 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928060639/http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=126|archive-date=September 28, 2007| work = WallBuilders website}}</ref> In 1996, Rob Boston of ] accused Barton of "shoddy workmanship" and said that, despite these and other corrections, Barton's work "remains rife with distortions of history and court rulings".<ref name=shoddy>{{Cite journal| journal = Church & State | volume = 49 | number = 7 |date=July–August 1996 | publisher = Americans United for Separation of Church and State | pages = 11–13 | title = Consumer Alert: Wallbuilders Shoddy Workmanship |url=http://candst.tripod.com/boston2.htm | access-date = April 9, 2013 |first=Rob|last=Boston |author-link=Rob Boston}}</ref> WallBuilders responded to its critics by saying that Barton followed "common practice in the academic community" in citing secondary sources, and that in publishing "Unconfirmed Quotations", Barton's intent was to raise the academic bar in historical debates pertinent to public policy.<ref name="uq" />


In 2006, Barton told the '']'', with regard to Jefferson's famous ], that he had never misquoted the letter in any of his publications. The magazine noted that this denial was contradicted by a 1990 version of Barton's video ''America's Godly Heritage'', in which Barton said:<ref name=Blakeslee/>
Richard V. Pierard, Stephen Phillips Professor of History at ], describes Barton's work as follows:
{{blockquote|On January 1, 1802, Jefferson wrote to that group of Danbury Baptists, and in this letter, he assured them—he said the First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state, he said, but that wall is a one-directional wall. It keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.}}
{{quotation|Moreover, American history is rewritten to become
“Christian history,” the story of a people chosen by God and who honored him in the past.
David Barton and a host of other evangelicals have produced books and videos setting forth a
“holy history” of America—an idyllic past to which we must return if the nation is to be saved
from destruction at the hands of secularists.<ref name=Pierard>, Richard V. Pierard, January 25, 2005</ref>}}


====''The Jefferson Lies''====
Writing in the ''Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy'', (then Republican) Senator Arlen Specter stated:
In 2012, Barton's ]<ref>{{cite web|author=]|date=August 10, 2012|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/08/genuine-christian-scholars-smack-down-an-unruly-colleague/260994/|title=Genuine Christian Scholars Smack Down an Unruly Colleague: The phony evangelical 'historian' David Barton meets his match at last|work=]}}</ref> ''The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson'' (published April 10, 2012)<ref>{{cite book|title=Amazon.com: The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson (9781595554598): David Barton, Glenn Beck: Books|isbn=978-1-59555-459-8|last=Barton|first=David|year=2012|publisher=Thomas Nelson }}</ref> was voted "the least credible history book in print" by the users of the ] website.<ref name="Schuessler">{{cite news|last=Schuessler|first=Jennifer|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/and-the-worst-book-of-history-is/|title=And the Worst Book of History Is&nbsp;...|work=The New York Times|date=July 16, 2012|access-date=July 19, 2012}}</ref> A group of ten conservative Christian professors reviewed the work and reported negatively on its claims, saying that Barton misstated facts about Jefferson.<ref name="Kidd2012" /><ref>{{cite web|author=Hagerty, Barbara Bradley|date=August 8, 2012|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/08/157754542/the-most-influential-evangelist-youve-never-heard-of|title=The Most Influential Evangelist You've Never Heard Of|work=NPR}}</ref>
{{quotation|Probably the best refutation of Barton's argument simply is to quote his
own exegesis of the First Amendment: "Today," Barton says, "we would
best understand the actual context of the First Amendment by saying,
'Congress shall make no law establishing one Christian denomination as
the national denomination.' " In keeping with Barton's restated
First Amendment, Congress could presumably make a law establishing all
Christian denominations as the national religion, and each state could
pass a law establishing a particular Christian church as its official
religion.<ref name=Specter/>|]|Defending the wall: Maintaining church/state separation in America}}


In August 2012, Christian publisher ] withdrew the book from publication and stopped production, announcing that they had "lost confidence in the book's details" and "learned that there were some historical details included in the book that were not adequately supported."<ref name="jlies_withdrawn">{{cite web|author=Kidd, Thomas|date=August 9, 2012|url=http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/19840|title=Lost confidence|work=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811212308/http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/19840|archive-date=August 11, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Bob Smietana |newspaper=The Tennessean|title=Thomas Nelson drops 'Jefferson Lies' book over historical errors|date=August 10, 2012|url=http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120810/NEWS06/308100082/Thomas-Nelson-drops-Jefferson-Lies-book-over-historical-errors}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref> A senior executive said that Thomas Nelson could not stand by the book because "basic truths just were not there."<ref name="Sept 8, 2013">{{cite web|author=Stephanie Simon|title=Evangelical historian remains key ally of right|work=Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/david-barton-historian-right-christian-096443|date=September 8, 2013|access-date=September 19, 2021}}</ref> ], who wrote the foreword, announced that his ] imprint would issue a new edition of the book<ref>{{cite news|first=Carolyn|last=Kellogg|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-xpm-2012-aug-21-la-jc-glenn-beck-bring-back-recalled-thomas-jefferson-history-20120821-story.html|title=Glenn Beck to bring back recalled Thomas Jefferson history|work=]|date=August 21, 2012|access-date=August 4, 2013}}</ref> once the 17,000 remaining copies that Barton bought of the Thomas Nelson edition had been sold.<ref>{{cite web|last=Garrett|first=Lynn|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/religion/article/53619-jefferson-lies-author-negotiating-new-edition-for-glenn-beck-s-mercury-ink.html|title=Jefferson Lies Author Negotiating New Edition with Glenn Beck's Mercury Ink|publisher=Publishers Weekly|date=August 17, 2012|access-date=August 4, 2013}}</ref>
], Senior Research Director for the ], published ''Liars for Jesus'' in 2006. It was largely devoted to debunking Barton's misrepresentations.<ref>
{{cite web
|url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/do-well-by-doing-good_b_858148.html
|accessdate= 2011-05-20
|title= Do Well By Doing Good
|first= Chris
|last= Rodda
}}</ref>


A revised edition of ''The Jefferson Lies'' was published by ] in January 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/01/13/ted-cruz-evangelical-darling-or-pagan-brutalist-why-he-exposes-a-christian-divide/|title=Ted Cruz: Evangelical darling or 'pagan brutalist'? Why he exposes a Christian divide.|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 17, 2016}}</ref>
Writing in ''Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?'', historian John Fea suggests that Barton's 'legal' mode of inquiry is at odds with historical scholarship. Fea states that this mode of inquiry is focused upon obtaining a predetermined desired result (as a lawyer does, advocating for a client), cherry-picks material to obtain this result, and fails to reconstruct the complexity of the past, but rather "lets the Founders speak for themselves" devoid of this context, which may violate "every rule of historical enquiry".<ref>{{cite book | last = Fea | first = John | title = Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? | publisher = Westminster John Knox Press | location = Louisville | year = 2011 | isbn = 0664235042|page=xxvi }}</ref> ] historian Barry Hankins makes similar observations.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hankins | first = Barry | title = Uneasy in Babylon | publisher = University of Alabama Press | location = University | year = 2002 | isbn = 0817311424 |page=128}}</ref>

===First Muslim Congressman statement===
In 2007, Barton published an article suggesting that founding-era Senator ] of Virginia was actually the first ] member of Congress in reaction to the recent election of ] (D-MN), a practicing Muslim.<ref>{{cite web|author=David Barton |url=http://www.davidbarton.net/2010/02/05/the-role-of-pastors-and-christians-part-six-by-david-barton/ |title=The Role of Pastors and Christians Part Six |publisher=David Barton |date=2010-02-05 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Washington |first=The |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jan/31/20070131-120644-4238r/?page=all |title=Inside the Beltway: Faux First |publisher=Washington Times |date=2007-01-31 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> Barton's statement garnered widespread coverage in the evangelical Christian media at the time, but appears to have been based on a misinterpretation of a passage in which Randolph reported a youthful flirtation with agnosticism and professed sympathy for the Muslim Arabs during the crusades. Randolph was a practicing ] for most of his life, and biographer ] considered Randolph's self-described "absurd prejudice in favor of Mohammedanism" a vagary that soon passed.<ref>: a biography based largely on new material, Volume 2</ref>

==="Unconfirmed Quotations"===
In an article titled "Unconfirmed Quotations", Barton conceded that he has not located ] for eleven alleged quotes from ], ], ], and ] decisions (hence, the title of the article), but maintained that the quotes were "completely consistent" with the views of the Founders.<ref name="uq">{{cite web| title = Unconfirmed Quotations | last = Barton | first = David | url = http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=126 | work = WallBuilders website}}</ref> This drew criticism from Rob Boston of ], who accused Barton of "shoddy workmanship", and said that despite these and other corrections, Barton's work "remains rife with distortions of history and court rulings".<ref name=shoddy>{{Cite journal| journal = Church & State | volume = 49 | number = 7 | month = July/August | year = 1996 | publisher = Americans United for Separation of Church and State | pages = 11–13 | url = http://www.members.tripod.com/candst/boston2.htm | title = Wallbuilders Shoddy Workmanship | accessdate = 2007-07-06|first=Rob|last=Boston}} <!-- please verify that this is the original title from the journal --></ref> WallBuilders responded to its critics by saying that Barton followed "common practice in the academic community" in citing secondary sources, and that in publishing "Unconfirmed Quotations", Barton's intent was to raise the academic bar in historical debates pertinent to public policy.<ref name="uq" />

The '']'' noted<ref name=Blakeslee/> that Barton has denied saying that in his famous ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html |title=Letter to the Danbury Baptists |author=Thomas Jefferson |date=1802-01-01 |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> "Jefferson referred to the wall of separation between church and state as 'one-directional'—that is, it was meant to restrain government from infringing on the church's domain but not the other way around. There is no such language in the letter." The article goes on to note that this denial is contradicted by a 1990 version of Barton's video ''America's Godly Heritage'' in which Barton states:
{{cquote|On January 1, 1802, Jefferson wrote to that group of Danbury Baptists, and in this letter, he assured them—he said the First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state, he said, but that wall is a one-directional wall. It keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.}}

Barton was also criticized for speaking at two functions organized by the ministry of ] adherent and Holocaust denier ]. He later stated that he "didn't know they (the groups he spoke at) were part of the Nazi movement".<ref name="splcdave"></ref>

Barton's legitimacy was reported to be growing in 2006, due largely to his first work which was not self-published, a 2003 article in the ''Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy'', (Volume XVII Issue No. 2, 2003, p.&nbsp;399), a "rather tame survey" on Jefferson’s writings about the First Amendment.<ref name=Blakeslee/>


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}} {{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{cc}}
*
* on the WallBuilders site
*{{Worldcat id|lccn-n2003-73781|David Barton}}
*
*
*{{cite web *{{cite web
| last = Ingersoll | last = Ingersoll
| first = Julie | first = Julie
| title = Pseudo-Historian David Barton in the ''Times'' and on ''The Daily Show''
| authorlink =
| work = ]
| coauthors =
| date = May 5, 2011
| title = Pseudo-Historian David Barton in the Times and on The Daily Show
| url = http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/julieingersoll/4579/pseudo-historian_david_barton_in_the_times_and_on_the_daily_show_/
| work = ]
}}
| publisher =
| date = 5 May 2011
| url = http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/julieingersoll/4579/pseudo-historian_david_barton_in_the_times_and_on_the_daily_show_/
| doi =
| accessdate = }}
*{{cite web *{{cite web
| last = Brooks | last = Brooks
| first = Joanna | first = Joanna
| title = Why Won't David Barton Submit to Peer Review?
| authorlink =
| work = ]
| coauthors =
| date = May 6, 2011
| title = Why Won’t David Barton Submit to Peer Review?
| url = http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/joannabrooks/4582/why_won%27t_david_barton_submit_to_peer_review/
| work = ]
}}
| publisher =
*{{C-SPAN|37154}}
| date = 6 May 2011
| url = http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/joannabrooks/4582/why_won%27t_david_barton_submit_to_peer_review/
| doi =
| accessdate = }}

{{Glenn Beck|state=collapsed}} {{Glenn Beck|state=collapsed}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->

| NAME =Barton, David
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1954
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, David}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, David}}
] ]
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Latest revision as of 04:34, 17 November 2024

American political activist and author (born 1954)

David Barton
Barton in 2016
Born (1954-01-28) January 28, 1954 (age 70)
Aledo, Texas, U.S.
Alma materOral Roberts University (BA)
Occupation(s)Author, political activist

David Barton (born January 28, 1954) is an American evangelical author and political activist for Christian nationalist causes. He is the founder of WallBuilders, LLC, a Texas-based organization that promotes pseudohistory about the religious basis of the United States.

Barton's work is devoted to advancing the discredited idea that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation and rejecting the notion that the United States Constitution calls for separation of church and state. Scholars of history and law have described his research as highly flawed, "pseudoscholarship" and spreading "outright falsehoods".

Barton is a former vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas and served as director of Keep the Promise PAC, a political action committee that supported the unsuccessful Ted Cruz 2016 presidential campaign.

Early life, education, and family

Barton is a lifelong resident of Aledo, Texas, a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He graduated from Aledo High School in 1972. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious education from Oral Roberts University in 1976.

Barton is married and has three grown children, including a daughter who performs minority outreach for the Republican Party of Texas.

Career

After graduating from college, Barton served as a youth pastor at churches in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was employed as a teacher of math and science and eventually became principal at Aledo Christian School, a ministry of the charismatic church started by Barton's parents.

In 1987, Barton formed Specialty Research Associates, Inc., a company which said it focused on historical research "relating to America's constitutional, moral, and religious heritage". Specialty Research Associates submitted amicus curiae briefs in court cases. In 1988, the company became WallBuilders.

Barton is the founder and president of WallBuilders. WallBuilders publishes and sells most of Barton's books and videos, some of which present Barton's position that the modern view of separation of church and state is not consistent with the views of the Founding Fathers. Barton has argued that the religion clauses of the First Amendment were intended only for monotheistic religions, and perhaps solely Christianity. A 2005 Time magazine article entitled "The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals" called Barton "a major voice in the debate over church–state separation" who, despite the fact that "many historians dismiss his thinking ... a hero to millions—including some powerful politicians." Barton has appeared on television and radio programs, including those of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Glenn Beck. Beck has praised Barton as "the Library of Congress in shoes". In September 2013, he returned to the political arena and advised state legislators on how to fight the Common Core academic standards promoted by the Obama administration.

Barton was the vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1997 to 2006 under state chairman Susan Weddington. He has also acted as a political consultant to the Republican National Committee on outreach to evangelicals. There was a Tea Party movement to get him to run against Senator John Cornyn in the 2014 Senate election from Texas. However, Barton announced on November 6, 2013, that he would not run for the seat. Barton headed the Keep the Promise PAC, a political action committee supporting Ted Cruz during his campaign for election as U.S. President in 2016. Cruz failed to receive the Republican nomination. Barton has also advised Newt Gingrich.

Barton's first non-self-published work was a 2003 article in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, (Volume XVII Issue No. 2, 2003, p. 399), a survey of Jefferson's writings about the First Amendment.

Barton is the initial funder of Patriot Academy, a right-wing organization that says it gives participants "the physical training you need to be able to defend your family" and "intellectual ammunition to defend the Constitution."

Affiliations

Barton has served on the board of advisors of the Providence Foundation. In an article discussing Barton, The Nation described the Providence Foundation as "a Christian Reconstructionist group that promotes the idea that biblical law should be instituted in America."

According to Skipp Porteous of the Massachusetts-based Institute for First Amendment Studies, Barton was listed in promotional literature as a "new and special speaker" at a 1991 summer retreat in Colorado sponsored by Scriptures for America, a far-right Christian Identity ministry headed by Pastor Pete Peters, which has been linked to neo-Nazi groups. Barton's assistant Kit Marshall said in 1993 that Barton was previously unaware of the anti-Semitic and racist views of these groups. In September 2011, Barton sued two former Texas State Board of Education candidates for posting a video on YouTube that stated that he was "known for speaking at white supremacist rallies".

Barton has been a guest on the television programs The 700 Club and The Daily Show. In 2013, Barton appeared on Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory program where he suggested that abortion caused climate change because God no longer protected the environment as punishment for legalized abortion.

He has been influential in the faith and intellectual life of Speaker Mike Johnson.

Reception

Barton has been praised by American conservatives, including Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Sam Brownback, and Trinity Broadcasting Network president Matt Crouch. By contrast, People for the American Way wrote, "This guy is David Barton, a Republican Party activist and a fast-talking, self-promoting, self-taught, self-proclaimed historian who is miseducating millions of Americans about U.S. history and the Constitution."

His work has been criticized by J. Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Gordon College history professor Stephen Phillips, Senator Arlen Specter, the Anti-Defamation League, Senior Research Director for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation Chris Rodda, Messiah College history professor John Fea, Baylor University historian Barry Hankins, and Grove City College professors Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter.

Accuracy

Barton's official biography describes him as "an expert in historical and constitutional issues". Barton holds no formal credentials in history or law, and scholars dispute the accuracy and integrity of his assertions about history, accusing him of practicing misleading historical revisionism, "pseudoscholarship" and spreading "outright falsehoods". According to the New York Times, "Many professional historians dismiss Mr. Barton, whose academic degree is in Christian Education from Oral Roberts University, as a biased amateur who cherry-picks quotes from history and the Bible."

Jay W. Richards, senior fellow at the Christian conservative Discovery Institute, said in 2012 that Barton's books and videos are full of "embarrassing factual errors, suspiciously selective quotes, and highly misleading claims." The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Barton's work as "anti-gay" "historical revisionism", noting that Barton has no formal training in history. A number of credentialed historians have called Barton's work "pseudohistory."

"Unconfirmed Quotations"

In 1995, in response to criticism by historian Robert Alley, Barton conceded, in an online article titled "Unconfirmed Quotations", that he had not located primary sources for 11 alleged quotes from James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions (hence, the title of the article), but maintained that the quotes were "completely consistent" with the views of the Founders. (By 2007, the article listed 14 unconfirmed quotations.) In 1996, Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State accused Barton of "shoddy workmanship" and said that, despite these and other corrections, Barton's work "remains rife with distortions of history and court rulings". WallBuilders responded to its critics by saying that Barton followed "common practice in the academic community" in citing secondary sources, and that in publishing "Unconfirmed Quotations", Barton's intent was to raise the academic bar in historical debates pertinent to public policy.

In 2006, Barton told the Texas Monthly, with regard to Jefferson's famous letter to the Danbury Baptists, that he had never misquoted the letter in any of his publications. The magazine noted that this denial was contradicted by a 1990 version of Barton's video America's Godly Heritage, in which Barton said:

On January 1, 1802, Jefferson wrote to that group of Danbury Baptists, and in this letter, he assured them—he said the First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state, he said, but that wall is a one-directional wall. It keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.

The Jefferson Lies

In 2012, Barton's New York Times bestseller The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson (published April 10, 2012) was voted "the least credible history book in print" by the users of the History News Network website. A group of ten conservative Christian professors reviewed the work and reported negatively on its claims, saying that Barton misstated facts about Jefferson.

In August 2012, Christian publisher Thomas Nelson withdrew the book from publication and stopped production, announcing that they had "lost confidence in the book's details" and "learned that there were some historical details included in the book that were not adequately supported." A senior executive said that Thomas Nelson could not stand by the book because "basic truths just were not there." Glenn Beck, who wrote the foreword, announced that his Mercury Ink imprint would issue a new edition of the book once the 17,000 remaining copies that Barton bought of the Thomas Nelson edition had been sold.

A revised edition of The Jefferson Lies was published by WND Books in January 2016.

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