David Barton Approves of Sharia Law in America and Misleads Jon Stewart? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
 
Last week, David Barton appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to defend his views on American history.  Much of Barton's dialogue was hard to follow, and he strangely seemed to suggest that he was not really pushing for the idea of America as a "Christian nation," something radically different from the impression he gives in the Christian community.  His comments concerning Hasidic Jews and Muslims showed that he was interested in universal ideas of religion.Perhaps most shocking is that at one point in the interview, Barton actually defended the practice of Sharia Law in America, giving the impression that its practice would be a Constitutional right, if a majority of Muslims voted for it in a particular community.STEWART: "Do you feel like the majority in a locality should be able to determine?"BARTON: "Sure, sure …" (Barton speaks about Hasidic Jews)STEWART: "So you would allow – let's say, Dearborn, Michigan is a majorityMuslim."BARTON: "And it is …"STEWART: "You'd be alright with Sharia Law and the whole business?"BARTON: "Sure, sure …"

Stewart seemed surprised at how incredibly liberal Barton's response was, but not nearly as surprised as those the Texas historian has been preaching to for the last 20 years.  For those who are not familiar with the brutal and bloodthirsty tenets of Islam's Sharia Law, here is a link called "Sharia for Dummies" to provide a brief look at what it involves:http://frontpagemag.com/2010/08/27/sharia-for-dummies/print/Barton also denied that he quotes history out of context, when Stewart confronted him about a quote from John Adams concerning "the Holy Ghost," as is shown in the film, "The Hidden Faith of the Founding Fathers," by Adullam Films (available at www.noiseofthunder.com)In this quote, Barton makes it appear as if John Adams was speaking favorably about the Holy Ghost in a letter he wrote to Benjamin Rush.  In reality, Adams was mocking the idea of "Holy Ghost authority" and called Christians "dupes" for believing in it.  When questioned by Jon Stewart, Barton's defense was that he had shown the whole letter to his audience – when in reality, the writing of the letter was so small, there is simply no way anyone could have been able to read it.   The dialogue went something like this:STEWART: "But you use this quote to say that he is believing in the Holy (Ghost) …"BARTON: "No, on John Adams, I put the whole letter up there.  See, they've taken those parts out.  I put the letter up there."STEWART: "So you are the one using things in context."BARTON: "Well, I'm trying to – that's why I put the whole letter up there."Here is the video clip of Barton speaking about the letter to John Stewart:When Barton denied that he used the Adams' quote to make it appear that John Adams believed in the Holy Ghost, he was not being forthright with Jon Stewart.  Next is a clip from the film, "The Hidden Faith of the Founding Fathers," that shows David Barton presenting the Adams' quote on the Glenn Beck program, and then again in a church presentation.  Let the viewer be the judge of whether or not Barton has presented his information honestly, or if he is intentionally manipulating the truth.

In his church presentation, Barton begins by saying, "I don't know if you've ever seen one of John Adams' letters.  I brought one just in case you might want to see one."  Then he walks toward the congregation, gently holding up the letter, in what can only be called a clever bit of theatrics.  He says, "He wrote this to Benjamin Rush … signed on the back by John Adams here …" pointing to the reverse of the letter.  

Barton continues, "But I want you to see the kind of stuff that John Adams would write in his letters …" Then he has the letter presented on a slide screen so everyone can see it; but of course, the writing itself is so small that no one could possibly read it.  Then a red arrow points to a particular paragraph.  Barton says, "I'm gonna read from the bottom paragraph … you see where the arrow is pointing?  It says, the Holy Ghost.  Look what John Adams declares in this letter." 

Then Barton presents the following quote:

"The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in His truth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a Sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost … There is no authority civil or religious: There can be no legitimate government but what is administered by the Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All without it is rebellion and perdition, or in more orthodox words damnation."

Then with a wry tone, Barton says: "I don't think I saw that on the HBO special." His implication is that the producers of the film, "John Adams" somehow covered up Adams' Christian faith.  His rhetoric feeds into the "us against them" mentality that many Christians have toward left wing media, and fuels Barton's repeated assertion that the "revisionists" have covered up the "faith" of the Revolutionary Founders.  But what was their faith?  In truth, the letter Barton is presenting provides some of the most damning evidence found anywhere, and is consistent with many of the writings of the Revolutionaries, proving their contempt for Bible based Christianity.

In this letter, John Adams was not speaking in approval of the Holy Ghost, but was rather mocking the idea of it and of the faith of true Christians.  As we showed before, Adams did not believe the Holy Ghost was real, and he spoke about it in what can only be called insulting and irreverent terms.  David Barton continues to be received in churches across the country.  But as believers in Jesus Christ, we ought to consider how the Lord said: "Take heed that no man deceive you." (Matthew 24:4)