The Irony of David Barton [Dispatches from the Culture Wars]

Published: August 11, 2007, 10:21 am

I was having a conversation with my father the other day and this thought suddenly occurred to me. David Barton loves to point to the Massachusetts Bay Colony for evidence that America is a "Christian Nation." That position is absurd enough when you consider that this was a colony under the rule of the British crown, rule that we overthrew in the revolution. But there is an added bit of irony here because Barton is a Baptist. Baptists, you see, were persecuted in Massachusetts under Puritan rule - sometimes banished from the colony (as Roger Williams was), sometimes they were imprisoned, sometimes they were subject to public whippings (Obadiah Holmes suffered both imprisonment and lashing at the hands of the magistrates there) and sometimes they were even put to death, hung or buried alive in the Boston Commons. Were we to return to the Massachusetts model, Mr. Barton would quickly find himself in prison - if he was lucky. Read the comments on this post...

[ Full article ]

Blog link

Rating: 0

Comments