Recently, David Barton sat down for a discussion hosted by Mike Jacobs, co-founder of Generals International along with his wife, "respected prophet" Cindy Jacobs, as well as Mark Herr and Mishelle Perkins of the Center for Self Governance.
During the course of the program, Barton went on at great length about the need for conservative Christians to run for political office because "everything we call the 'culture war' comes from policies the government has passed because we've lost control of our country."
Barton lectured all those who complain about the direction the nation is going but then find all sorts of excuses for why they personally cannot run for office, saying it is exactly the people who don't want to run for office who need to run because they make the best leaders.
Citing the Parable of the Thornbush from Judges 9, Barton asserted that America has bad rulers in office today "because all of the good people say 'I don't want to do any of that, I don't want to get involved, boy, that's corrupt'; well, it's corrupt because all of the good people got out of it":
Allow us to point out that just a few months ago, Barton rejected a high-profile effort to get him to run for office in a race that he publicly stated he could have won because he had better, more important things to do:
The solution to our current American crisis will come from the basic actions of our citizens studying the Constitution, voting and campaigning for good candidates, and helping reduce the size of government by personally helping those around us who are in need.
My family and I have carefully prayed about and seriously weighed the encouragement from so many people we respect who have asked me to run for the Senate. But right now, I believe my role is to continue educating, equipping, and inspiring citizens through the work we do at WallBuilders.
It is a little odd to watch Barton lecture others about the need to follow the Bible and put aside their own interests in order to run for office when he personally refused to do so by literally engaging in the very sort of excuse-making that he now rails against as unbiblical.