It is no secret that we have not been overly impressed with David Barton's various titles or his accuracy or his "expertise" over the years, which is why we were rather confused when the Texas State Board of Education named him to serve on its panel of "experts" to redesign the state's social studies curriculum.
Want to know why? Well, today Barton provides a perfect example in an email he sent out defending his role in the process in which he makes this patently false claim:
Groups such as the Texas Freedom Network (the state arm of the radical People for the American Way) joined with other radicals in the Religious Left to denounce my mentions of Christianity. They nationally distributed a press release of outrageously false claims that were soon parroted by ABC, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, etc.
I have no idea where Barton got the idea that TFN is in any way affiliated with PFAW, much less a "state arm" of this organization.
TFN is a great organization that does great work, especially covering the very issue Barton is writing about. And while we do share their mission to advance "a mainstream agenda of religious freedom and individual liberties to counter the religious right," the two organizations are in no way affiliated.
If Barton has some actual evidence that PFAW and TFN are affiliated, I'd love to see it because I 've been working here for ten years and I know nothing about it.
Good work on your choice of "experts" there, Texas Board of Education.
