“Eric!” Punches and Runs at Republican National Convention

Someone named Eric who dressed and looks like Eric Metaxas punched an anti-Trump bike rider last night after Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention and ran away from the guy he hit before police came.* You could say the speech inspired Metaxas to action. Watch:

 

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dc night 2 PLEASE SHARE!!! @ericmetaxas i got punched by a member of the RNC and get detained by SECRET SERVICE for absolutely nothing

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The punch is at the beginning and a woman shouts, “Eric!” Then you see a man who looks like Metaxas running backward out of sight. You hear another shout of Eric while this is happening.

After the protestor was assaulted, he ran after the backpedaling Eric and was intercepted by the Secret Service. The Secret Service detained the bike rider. Here is that video (since removed by the user):

I watched some of the protestor’s Instagram videos describing what happened after being detained. He said that the person who took the video of the assault came up to the Secret Service and told them he had video that showed what happened. The Secret Service watched it and on that basis, let the bike rider go. Apparently, they were satisfied that the man in the white pants did the hitting.

Twitter is all about it today. Seems like a good time to replay this assessment of Metaxas by Greg Thornbury.

Metaxas has been one of the biggest puzzles of the Trump era. A biographer of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he has consistently defended Trump and even said Christians must vote for him. He wrote two children’s books which appear to denigrate immigrants and has called nationalist Katie Hopkins his “hero.

UPDATE:

*Although Metaxas hasn’t spoken about the incident yet (8/29), his friends are defending the actions as if he did it. In a “he had it coming” defense, Rod Dreher rationalizes the move by accepting the account of an anonymous “witness” who said the biker was threatening. We have the video and it just doesn’t look that way. His wife’s “Eric!?” doesn’t sound that way either.

Look I know we can’t get into someone’s head in a situation, but I would like to hear from Metaxas on this. Thus far, he is just blocking everybody on Twitter who is asking him about it. If he felt threatened, what was his plan after he suckerpunched the guy? Was he hoping his punch would knock him out? I hear what his friends are saying and I understand how sometimes people act out of character. However, I also see Metaxas’ defense and adulation of people who make their names on violent rhetoric (Trump, Milo, Katie Hopkins and Ann Coulter come to mind). I also see his cartoonish defense of Trump’s violent and odious policies at the border. His public persona is not inconsistent with what we saw on camera.

Blog Theme: Getting History Right – Interview with John Fea

This is the sixth interview in my series reflecting on 15 years of blogging. Messiah University history professor John Fea joined me to discuss getting history right, court evangelicals, and much more. John is a prolific writer and you can read his publishing credits in the bio below. He also hosts a podcast called The Way of Improvement Leads Home and writes frequently at his blog by the same name.

John has been an active public historian during his tenure at Messiah. He has confronted the historian misadventures of David Barton and Eric Metaxas. I became acquainted with John in 2011 when I first started to fact check David Barton’s historical claims. Not long after that, he endorsed Getting Jefferson Right, my book with Michael Coulter that addressed many claims in David Barton’s The Jefferson Lies. Along with my history professor colleagues at Grove City College, John is one of several historians who have helped me along the way.

I believe historians doing history properly can provide our nation an extraordinary service. We need to know our rights and the heritage of free speech and protest. What does the Consitution say and what took place when the framers debated that document? Without full context, people are vulnerable to ideologues who selectively use historical events and quotes to create what John calls a “usable past,” a past which supports their current political aims.

As an evangelical, John has special focus on evangelicals in public life. He coined the term “court evangelical” to refer to evangelical leaders who fawn over Donald Trump and never hold him accountable. John provides a valuable overview of this concept in the interview. I hope you benefit from it.

John Fea is Distinguished Professor of American History at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he has taught since 2002.

He is the author or editor of six books, including Was America Founded as a Christian Nation: A Historical IntroductionWhy Study History: Reflecting on the Importance of the Past; and Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.

John’s essays and reviews on the history of American culture have appeared in The Journal of American History, The Atlantic, Inside Higher Ed, The William and Mary QuarterlyThe Journal of the Early RepublicSojourners, Christianity Today, Christian Century, The Washington Post,  USA Today,  He blogs daily at The Way of Improvement Leads Home, a blog devoted to American history, religion, politics, and academic life.

John has lectured widely and speaks regularly to churches, school and teacher groups, civic groups, and historical societies. He appeared on NBC News, CNN, C-SPAN,  MSNBC, National Public Radio, and dozens of radio programs across the country.

To watch all interviews reflecting on 15 years of blogging, click here.

Blog Theme: Trumpism – Interview with Greg Thornbury

A feature of the evangelical world since Trump was nominated and elected has been the inability of many of Trump’s evangelical supporters to see Trump’s flaws. John Fea (who will be one of my guests in a future interview) coined the term “court evangelical” to describe these evangelical leaders. Robert Jeffress, Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell are often named among these court evangelicals. Another evangelical figure which has puzzled many observers due to the strength of his dedication to Trump is Eric Metaxas.

I have written several articles about Metaxas’ historical claims, notably his book If You Can Keep It.  His errors are similar to David Barton’s which is understandable once you learn that Metaxas thinks Barton is a credible historian. Perhaps the most popular blog posts about Metaxas’ approach to history are the ones where I attempt to track down the source of this quote:

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.

Metaxas once attributed the quote to Dietrich Bonhoeffer but it doesn’t appear in any of his works or speeches. Instead of acknowledging this and making a public correction, Metaxas has just stopped attributing the quote to Bonhoeffer. Consequently, hundreds, if not thousands of people continue to cite Metaxas as the source of a bogus Bonhoeffer quote.

In our interview, Thornbury analyzes Metaxas, but that is not the most riveting part to me. When Greg describes his journey from evangelical college president to where he is now, I believe many evangelicals will relate. There has been pressure to adopt Trumpism as an evangelical and those who don’t go along lose social capital in that world. Students of American religious and political history will be interested in hearing about Greg’s experience. Greg was in the inner circle and describes what it was like to see conservative Christians first tolerate then venerate an unworthy President.

Trumpism is the newest theme in my 15 years of blogging but in a way it is an extension of many themes I am familiar with. The narcissism of celebrity pastors, the false history of Christian nationalism, the anti-science dogmatism of many evangelical leaders, and the single-mindedness and bias of culture warring all come together in Trumpism.

So as a new friend in this struggle, I thank Greg for his time and talents.

Gregory Alan Thornbury, Ph.D., has been a college philosophy and theology professor, dean, and president of The King’s College in New York City. In addition to several books on theology and culture, he is the author of Why Should The Devil Have All the Good Music: Larry Norman and the Perils of Christian Rock (Random House, 2018) – a critically acclaimed biography that has been reviewed by The New York TimesThe New Yorker, National Public Radio, and was awarded as the most influential book in arts and culture by Christianity Today for 2019. A popular writer and speaker on philosophy, religion, and the arts, he currently serves as Senior Vice President at the New York Academy of Art in Tribeca, founded by Andy Warhol. He is also a consultant for Good Country Pictures, who is currently working on film adaptations of the short stories and novels of Willa Cather, Walker Percy, and Flannery O’Connor for film and television.

You can see all posts about these interviews by clicking this link.

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What Happened to Eric Metaxas? We May Finally Find Out!

Tomorrow, I will post an interview with former King’s College president Gregory Thornbury. Thornbury who is friends with Eric Metaxas offers a theory about why Metaxas has turned into a Trumpist. Watch:

Come back tomorrow to wthrockmorton.com for the rest of the interview with Greg. We take on Trumpism, Christian celebrity, and court evangelicals. It is a revealing and fascinating interview.

UPDATE: To see the interview, click the link.

You can see all posts about these interviews by clicking this link.

Also subscribe to my Psychvideos Youtube channel where I am posting them.

The Veggie Tale Guy Checks Eric Metaxas on Bonhoeffer

This tweet from Veggie Tale creator Phil Vischer is wise and powerful.

Eric Metaxas is a shadow of his former self and his friends know it.

Metaxas answers with a simplication of history and current events and Vischer brings reality to the table.

Metaxas tries to lower the boom but Vischer again brings the facts.

Reversing Roe v. Wade will not eliminate abortion. It will remain legal in many states. Don’t use abortion politics as an excuse to avoid action on racism.

In my opinion, it is Vischer for the win in the Bonhoeffer match up.