Social conservative and evangelical David Barton is against net neutrality because he says it goes against the principles of Ben Franklin, the Pilgrims, and the Bible.
Right Wing Watch reports that Barton was speaking with his co-host Rick Green on their radio show Tuesday, and declared that net neutrality is “wicked stuff, and I don’t use that word very often, but this is wicked stuff.”
The controversy surrounding net neutrality relates to a push by the FCC to get Congress to pass legislation that would prevent internet service providers from blocking access to certain web content providers, and force them to treat all web content providers equally.
Or, as Barton rather mistakenly described it, it’s “redistribution of wealth through the internet, and it really is redistribution. This is socialism on the internet.”
Barton added:
It is a principle of free market. That’s a Biblical principle, that’s a historical principle. We have all these quotes from Ben Franklin and Jefferson and Washington and others on free market and how important that is to maintain. That is part of the reason we have prosperity. This is what the Pilgrims brought in, the Puritans brought in, this is free market mentality. Net Neutrality sounds really good, but it is socialism on the Internet.
He then described net neutrality as essentially the same thing as the Fairness Doctrine, referring to the former FCC rule requiring broadcasters to give equal time to opposing points of view, a topic that has long been a subject of right-wing ire. “Fair is a word no Christian should ever use in their vocabulary,” Barton said. “Fair has nothing to do with anything. What you want is justice, you don’t want fairness.”
Barton is a favorite in social conservative circles. He is the president of WallBuilders, a group that preaches a Christian-themed version of American history, and has appeared on Glenn Beck’s show many times to explain his theories. Mike Huckabee is also a fan of him, once saying “I just wish that every single young person in America would be able to be under his tutelage.”
Barton also appeared as an “expert” witness in the Texas Board of Education textbook hearings, and once argued that the government should “regulate homosexuality.”
Jillian Rayfield
Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.
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