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Dave Scott's July Column Misleads

I read "Dave Scott, Jr.'s" "Nonfiction Section" in the July 5, 2019, Herald and, as usual, some of his information sounds ... well, fictional. But "Dave" doesn't site the source for his numbers. Communists – er, excuse me, "Progressives" seldom do. (Editor's Note: the opinion column by Dave Scott, Jr., appeared on Page A-4 of the July 5, 2019 edition of the Herald.)

I searched for "business refuses service to African American" and "business refuses service to Jew" and "business refuses service to gay."

Surprise! What I found was that Google, an organization that doesn't even try to hide its left slant, hasn't heard very much about the discrimination that "Dave" is reporting.

Every search pointed me to a survey with the exact numbers that "Dave" is using. That survey came from an organization that represents itself as "nonprofit, nonpartisan." The name of the organization is Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and their website is https://prri.org.

There are 11 people listed on the prri.org "PRRI Team" page, seven of whom have their Twitter page listed. I took the time to sample the Twitter feed of each of those seven people and – you might want to make sure you're sitting down for this – NONE of them have a single conservative post on their feed unless they're making fun of, or taking issue with, the post.

There are eight people listed on PRRI's website as "Public Fellows" (ironic that there's not a single fellow among the fellows?). Six of them have Twitter pages. Want to take a guess at what their Twitter feeds look like?

'Non-partisan?'

In fact, Daniel Greenberg @dgreenberg92, who is listed as a research assistant for pirr.org, tweeted this on Jan. 29, 2018: "The Republican party has become a criminal enterprise whose sole purpose is to prop up a dictator. Down with all of them. #DumpTrump." Does that sound like someone who would be able to produce anything "nonpartisan?"

It would appear that the information that "Dave" is relying on comes from an organization that says they are "nonpartisan" (of course they do) but the Twitter feeds of every person affiliated with the organization makes it immediately apparent that they are anything but.

(Editor's Note: The http://www.prri.org website states in its "About" section: "PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy. PRRI's research explores and illuminates America's changing cultural, religious, and political landscape. PRRI's mission is to help journalists, scholars, pundits, thought leaders, clergy, and the general public better understand debates on public policy issues, and the important cultural and religious dynamics shaping American society and politics.")

'Misleading?'

The crystal-clear picture painted by even a cursory look at the Twitter feeds of the people running prri.org is one of a group of people who are radically pro-LGBTQ, pro-illegal immigration, pro-Democrat, Trump-hating, anti-white, anti-Republican and very anti-Christian (particularly anti-white evangelicals).

Only a diehard partisan fool living in some sort of fairyland would believe that these people are capable of producing "nonpartisan" research. Maybe that's why "Dave" didn't cite his source, if this was his source?

"Dave" was also very misleading with the statement that the "same survey found similar spikes in the number of Americans who are comfortable with these businesses also refusing service to Jews and African-Americans."

The actual survey question was, "Do you think that a small business owner in your state should be allowed to refuse to provide products or services to (African-Americans; Jews), if doing so violates their religious beliefs?"

Note those last seven words: "... if doing so violates their religious beliefs?"

The way "Dave" represents it makes it sound like people are refusing service based on race or religion alone.

Omitting key information that changes the whole context of the info doesn't really qualify as "nonfiction" in my world. It's almost as if "Dave" is trying to mislead us to suit his agenda.

Is Trump responsible?

Of course, the overall inference of "Dave's" column is that Donald Trump is responsible for the rise in discrimination. That inference is refuted in a truly nonpartisan study conducted by none other than the University of Pennsylvania. You can read about it in a Washington Post (an anti-Trump paper) article titled: "Racial prejudice has declined as a reaction to Trump's presidency, a new study suggests"

"Dave" then takes the usual cheap, and ignorant, shot at Christianity and goes on to reference Nazis and Klansman (of course he does) with the subtle inference that Christians are like Nazis and the KKK.

If "Dave" was truly writing a "nonfiction" column, he would remind us that the KKK was predominantly Democrat and that Nazis were the "National Socialist Party" of Germany.

Democrat Party Chairman Tom Perez himself said that Comrade Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a proud socialist, is the "future of the Democrat Party."

So, if "Dave" is going to associate ideology with the Klan and Nazis, he might want to look at groups other than Christians.

Final note

Now, you're probably wondering why I have put "Dave" in quotes every time I've used his or her name. Well, because I believe that the writer of the "Nonfiction Section" may himself or herself be fictional. I am unable to find any evidence that "Dave Scott, Jr" is a real person, but I might be totally wrong. The "Jr." is a nice touch, though.

Clearly the information "Dave" presents as "nonfiction" – including perhaps even his name – isn't.

 

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