Smithsonian Under The Microscope

A museum doesn’t just display artifacts, it teaches people what to believe about themselves. That’s why we dig into the growing spotlight on the Smithsonian and the recent congressional hearing that raises a blunt question: who is curating America’s story, and to what end?

We walk through just how massive the Smithsonian Institution really is, why its authority carries so much weight in classrooms and textbooks, and how an agenda can be made to look “normal” simply by framing a tiny slice of a gigantic collection. We also talk about why oversight is so hard, since the Smithsonian operates as an independent trust with a unique governance structure, and why hearings and public scrutiny may be one of the only practical ways to force transparency.

From there, we zoom out to the broader culture fight: what happens when public institutions normalize ideas and content that aren’t appropriate for kids, and why Christians can’t default to silence. We unpack the difference between being passive and practicing righteous courage, including the biblical case for righteous anger paired with integrity.

We end with a timely example from the sports world that ties it all together: why telling the truth is one of the most loving things you can do, especially when it comes to protecting girls in girls’ sports and refusing to pretend biology doesn’t matter. If you care about American history, civic education, constitutional accountability, and faith in the public square, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the Intersection of Faith and Culture. It's The WallBuilders Show, taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective. I've been saying that so fast on every program. I haven't explained that in a long time. What we mean is, whatever's going on in the world, first we're going to look at what the Bible says about that. We're going get biblical worldview on it, biblical perspective on it. We're also going to look at history. So what's worked? What hasn't worked? How has something been done in the past? There's nothing new under the sun. Solomon was right. So somebody's tried whatever it is that we're talking about, and we can look at those results and learn from history. And then of course, since we live in America, we got to look at the Constitution. What's constitutional on that topic? What's the proper way to do that under our particular system of government? So when we say biblical, historical, constitutional perspective, that's how we're trying to address all these different hot topics of the day. Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton. And man, guys, a lot still happening on the 250th. But maybe tied to that, maybe just tied to the administration's willingness to look under the hood in so much of the federal government, it's so big, there's so many things that need to be fixed. But their willingness to dive deep into some of these agencies. And even now, the Smithsonian, an entire paper being released by the White House, um, about just the insanity over at Smithsonian. I mean, far leftist stuff, racist stuff, America's bad. We talked a little bit about this, I think a week or so ago, but now we've got testimony in Congress yesterday where our friend Brandon Gill, congressman from right here in Texas, did a great job questioning them. What do you guys see on this? Y'all have been talking about this ever since I've been around, you've looked at what the Smithsonian's done and tried to improve what they're doing. Why don't we be at a turning point for these institutions? 

David Barton [00:01:42] Hey, Rick, before we do that, let me just kind of set up how big the Smithsonian is, because you're not talking about something small here. And because they are so big, they have massive penetration and influence throughout the culture. They got massive impact on education, on higher education universities, on research facilities. I mean, there's so much that these guys have their fingers into and therefore are able to control. And I don't know in my lifetime, that they've ever been brought to the surface for sunlight. I don't know if they've ever come up and said, hey, this huge institution is teaching really bad stuff, why don't we give it a look and see what they're doing? And so just in terms of how big the Smithsonian is, they've got 21 separate museums and galleries, and then they've the National Zoo. So I guess you could call that a museum of animals if you want to. So they have museums in New York City. They've got them in Virginia and they've got them also in Washington, DC, and they have 157 million items in their museum. So, I mean, they, they got, that's gotta be the biggest museum in the world. 

Rick Green [00:02:56] I'm just sorry David. I just pictured when you said that Raiders of the Lost Ark at the very end You know when they found the ark and then they box it up and they wheel it into that big warehouse. It's just like one of millions of millions. Of of items. Sorry. I was just picturing that when you set up what a hundred and what? 

Tim Barton [00:03:11] Yeah, so Rick, along those lines, little do we know that Indiana Jones might have been a documentary. Add to the fact... Right? That literally like Night at the Museum showed similar things, right? These underground storage areas, room upon room, boxes on boxes, but that literally is kind of what's there. Dad, I remember years ago we were talking to somebody who worked in the Smithsonian and they were telling us that they honestly don't even know what all they have. They had this unbelievable collection. They don't know what's there. That they were going through. Was it a box that was labeled, I think my recollection is a box labeled like World War II. 

David Barton [00:03:46] It was Pearl Harbor, the box was labeled Pearl Harbor. 

Tim Barton [00:03:50] Which, okay, so World War II, yes, but Pearl Harbor specifically, and they open up the lid on this box and look in there and they find letters from like James Madison. And they're like, not only did we not know we have these letters from James Madison, like nobody's opened this box. And so with even the labels now, we can't even trust what's on the labels, these boxes. They have no idea what they have. And so a little bit like, you know, Dad, as you're mentioning, they've never really been brought to the light to reveal what's there. I think you could say honestly that with most of the government agencies, you know, people are saying we need to audit the Fed. How much gold do we have at Fort Knox or wherever else? Like, there's so much we don't know, but when it comes to the Smithsonian. The reason this is a major deal is the Smithsonian is supposed to be the place where a lot of the history is not only recorded and kept but it's where some of the best story should be told. And if you look at the stories the Simonians the talent for many decades, they're not stories that encourage young people in America to want to become entrepreneurs, to dedicate themselves to doing great things. You don't have more of like the Wright brothers. You don't have this encouragement along the way. Instead, especially over the last several decades, what we've seen from the Smithsonian is the promotion of wokeism. So instead of telling some of the greatest stories that could be told, and again, with 157 million items, can you imagine all of the amazing treasures they have and the stories they could tell? That would inspire the rising generation. That would encourage patriotism. That would show how good overcame evil, truth overcame error. And when people rejected truth the errors that appeared. Where when people rejected good the evil that was there. There's so many incredible stories that could be told. And instead, they have chosen not to be a purveyor and promoter of good or a storyteller of good. The Smithsonian largely has been a very bland, plain institution that has not shown us the greatness of the treasure they have. Instead, they have embraced more of a wokeified vision. And i know this is probably going in a minute, but, just thinking as for all of us as we tend to be story teller and we give presentation, we want to reintroduce people to the amazing stories the Founding Fathers, the people that built the nation and all these different generations. If we had some of their treasures, the stories that we could tell from those original documents and artifacts. So it really is a tragi- Wait a minute, what's the word I'm looking for? Trajesty? That's not right. 

Rick Green [00:06:28] Travesty? 

Tim Barton [00:06:29] That's the one. It's a different letter in there. Travesty, it's a travesty. It's travesty. I couldn't say that word correctly. It's travesty that- they have taken these amazing treasures and they have buried them instead of using them to tell the story and encourage rising generations. 

David Barton [00:06:44] You know, the other thing that goes with the number like 157 million is let's say that you come into the position of running one of the big Smithsonian's, like American History Museum. And I think she's the one that has been in front of the committees doing the testimony. But let's you have an agenda that's really woke. And let's that out of 157,000,000 items, you can only find one percent. That supports your woke position. That's still 1.57 million items. It still looks like a landslide, and she can present that in such a way that it looks mainstream. It looks like this is what America's always believed and always done, because now, that's only 1% of the collection, but if you pick and choose that, and you're- 

Rick Green [00:07:33] You frame the whole thing. 

David Barton [00:07:35] That's right. 

Rick Green [00:07:35] You frame what people see. Yeah.

David Barton [00:07:36] That's right. If you're determined not to tell the truth, but to tell an agenda and make it look like the truth and to convert everybody to your... We believe you tell the good, the bad, the ugly. I mean, that's what we do. That's what we put out there We try to openly acknowledge that just as the Bible does with man. There's good stories There's bad stories as ugly stories sometime in the same person as Tim points out with the with King David you've got all of that, but you tell of the truth But if you got an agenda man, you are you have a powerhouse of stuff behind you to make that look like a freight train coming down the track, even if it's only half a percent, that would be 800,000 items. If it's just half a percent that you can find that supports your view, there's still 800,00 items. That's why it's so important to have people of character, integrity there. And that's why I think shining sunlight on this through these congressional hearings is such a big deal. Because this affects textbooks, it affects textbook publishers, it effects the way colleges teach. And by the way all these museums have all these internships, and they have all these classes that they teach, and they bring all these professors in for fellowships and other things. I mean there's so much they do and it affects in ways that we just haven't even thought about in the last twenty to twenty-five years. And I think this has been one of their buried secrets that they've had that has been so helpful to them in so many ways. 

Rick Green [00:09:00] And help me remember who does what. So like the Smithsonian, is it part of Interior? And do they answer to the Administration? Or is it kind of independent? And it's not really the monuments, right? It's not like the Washington Monument or the National Park Service, like Independence Hall, that kind of stuff. It's separate from that or am I wrong? Are those all kind of the same thing? 

David Barton [00:09:26] Man, I hate saying this. It doesn't really have any adult supervision. Quite frankly, it's an, it' an independent trust of the United States. It is separate from all Three Branches. It doesn’t' come under any Cabinet level. It's not an Executive Branch Agency. It actually goes back to what was the 1826 or 1829 when John Quincy Adams received the Smithson bequest. There was a guy in England who had a huge collection. And he thought it'd be helpful for America. And so, he gave it to President John Quincy Adams and he started sitting up the Smithsonian. And so, when you see the Castle, what they call the Castle there on the National Mall, the old Smithsonian, which I think was finally built in the 1840s, that came from that original Smithson bequest to share this knowledge with Americans. But it's a separate trust, it's independent. Now it's technically under the Executive Branch, but it's still independent. And it has its own board of regents, it has its own secretary, it's kinda like a separate university, maybe kinda like Princeton or Yale or Harvard, some of those kind. But it doesn't really have anybody you can directly hold accountable, which is why the sunshine may be one of the best things that happens for it, or maybe even just changing the regents. Because the government can place several of the regent's on there and that may be another way to get this under control. 

Rick Green [00:10:53] Man, I had no idea they had that kind of independence. 

David Barton [00:10:57] Who would have ever thought you would be threatened by a museum? Come on! Give me a break! The threat to national security is a museum. Who would in their wildest imagination thought that and therefore done anything to prepare for that? That's just crazy stuff, which is where we are now. 

Rick Green [00:11:15] Yeah, yeah, no doubt. And of course, you know, the old Bill Bennett thing about sunlight being the best disinfectant. And so bringing that sunlight in and, and doing these hearings. Before we go to break, are you guys as impressed by Brandon Gill as I am? I just think he, I mean, I've seen so many clips of this kid. He can't be 30. I don't know how old he is, but he's young. And I know he's Dinesh's son-in-law, maybe that's the deal. He has to, he has to constantly do well for, you know, Thanksgiving dinner with Dinesh. You're going to be grilled, right? But I'm just impressed. 

Tim Barton [00:11:43] Yeah, he's very impressive. I think probably a condition, you know, before dating Dinesh's daughter was like, hey, you have to watch all my documentaries. You have to review all the research. It's not surprising at all in my mind, knowing, right, who he's connected to. That just the dinner conversations they must have had would have been phenomenal. But certainly, when you have a guy like that who just is showing some basic common sense, it reminds me of when Nick Freitas was a member of the state legislature in Virginia. And he's a logical, common-sense guy, but in a world that is not often driven by logic and common sense that makes a difference. But I will say, he was not the only one of our friends in that committee asking questions. And even today, as the lady over the Smithsonian, the American History Smithsonian is back in front of Congress today. We have a lot of friends, Dad, the last two nights, you and I have been on the phone with our friends who are in Congress, who sit on some of those committees, and they were saying, hey, what are some good questions? Like, what are some good topics and directions. And I'm saying all of this, that what is great is there are members of Congress, who do have logic and common sense, who do love America, who do respect our history, the Founding Fathers, et cetera. And so, the fact that you have people asking some pretty basic questions is great. It's also interesting, and this could be for after the break, that one of our friends that we talked to, Dad, you and I talked to last night, this member of Congress, pointed out that this individual has already perjured themselves because of testimony they gave that actually contradicts a video they released for one of the exhibits. And we can, I'm teasing that, we can talk about it after the break. But it is great to see our friends up there that are really fighting to defend the foundational truth of America, but also expose the nonsense of what the Smithsonian has been doing. 

David Barton [00:13:38] Hey, let me go back to Brandon Gill for a minute, because you asked about Brandon. I, it's been a long time since I've been really, really impressed with how quick someone is of mind and how quick they can pivot and how they can be really sharp and sarcastic or really kind of play the kind of ignorant dumb. I don't understand. Explain it to me. I mean, just so brilliant. And quite frankly, he reminds me of a John Quincy Adams. When you read about John Quincy Adams and the way he handled debates and the way he handled the pro-slavery side and antislavery debates. He just really strikes me as someone with that kind of sharpness and that kind of brightness. They can argue the same thing from 43 different directions. He just, he is a really cool guy. 

Tim Barton [00:14:27] Dad, I think the words you're looking for is homeschooled. He looks like he was homeschooled, not public-school education. 

David Barton [00:14:31] Yeah, John Quincy Adams is homeschooled as well, that's true. 

Rick Green [00:14:35] Alright! Quick break guys! We will be right back folks. You're listening to the WallBuilders Show 

Rick Green [00:15:46] Welcome back to The WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us talking about what happened with the Smithsonian hearing yesterday and just the exposure to some of this woke nonsense that's been used in these institutions that David, you alluded to this in the, in the first segment that schools lean on and rely on. I mean, how, how many, how much credibility comes when you say, well, the Smithsonian exhibit says this, or I, you know, here's a, here' a paper that came from the Smithsonian. So, it carries a lot of weight in the education world as well. So, this is, this is very important. Do you guys think that the, anything's happening yet with regard to, I even was telling somebody today about, you know, they'd gone to the Washington Monument. I think it was Washington Mon- one of the monuments in DC and had a, you know, bearded lady giving them the tour. And of course I've been through that at Independence Hall. So, you, so, you've got kids coming in and getting that kind of, you know, that's what they remember, what they talk about instead of the history that they're supposed to be there to learn. So is this only the Smithsonian or do you think we have some movement in some of these other areas? 

David Barton [00:16:40] You have just jumped ship in mid-water. You're on a different, you jumped from a ship to a plane somehow here. Because when you get into the parks, you're now under the Department of the Interior. Now you do have accountability. That is, the Department of the interior has got a cabinet level official over it. And the Department of the Interior, they're working on changing a lot of things right now. The presentations of their history and their sites on the web. They're trying to clean up a lot of the wokeness and get that out of there. And they are accountable. So, you have a cabinet level secretary over the Department of the Interior, which is the National Park Service. And look, there's a ton of National Park service, the National Monuments. I don't know that they can get it done in four years, but they're working at it and they're gonna, I think, well, I don't think, I know they've already made progress and watched on some of those sites and we've seen that. Tim and I have personally seen that and actually had been able to contribute to some of that. 

Tim Barton [00:17:34] Well to add to your point backing up. I do think when we talk about you know kind of the craziness of what we are seeing in general from federal government related or connected things. The promotion of different ideologies and worldviews, but certainly more recently with some of this transgenderism stuff, that there's been a lot of promotion of sexual proclivities, sexual behavior and lifestyles, adult theme, the kind of things, and obviously in many cases simple and wicked kind of things. But there actually was a section of a Smithsonian of American history that highlighted some of this sexual proclivities. And I'm saying that as kind of the most friendly way I can for a generally family-centered audience and program. And the idea that in the midst of what we're going to talk about with 157 million items and things that pertain to American history, the fact that they would choose some of these things that are overly sexual and not in the hetero sense is just crazy. But it has shown that that's where a lot of it's been. And the reason I bring it up is that was one thing that came up in the hearing and as you mentioned, sunlight's a great disinfectant. The reason this is good is because I think there's a lot of teachers that assume the best or assume the intelligence if it's from the Smithsonian. And the fact that there is exposure is great, but I will even throw in, Dad, when you said that he's jumping ship onto a plane, it just reminded me that over the weekend, when I was flying back from California, my flight attendant, was a dude with facial hair in a dress and I am so tired of us normalizing things that is not normal, it is not moral and things that do not allow us to sustain as a nation. And the reason I'm saying this, because I am glad that at this hearing, there was a member of Congress that said, hey, let's talk about this for a second. Why would you in a museum where, you know, kids are coming through, why would you put things that really are not children appropriate? And honestly, it's overtly immoral. And the Bible would call it sinful and wicked and evil. Why are we putting that in front of kids? This is something that I am glad more people are waking up to. But it's time as Christians that we start waking up more. And instead of us being this incredibly passive, we need to go back and read those verses in the Bible where Jesus braided a whip and went and cleaned out the temple. It's about time we get over this just really passive turn the other cheek which by the way is a misunderstanding in a lot of ways that doesn't apply today. And it's time to start being the whip braiding Jesus instead of the turn the other cheek. And I'm not saying that that we should on any level discount any part of the Bible or we don't follow all of the Bible. What I'm saying is a lot of what Christians have done to this point has not been a full representation of what the Bible teaches or who God actually is. God is not only a God of love He's also a God of justice. He is a God of war. He a God of wrath. God is a lot more than a lot of times we have microcosms Him down to one thing being. And I think it's time as Christians and Americans we wake up and I do think that's why we're seeing some of the positive things happening in Congress because there are members of Congress that are finding a new backbone and even Brandon Gill being a newer member. We're getting some newer members of Congress there that are showing up for the right reasons and they are motivated by the things and it is really encouraging. 

David Barton [00:21:14] You know, Tim, you mentioned something I think is really important talking about Jesus. I think we have a picture of Jesus as sitting around with the kids and the lambs and the way we've seen the artwork so often with, you know, the Jesus that is just always under control. And I think He always is under control. I don't think there's ever a time when Jesus was not under control, and yet there are five times recorded in the scriptures were that He got so angry he took action as a result of His anger. Well, you shouldn't do things when you're angry. Well, don't tell me Jesus made a mistake. Five times He got angry, and Tim, as you just mentioned, one of those times He braided a cord and chased the guys out of there and whooped them really good. Oh, did Jesus sin? No, He did not sin. He knew exactly what he was doing. And that anger, there's a righteous anger. The scripture says, be angry and sin not. And did Jesus sin? No, He didn't sin. Jesus is sinless. So, He set an example that this wimpy kind of Christianity that that we don't confront someone, we don't even tell them when they're wrong. We will.... Much like, I mean I'm not even talking about picking up a cord, and chasing people out, and whipping them, which Jesus did. I'm just talking about getting a backbone, and having an opinion, and even saying something's wrong, and speaking out as some of our friends did in Congress at the hearings with this lady that's over Smithsonian. I mean, they called it out. Now the problem is, there's no accountability there, but that anger was still there. 

Tim Barton [00:22:43] Now, Rick, I am gonna ask you a sports related question that ties in directly to this. 

Rick Green [00:22:48] Please tell me it's baseball. 

Tim Barton [00:22:49] Well, it's not, but this was somebody that was at a UFC event recently. Do you know who Sophie Cunningham is? 

Rick Green [00:22:55] Oh yeah, yeah, of course the pointing thing, the pointing meme, I've seen. Yes! Yes

Tim Barton [00:22:58] She's the pointing girl from basketball. Now, I mean, just hilarious for lots of reasons. So if people don't know, if you saw a meme over the last week or two with a girl in a basketball uniform pointing... A white girl, that's probably her. Anyway, not to digress too much. She had a post yesterday, two days ago, where she, because of all the attention she's been getting, she was drawn into the conversation of, hey, so where you stand on, you know, this, this trans....issue, sports, et cetera. Because also this week there's been some heat up in Congress, our friend Congresswoman Mary Miller called somebody a liar, who was testifying and actually she was correct that person was lying. But then the person lost their mind. Anyway, it was regarding protecting girls in girls’ sports. And Sofie Cunningham was asked about this and she said; look I want to respect and love everybody but I think one of the best ways you can love people is be honest with them and tell them the truth. And she said, I wanna make sure that young girls are safe in their locker rooms and that they're not violated by having biological males in the locker room. And I say this because, Dad, to your point, one of things I think a lot of people get wrong is the most loving thing you can do for someone is tell them truth. And a lot times people embrace the most loving thing we can do is support them in their error, in their delusion, in their incorrect assessment, direction, whatever it is.  And the most loving thing you can do in most situations, and I say most, there might be an anomaly nuance, but I would maybe then say every situation, the most lovely thing you should and can do is to be honest and truthful with people. And I just thought it was incredible that Sophie Cunningham, who by the way, like I was. I was only moderately interested in the WNBA when Caitlin Clark first went in out of college and you're like, man, let's, you know, this girl's incredible, what she can do. And she was the only thing mildly interesting to me. And then because of how woke the WMBA is, I have not noticed any news about it intentionally. You know, sometimes they try to force feed you things and algorithms and you were like, no, get out of here, scroll past that quickly. But when this Sophie Cunningham thing happened, I paid way more attention. And then when she was at the UFC event, when she was a ringside girl for the Conor McGregor fight and she walked around holding up a sign, I just thought, man, incredible. But in the midst of her getting notoriety, the fact that she's identifying that in the midst of you wanting to love people, one of the ways you love them is you tell the truth. And that is that biological boys are not girls and shouldn't play in girls' sports. So I do think we are seeing some really positive things in the culture from Congress all the way to, dare I say it, the WNBA and the UFC, a lot of good things happening. 

Rick Green [00:25:55] Your point is so well taken, Tim, that when you love them, you tell them the truth. And we had a clip last night on Flashpoint that was this kid just going crazy because he was misgendered and it broke my heart because we've lied to these kids. And what was a mental illness years ago, we treated him and we found ways to take care of that and now we've put this horrible poison out there. And like you said, you see it and then you're sick to your stomach because it's been normalized, but it's painful too. It creates. Great pain in in these people's lives and in their families and in the whole community. So, truth solves that. But we've gotta speak truth and we gotta treat it with truth. So yeah, great, great stuff guys! Okay so this is yeah tomorrow we've got Foundations of Freedom Thursday, so send in your questions folks radio@wallbuilders.com and then Friday don't miss Good News Friday. Thanks for listening. You've been listening to the WallBuilders Show.