Upon noticing that PolitiFact fact check had failed to properly contextualize a claim from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Zebra Fact Check sent a correction request to PolitiFact on July 1, 2022.
PolitiFact acknowledged its receipt of the correction request with a form email.
Dear Truth-O-Meter,
Your June 30, 2022 fact check of Lauren Boebert’s claim about the Establishment Clause does claim interpretation the wrong way.
It’s basic in interpreting English words in context to consider the full range of meaning. PolitiFact appears to entirely neglect the common Evangelical understanding of “church.” Evangelicals tend to place very low importance on church hierarchy, unlike groups such as the Catholics and the Mormons. Both of the latter consider their own church hierarchy as exclusively representative of the true church. When a Catholic says “the (C)hurch” it refers to the Roman Catholic Church. When a LDS says “the (C)hurch” it refers to the LDS Church.
It’s different for Evangelicals. “Church” typically refers either to a local congregation or to all believers (ReligiousTolerance.org). That understanding is entirely consistent with the context of Boebert’s remarks. Each of her examples of “church” activity was an individual action, not a hierarchical/corporate one. Her use of Esther (from the Hebrew Bible) as an example may suggest she considers Jews as part of or at least closely tied to “the church.”
This understanding is also completely consistent with the explanation of Boebert’s remarks PolitiFact solicited from Boebert’s spokesman (but which apparently mattered not at all in the fact check except as a curiosity one might set aside in a sidebar).
The Constitution comes from a time before Evangelicalism, when church hierarchies had influenced nations to war with one another. Was Boebert correct that the framers of the Constitution intended for believers to have a hand in directing the government? That’s the central question the fact check should have examined, if it was to respect the context.
Your fact check takes Boebert out of context and ends up fact-checking a straw man argument. The fact check refutes Boebert’s supposed statement that a church hierarchy should lead the nation.
Please correct the understanding of “church” used in the fact check to respect the context. Thanks.
Thank you so much for sending PolitiFact feedback and suggestions. We read all of your messages, but we don’t reply to them all.
If you received notification that something you shared was false or missing context, learn more about how the ratings and appeal process works on Facebook bit.ly/2OFdGjp, or email appeals@politifact.com. Please include a link to the post.
Remember, you can always get new PolitiFact fact-checks in your inbox if you subscribe to the daily or weekly newsletter. Sign up >>
Thanks,
PolitiFact team