The publisher of renowned minister Voddie Baucham's book, "Fault Lines," came to the author's defense after accusations of plagiarism and fabrication of quotes have been made against him.
Tim Peterson of Salem Books strongly rejected the charges leveled against Baucham, maintaining that he did not provide unverified quotations or misrepresent sources.
Christian media outlet The Roys Report, named after investigative journalist Julie Roys, noted that Baucham's "Fault Lines" was one of the 10 most popular books in religion during the months of April, May, and July, with more than 10,000 copies sold. It provided an in-depth examination of the logical flaws of Critical Race Theory, elicited both recognition and condemnation among evangelicals.
In a July 30 blog post, conservative author Joel McDurmon claims that Baucham has not only misattributed quotes, but that he has done it on multiple occasions, as well as exhibiting plagiarism in his book, "Fault Lines."
He cited Baucham's quotation of law professor and CRT proponent Richard Delgado's statements as evidence.
McDurmon argues that much of this "quote" attributed to Delgado consists of things that Baucham himself has added.
"It is bad enough that he completely fabricated parts to begin with. That alone would be worthy of public censure and demotion in academia or journalism," he wrote in his blog. "But worse, the parts Baucham added also happen to be very twisted and condemnable ideas added to make CRT look bad. They contain highly objectionable straw men positions which no CRT proponent anywhere has ever taught."
To McDurmon, Baucham's claims against CRT are deceptive and wrong and he has to be held accountable for that.
The January 2021 speech delivered by Baucham at Flat Creek Baptist Church in Fayetteville, GA includes a disputed Delgado quotation that McDurmon also thinks was deliberately used to deceive the audience.
"The fact that Baucham literally puts it in the mouth of his opponent as Delgado's own words, explicitly, on multiple occasions now, is again a false witness for which he needs to be held accountable," he said.
In defense of Baucham, Salem Books' Peterson countered McDurmon's claims, pointing out that McDurmon's allegations had to do with differing writing styles as well as editorial preferences rather than outright copying.
Peterson asserted in an email response to the Roys Report that "the blogger's claims of poor documentation and plagiarism in 'Fault Lines' are not well-founded."
"McDurmon's weak argument is based on his preference for quoting in an academic style of documentation and formatting, rather than the Chicago Manual of Style, which is the standard for popular-level works published not only by Salem Books but also for most of our peer publishers in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association," he added.
"It is common for academics to write both popular-level works and academic works and use different documentation styles accordingly," Peterson further explained. "It is unreasonable for McDurmon to demand academic documentation in a popular work and it undermines his overall critique of Baucham's assessment of Critical Race Theory."
But to help dispel any potential misunderstandings regarding Baucham's book "Fault Lines," Roys Report noted that Peterson also allowed the possibility of future revisions or clarifications.
