Princeton historian Matthew Karp offers a stinging criticism of the “stamped from the beginning” view of American history. Here is a taste of his Harper’s piece “History as End: 1619, 1776, and the politics of the past.” Whatever birthday it […]
Archives for June 2021
Juneteenth is the answer to Frederick Douglass’s question: “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?”
Here is historian Peniel Joseph at CNN: Juneteenth commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the end of slavery by a Union major general in Texas. Long celebrated in Black communities from coast to coast, it has been a Texas state holiday […]
Celebrating Juneteenth–together
Historian Tara Strauch reminds us that laws don’t truly make holidays. We have to learn how to celebrate them together. In her recent piece at The Washington Post she compares the acceptance of Juneteenth with the celebration of another regional […]
Juneteenth roundup
Here’s what you need to know about Juneteenth: Some basics It is now a federal holiday. NPR staff members read the Emancipation Proclamation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1xOPt455pg A Juneteenth playlist Kate Masur: Juneteenth is just the start Can the Juneteenth holiday be Black […]
More on the evangelical Trumpers in Orlando this weekend: Ted Cruz confirms his Dominionism and Mike Pence gets heckled.
I am trying to stay up-to-speed on this evangelical Lost Cause conference known as The Road to Majority. Read our first post here. Here is Ted Cruz: Some responses: What Cruz is doing here is political fundamentalism It is one […]
Evangelical Trumpers gather in Orlando
While many Americans are celebrating Juneteenth, an all-star lineup of Trump court evangelicals and other assorted followers of the former president are in Orlando this weekend for the Road to Majority 2021, the annual gathering of Ralph Reed’s Faith & […]
What is popular at Current this week?
Here are the most popular Current features of the last week: An Open Letter to American History Teachers: Stop Teaching “Critical Race Theory” Southern Baptists Can’t Shake Their Past Who Killed Evangelicalism? Casting Out Demons At the Tomb of Lazarus Here are […]
What does this McDonalds booth have to do with the American Bible Society?
Last weekend Joy and I were driving home from Providence, R.I. on Route 287 and we stopped at the McDonalds in Boonton, New Jersey. Until recently, my parents lived in the Boonton/Montville area. I was raised there, although the McDonalds […]
Add Charlie Kirk to the list of those who oppose making Juneteenth a federal holiday
The Trump court evangelical joins the fourteen members of Congress who opposed making Juneteenth a federal holiday. As he is prone to do, the supposedly God-fearing Kirk had a hissy fit on Twitter:
Free Indeed?
Solzhenitsyn’s truth-to-power speech still speaks
Video of the day:
Amazing Grace:
How to support Current
“When I founded In These Times I thought I was going to be an editor, but I discovered that to keep it I had to become a beggar.”–James Weinstein (1926-2005), founding editor, In These Times. We at Current relate to James Weinstein. […]
Current hosts its first gathering of patrons. Here is a video of the event for those who missed it.
We had a great meeting last night with some of our Deep Water patrons, Storm Surge patrons, and writers. The Current editors shared their vision for the platform and our patrons offered some excellent suggestions for moving forward. Thanks to […]
Supreme Court upholds Obamacare (7-2) and religious liberty (9-0)
Here is Politico on the Texas challenge to the Affordable Care Act: The Supreme Court on Thursdaythrew out a lawsuit threatening the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, finding that Republican-led states behind the case did not have legal ground […]
Megachurch pastor Greg Laurie keeps pushing the links between the Great Awakening and the American Revolution
Last week at the Sons of American Revolution conference on religion and the American Revolution, I started my keynote lecture this way: On April 5, 2020, Donald Trump announced (via Twitter of course) that he would be streaming the Palm […]
John McWhorter on critical race theory and what is happening in schools under the name of “critical race theory”
The Columbia University professor lets it rip, as he is prone to do, at his Substack newsletter. A lot of things worth considering here. McWhorter has always made a lot of sense to me on this issue. Here is a […]
The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act passes House, Senate.
When Biden signs the bill June 19th, the day celebrating the emancipation of enslaved Americans, will become a federal holiday. On Tuesday, the Senate endorsed the bill unanimously. Yesterday, the House passed the bill by a vote of 415-14. Here […]
Why doesn’t the GOP just say it: “We support the January 6 insurrectionists!”
Matt Ford of The New Republic is waiting for it to happen: Instead of the free and open denunciation of the Capitol riot, a growing number of Republican officials are softening their position from “It was Bad” to, at worst, […]
Evangelical roundup for June 17, 2021
What is going on in Evangelicalland? A lot of Southern Baptist stuff. You can get up to speed here and here and here and here and here. Will the hard right of the Southern Baptist Convention leave the denomination? The […]
Cambridge Conjuring
What can turn an assignment into a feast? A Book of Magic, of course—and a city of magic, too