After losing his bid for the 2020 Democratic nominee for president and dropping out of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, businessman Andrew Yang is starting a new political party. Here is Alex Thompson at Politico: Yang is expected […]
Archives for September 2021
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popularĀ CurrentĀ features of the last week: John Fea, Jesus is My Vaccine Michael Feldberg, The Traitors We Honor in Arlington Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt, From Whore to Helpmate Deanna Briody, The Shock of Three Dimensions Greg Williams, […]
Wearing the Cross of Their Calling
āLove and duty called you someplace higher Somewhere up the stairs, into the fireā
– Bruce Springsteen
The Author’s Corner with Robert S. Levine
Robert S. Levine is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Maryland. This interview is based on his new book, The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass, and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson (W. W. Norton & Company, 2021). JF: […]
Is the world getting more dangerous?
Jonathan Last, the editor of the The Bulwark, thinks so. In his recent piece he focuses on anti-mask violence and a potential coup in Brazil. Is Last right? Is the world indeed getting more dangerous? I am not sure how […]
Evangelical roundup for September 9, 2021
What is going on in Evangelical land? Trump-voting Southern Baptist Al Mohler writes a 2500-word article on Joe Biden titled “A Profile of Moral Collapse.” He announced on Twitter that his article is “New and urgent”: A Texas evangelical explains […]
Hungarian Pilgrimage
The fascination of conservatives with Hungary underscores the paradox at the heart of the movement
What are your favorite history-related movies?
Some of you are familiar with the Randall Stephens Collection of book covers and historian sports cards. Today the University of Oslo historian is offering his list of history-themed movies: Stephens is looking for additions to his list:
Episode 19: “The Black Church and Gay Marriage”
The Christian Right was not the only opponent of same-sex marriage in early 2004. Episode 19: āThe Black Church and Gay Marriageā dropped last night. Subscribers toĀ CurrentĀ at the Longshore level and above receiveĀ this narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: […]
COVID-19 at Christian colleges: update
COVID-19 at Liberty University is still out of control, but this did not stop the university from having full capacity at their football game last weekend. Cedarville University seems to be getting things under control after a disastrous first week […]
Vaccine mandates are very American
Ohio representative Jim Jordan recently tweeted this: Not really. Here is The Washington Post: At a time when the delta variantās summer surge has renewed the nationās divisions over coronavirus vaccines, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Monday said mandates enforcing […]
The Traitors We Honor in Arlington
For all of our efforts to reckon with Confederate memorials, a tribute to the Lost Cause remains prominent in our most sacred of places
Erin Bartram does history
Longtime listeners of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast may remember our interview with historian Erin Bartram in Episode 37: “Should You Go Grad School?” In that episode we discussed Bartram’s February 2018 blog post “The Sublimated Grief of […]
Why there should be no “religious exemptions” to vaccine mandates
We have posted about Curtis Chang before. He is the co-founder of Christians and the Vaccine and a faculty member at Duke Divinity School. Here is a taste of his recent op-ed at The New York Times: First, there is […]
Richmond’s Robert E. Lee monument will come down tomorrow
Here is the Associated Press: A towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, will be taken down on Wednesday as a symbol of racial injustice, more than 130 years after it was erected in tribute to […]
What do Jewish texts say about abortion?
Whatever one thinks about the recent Texas abortion law, this piece by Rachel Mikva of Chicago Theological Seminary reminds us that not all religious people believe that life begins at the fetus’s heartbeat. Here is a taste of her piece […]
DC DISPATCH: Three Reasons to Go to a Protest (and two reasons not to)
A lot can happen at protestsāespecially to you
Is there a link between complementarianism and the proper evangelical response to mask wearing?
Some evangelical groups facing mask mandates in their local school districts are sharing sample religious exemption forms that their fellow evangelicals can use. Here is one that came across my feeds today: I, _________, hereby state that I have chosen […]
The Author’s Corner with Eric Herschthal
Eric Herschthal is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Utah.Ā This interview is based on his new bookĀ The Science of Abolition: How Slaveholders Became the Enemies of ProgressĀ (Yale University Press 2021). JF: What led you to write The Science […]
Evangelical roundup for September 6, 2021
What is going on in Evangelical land? Tony Evans brings Kingdom Race Theology to Liberty University: Progressive evangelicals and other Christians are responding to gun violence I don’t know what panel Ed Stetzer is talking about, but this seems fair: […]