Read more about what Washington Post columnist and Michael Gerson had to say about House majority leader Kevin McCarthy: Let’s take a moment from the lightning pace of the news cycle to reflect on a disturbing fact of American life: […]
Archives for May 2022
The Author’s Corner with Dana Logan
Dana Logan is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at UNC Greensboro. This interview is based on her new book, Awkward Rituals: Sensations of Governance in Protestant America (University of Chicago Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Awkward Rituals? […]
Evangelical roundup for May 8, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Apparently Tim Keller is now not good enough for some conservative evangelicals of the Christian Right. Apparently Ralph Reed forgot about Merrick Garland: Roger Olson responds to Jesus and John Wayne. Charlie Kirk is […]
A Meditation on Doomscrolling, Picnics, and the Ukrainian-Russian Conflict
When war becomes a spectacle, what have we become?
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Kathryn Hughes reviews Emma Smith, Portable Magic: A History of books and their Readers David Bell reviews Joan Wallach Scott, On the Judgment of History How Roe “warped” America. Molly […]
Is abortion “deeply rooted” in American history?
In his leaked decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Samuel Alito wrote, “The inescapable conclusion is that a right to abortion is not deeply rooted into the Nation’s history and tradition.” Is this true? It is hard to define what “deeply […]
The power of a Trump endorsement in Ohio
If you read one thing to get up to speed on the J.D. Vance’s win in the Ohio GOP primary for U.S. Senate, I recommend Alex Shephard’s short piece at The New Republic. A taste: In a seven-person race full […]
An evangelical church invests $16 million into its housing ministry
Grace Church in Greenville, South Carolina is doing the Lord’s work. Here is Jay King at Greenville Journal: With the need in Greenville for affordable and transitional housing continuing to grow, Grace Church’s $16 million purchase this month of apartment buildings from Greenville […]
Should people examine communities to which they do not belong?
At the inaugural meeting of the New University Conference, an organization of New Left academics, radical historian Staughton Lynd called academics to live in solidarity with their subjects. As he put it, “to hope that upper-middle class white professors can […]
On “vicious political disagreement” and civic life
Here is a taste of Quinta Jurecic‘s piece at The Atlantic: Recently, pundits and journalists have tended to frame worries over the presence of violence in American politics as a question of whether the United States is slipping into a second civil war. There are […]
Few Americans are absolutists on abortion
From Pew Research: Abortion should be legal in most cases: 36% Abortion should illegal in most cases: 27% Abortion should be legal in all cases, no exceptions: 19% Abortion should be illegal in all cases, no exceptions: 8% Abortion should […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Greg Williams, “DC DISPATCH: Dare to Discipline“ Robert Erle Barham, “The Pandemic and the Mystery Novel“ Daniel K. Williams, “Abortion and the Class Divide“ Eric Miller, “Party Like It’s 1789“ […]
In Praise of an Unsung Vocation
This commencement season, here’s another role model to consider: stepmother
Inside Higher Ed reports on the Grove City College “wokeness” controversy
Not familiar with what is going on at Grove City College? Get up to speed here. Here is a taste of Colleen Flaherty’s piece at Inside Higher Ed: Cedric Lewis, who co-taught and co-designed EDU 290, the elective on diversity […]
If Roe is overturned, will abortions really come to an end in the United States?
When I was younger I spent some time in Ocean City, New Jersey. Ocean City is located on a barrier island off the Jersey shore. It is also a dry town. In other words, alcohol is not sold within the […]
The Author’s Corner with Carla Cevasco
Carla Cevasco is Assistant Professor of American Studies at Rutgers University. This interview is based on her new book, Violent Appetites: Hunger in the Early Northeast (Yale University Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Violent Appetites? CC: In grad […]
Evangelical roundup for May 5, 2022: Roe v. Wade edition
What is happening in Evangelical land? They are responding to the leaked draft of Samuel Alito’s Roe v. Wade majority decision. Read the press release from the National Association of Evangelicals. Christianity Today reports here. And a bunch of other […]
“Have You Understood Anything of What is Going On?”
The third in a series of meditations on Ignazio Silone’s Bread and Wine
Current on abortion
In light of the leaked Samuel Alito draft, I thought I would post links to a few pieces at Current that have addressed the issue of abortion. I am sure there will be more to say once we hear more […]
Why overturning Roe is not a conservative choice
I imagine that readers of this blog will have differing opinions of New York Times conservative columnist Bret Stephens. But it is hard to argue with the fact that he is a consistent conservative. Here is a taste of his […]