In case you missed it, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, as part of a political stunt, just put a group of Venezuelan migrants on a plane and sent them to Martha’s Vineyard. Here is CNN: Two planes carrying migrants were sent by Florida […]
Archives for September 2022
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Marvin Olasky, “LONG FORM: A Wrinkle in Journalism History“ Timothy Larsen, “Prayers Answered: God Saved the Queen“ Michael Feldberg, “The Traitors We Honor in Arlington“ Edward Song, “Conservatism 2.0: National […]
Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?
On the common agenda of Seven Mountain Dominionists and National Conservatives
Albert Mohler is “taking names,” preparing for “war,” and telling evangelical voters that they are “unfaithful” Christians if they don’t vote GOP
He spoke last night at the Family Research Council’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit in Atlanta: Watch: Recently Mohler said he was a Christian nationalist. Now we have him saying that anyone who doesn’t vote his way is an unfaithful Christian. […]
Episode 47: What Are “Moral Issues?”
And does the Christian Right have a sole claim on them? Episode 47: “What Are ‘Moral Issues?’” dropped today. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above have access to new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: If you […]
Evangelical roundup for September 15, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Young evangelicals saving the planet. And here. Caribbean evangelicals remember Queen Elizabeth. UK evangelicals remember Queen Elizabeth. A Christian college committed to diversity. Swiss evangelicals urge “tolerance and respect” in abortion debates. Rich Mullins: […]
It’s Time to Be Wrong and Make Things Right
Mea culpas from the tech industry are only a start
Priests in cars in Milwaukee
Over JSTOR Daily, Livia Gershon, with the help of historian Peter Cajka, explains how the automobile changed Milwaukee Catholicism. Here is a taste: With the rise of cars, and especially after 1945, these boundaries loosened. Many Catholics moved out of […]
What can the United States learn from Italy’s abortion policy?
Here is Massimo Faggioli at Commonweal: Legge 194 (or “The 194,” as Italians call it), which the Italian Parliament passed in 1978, allows women to receive abortions through the first ninety days of pregnancy, after getting counseling in a public […]
Queen Elizabeth as a religious leader
Penn’s Anthea Butler reflects on Elizabeth’s legacy. Here is a taste of her piece at MSNBC: “As a religious leader, Queen Elizabeth II was consistent but willing to adapt.” In his first remarks after the death of his mother, Queen […]
How the British monarch defies modernity
Here is Sebastian Milbank at the British website The Critic: In an increasingly secular and individualist world, it is very rare to see people who have given over their lives to a calling or vocation that swamps and overshadows their […]
Is an Article V rewriting of the U.S. Constitution in the near future?
It’s possible. Here is historian James Banner at The Bulwark: Radical conservative activists are working with Republican state legislators to trigger an extraordinary special convention to rewrite the Constitution of the United States. The possibility of it actually happening is […]
A Philadelphia man walks 400 miles to honor Harriet Tubman
Over at NBC News, Claretta Bellamy tells the story of Kenneth Johnston. Here is a taste: Kenneth Johnston of West Philadelphia always had a deep appreciation for Harriet Tubman and her work of freeing enslaved Black people. But instead of […]
The FBI on the trail of Aretha Franklin
Nina Corcoran and Jazz Monroe explain at Pitchfork: The FBI has declassified its file on the late Aretha Franklin. The document, which spans 270 pages and includes reports from more than a dozen states, shows that the FBI extensively tracked Franklin’s civil […]
How Lindsey Graham’s abortion bill is sure to backfire on the GOP
Wait, I thought conservatives wanted the people in the states to decide abortion law. Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza of Politico explain: After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, most Republicans stuck to a simple message: The decision merely […]
“A love of reading.” Now there’s a college general education outcome we can all get behind.
Here is community college dean Matt Reed at Insider Higher Education: Love of reading isn’t all puppies and unicorns, of course. We have a frightening number of books in the house, both on display and in boxes in the basement. […]
Removing the last vestiges of the Confederacy from the U.S. military will come with a price tag of $62 million
Will that also include removing Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate and former army colonel Doug Mastriano’s Confederate uniform? 🙂 Here is Alex Horton at The Washington Post; Removing the last vestiges of Confederate history from the U.S. military, including renaming nine Army posts, […]
LONG FORM: A Wrinkle in Journalism History
The recently resigned editor-in-chief of World has a story to tell—and a warning to offer
Should we start preparing for a Ukrainian victory?
While we were all watching coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the Ukrainian army was taking back towns occupied by Russian troops. Here is a taste of Anne Applebaum’s recent piece at The Atlantic: But even though the fighting may […]
Florida governor Ron DeSantis at Hillsdale College: “Put on the full armor of God. Stand firm against the left’s schemes”
It used to be just evangelical ministers and preachers who invoked spiritual warfare against “the Left.” Now politicians do it as well. Here is the Miami Herald ‘s Ana Ceballos on DeSantis’s recent visit to Hillsdale College, a liberal arts […]