Back in 2018, I wrote Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump. I dedicated the book “To the 19 percent.” This, of course, is a reference to the 19% of white evangelical Christian voters who did not vote for […]
Archives for March 2024
Writing in notebooks
The picture above are just a few of my writing notebooks. I fill these notebooks with ideas for books, blog posts, op-eds, magazine articles, book chapters, etc. They include early drafts of published pieces, grant deadline reminders, diary-like entries on […]
Why are so many Israelis silent about Palestinian suffering?
Oded Na’aman, a philosophy professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, provides the numbers: Around 1,200 Israelis were killed on October 7, of them around 370 soldiers and 800 civilians; 242 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israel’s offensive began; 239 […]
The Author’s Corner with Ralph Young
Ralph Young is Professor of Instruction in History at Temple University. This interview is based on his new book, American Patriots: A Short History of Dissent (NYU Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write American Patriots? RY: What inspired […]
“Timber Burning”: The Great New York Fire of 1776
Religious rivalry lit up the American Revolution
Song of the Day: Rhiannon Giddens sings Paul Simon’s “American Tune”Â
Rhiannon Giddens’ adaptation of Paul Simon is art in its own right.
North Carolina Republicans pick Mark Robinson as their gubernatorial candidate
In November 2024, voters in the North Carolina governor’s race will have the opportunity to vote for a man who: His name is Mark Robinson and he currently holds the position of Lieutenant Governor. Tonight he won the The Tar […]
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Big changes at Trinity International University, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and the Evangelical Free Church
If I am reading the situation correctly: It is all explained in this press release: On Thursday, February 15, Nicholas Perrin, President of Trinity International University, tendered his resignation to the TIU Board of Regents, effective February 29, 2024. Dr. […]
Independent Arizona senator Krysten Sinema will not run for re-election
Perhaps the bipartisan immigration bill she worked on with James Lankford and Chris Murphy was the last straw. Watch:
The U.S. Department of Education hits Liberty University with a $16 million penalty for creating a culture of fear on campus
Back in October 2023 we brought your attention to Liberty University’s failure to keep its students safe. One campus safety consultant called the U.S. Department of Education’s review the “the most blistering Clery report I have ever read. Ever…I cannot […]
Jane Kamensky, the new president of Monticello, prepares for the 250th commemoration of the nation’s founding
Last October, we noted that historian Jane Kamensky will be the new president of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. In a recent interview with the American Historical Association, Kamensky reflects on her role at Monticello in light of the 250th commemoration of […]
The Author’s Corner with Caleb Wellum
Caleb Wellum is Assistant Professor of U.S. History at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. This interview is based on his new book, Energizing Neoliberalism: The 1970s Energy Crisis and the Making of Modern America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023). JF: […]
Let a 1000 president-inspired insurrections bloom!
Yesterday, the Supreme Court overturned the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado. I am not a legal scholar, but doesn’t this decision suggest that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the United […]
REVIEW: Murder Mystery at the End of the World
Where does meaning come from when normalcy disappears?
Kenneth Craycraft’s new book, Citizens Yet Strangers
“We have learned to speak American while forgetting to speak Catholic.”
Evangelical roundup for March 4, 2024
What is happening in Evangelical land? Peter Wehner asks: “Where did evangelicals go wrong?“ Randall Balmer on evangelicals and music. World Vision responds to the Texas wildfire: Evangelicals vs. the GOP on immigration reform. Also here. Latino evangelicals and Christian […]
The Donut Principle of Democracy
Recognizing the sweet taste of compromise
Some like it cold
If there’s anything that unites all Americans, it is our love of cold beverages. We love our drinks cold. Ice cold.
Politico’s Heidi Przybyla responds to critics of her “Christian nationalism” comments
Last month Politico journalist Heidi Przybyla told Michael Steele of MSNBC that people who believe human rights come from God are Christian nationalists. We addressed her comments here and here. As we covered last week in one of our Evangelical […]