I reread this today. It was published July 7, 2020 in Harper’s: Our cultural institutions are facing a moment of trial. Powerful protests for racial and social justice are leading to overdue demands for police reform, along with wider calls...
Religious freedom vs. LGBTQ rights on college campus: a short primer
Over at The Conversation, University of Dayton professor Charles Russo gives us the lay of the land. Here is a taste: Disputes over religious freedom and LGBTQ rights in the United States have led to some of the most high-profile...
This may have been John McCain’s finest moment
I did some historical writing on this today. My analysis will appear in a future episode of the A History of Evangelicals and Politics podcast, available to patrons of Current with early episodes free at most podcatchers....
Song of the day
...
“Twitter super-users” have “become the unacknowledged class that determined which events and ideas were considered important in America”
Yesterday I wrote about Twitter. Today someone on Twitter posted an article by Eve Fairbanks about the decline of Twitter. She writes, “Elon Musk’s platform may be hell, but it’s also where huge amounts of reputational and social wealth are...
Buy history books written by independent scholars
Some of you are familiar with the online magazine Contingent. Historian Erin Bartram has put together a great team of historians who do not work in tenure-track history teaching jobs at colleges and universities. I encourage you to check it...
Petitioning as a civic duty in a democracy
What does it mean to participate in a democracy? Historian Sarena Zabin argues that between the American Revolution and the Civil War it was petitioning, not voting, that was the important way people performed their civil duties. Here is a...
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current:: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog:...
“A mordant political culture in which power transforms a person into a celebrity”
My feeds are filled with MasterClass ads. For $180 a year I can learn cooking from Gordon Ramsey, science from Bill Nye, writing from James Patterson, comedy from Steve Martin, personal branding from Kris Jenner, acting from Samuel L. Jackson,...
Is Kristin Kobes Du Mez illiberal?
I am not going to rehash the controversy over Jay Green’s article on Christian political discourse. I wrote a little more about it today at Current. I agree with Jay–the piece shouldn’t have categorized people without evidence. Jay has apologized...
Song of the Day
...
Editorial changes at Current
As Executive Editor, I am pleased to announce the following changes to our editorial staff: Nadya Williams, Professor of Ancient History at the University of West Georgia, moves from Current Contributing Editor to Book Review Editor. Nadya received her B.A....
Evangelical Roundup for December 1, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical Land: Are evangelicals turning on Trump? Evangelical giving is up. An evangelical “power ranger” has died. Three Southern California evangelical schools are uniting to bring theological education to Hispanic students. Shane call us out: Tim...
Twitter is Where Ideas Go to Die
It’s time for truly liberal-minded Christians to do better. Including me.
On reading other people’s diaries
This weekend my daughter and her boyfriend came to visit for Thanksgiving. It was his first visit to our stately abode in south central Pennsylvania and during the course of his stay she decided to show him my basement office....
Jay Green responds to criticism of his essay on Christian public discourse
Jay Green’s Current piece,” The New Shape of Christian Public Discourse” has drawn a lot of attention–good and bad–on social media this week. Here is Jay’s gracious response to those who engaged with the essay. Stay tuned. In the spirit...
It’s “Giving Tuesday”! An invitation to supporting our work at Current
Is one allowed to ask for support on both Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday? I hope so. đŸ™‚ Since we launched in April 2021, Current has continued to attract readers and high quality writers. Our editorial team is growing and we...
On the slaveholder Jonathan Edwards and the Christians who read him
This past weekend a couple of folks called my attention to tweets from Joash Thomas. According to his Twitter bio, he is the National Director of Mobilization & Advocacy for the International Justice Mission (IJM) of Canada. I have great...
A few words about Jay Green’s piece on Christian political discourse
I woke up this morning to a Twitterstorm of attacks on Jay Green’s essay, “The New Shape of Christian Public Discourse.” Some people want us to remove this piece from our site. Let me assure that that is not going...
Jay Green and Daniel K. Williams discuss the need for liberal democracy
If you have been following the Twitter debate over Jay Green’s Current piece, “The New Shape of Christian Public Discourse,” you might also be interested in Daniel William’s interview with Green over The Anxious Bench blog. Here Jay brings further...