Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: John Fea, “I Baptize You in the Name of Donald Trump“ John Fea, “My First Encounter with the Christian Right“ Adam Jortner, “FiveThirtyEight Hates Democracy“ Marvin Olasky, “LONG FORM: A […]
Commonplace Book #224
There is no denying that we do live in a land where the prophets of Baal are braying loudly. Where many believers hang on the latest tweets from King Ahab. And where the 7,000 who have not bowed a knee […]
The Nixon Library has released another recording in which Billy Graham and Richard Nixon discuss Jews and the “Synagogue of Satan”
Back in September we called your attention to a 1972 conversation between Billy Graham and Richard Nixon that was, according to researcher Mike Hertenstein, “quietly posted on the Nixon Library website.” The conversation reveals Graham talking about Jews as part […]
Evangelical Roundup for October 27, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Gordon Fee, RIP. Vote Common Good goes to Ohio. Non-denominational Christians. Evangelicals host an LGBTQ inclusion conference. One evangelical calls out another evangelical: Slacktivist on our blast from the past on Dallas Theological Seminary. […]
I Baptize You in the Name of Donald Trump
âThere are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception.â
One of the last children of enslaved Americans dies at 90
His name was Daniel R. Smith. Here is Harrison Smith at The Washington Post: Growing up in the 1930s, Daniel R. Smith would listen to stories from his father, as young boys often do. He was not supposed to hear […]
Is November 2022 the most important election since 1850?
As I type this, I am watching presidential historian Jon Meacham on CNN. He is saying that the 2022 midterm elections are the most important elections since the 1850s. Why? Because the rule of law is on the ballot. Michael […]
The American Historical Association announces 2022 prize winners
Read the full list here. Here are a few that caught my eye: The Albert J. Beveridge Award in the history of the United States, Latin America, or Canada, from 1492 to the present: Roberto Saba (Wesleyan Univ.) for American Mirror: The United […]
Michael Kazin: “We’re all Social Democrats now”
The Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin writes, “On the left, talk of proletarian revolution has given way to vital debates about how to enact Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, revive unionism, and strip the power of the […]
What happened to Michael Flynn?
Here is Peter Wehner at The Atlantic: A prayer at a âReAwaken Americaâ event in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a few days ago, at which Michael Flynn appeared, captured the sensibilities of this moment: âFather God, we come to you in the name of […]
Dinesh D’Souza’s 2,000 Mules has finally reached bookstores
Back in September the conservative publisher Regnery pulled 2,000 Mules, the book version of Dinesh D’Souza’s election fraud documentary. (You may recall that D’Souza called Bill Barr an “overweight,” “largely immobile,” “fatso” after the former attorney general panned the documentary). […]
Is the real threat to free expression cancel culture or the fear of cancel culture?
Eve Fairbanks, the author of The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning, is a Virginia-born author who currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. She writes as a white woman who published a book about race. Here is […]
Evangelicals gather to “reconstruct” evangelicalism
The speakers include Elizabeth Conde-Fraizer, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Carl Ellis Jr., Walter Kim, Russell Moore, Gavin Ortlund, Karen Swallow Prior, Love Sechrest, Mark Noll, Jay Augustine, Vince Bacote, Gayle Doornbos, Benjamin Espinoza, Malcolm Foley, Ernest Gray, Emily Hunter McGowin, […]
Steven Mintz: A liberal education is a “distinctively American article of faith”
Here is the University of Houston historian at his Insider Higher Ed blog: No longer does the âsimple advice to high schoolers to âgo to collegeââ suffice. What one studies and where one studies matter greatly in terms of return […]
Historian Jeremi Suri on Abraham Lincoln’s funeral
Here is an excerpt of Suri’s new book Civil War By Other Means. It is published at Lit Hub: The reverence for the slain president grew in coming days. On April 19, a horse-drawn hearse carried Lincolnâs body to the […]
Does Evan McMullin have a chance in Utah?
In Utah, incumbent GOP Senator Mike Lee is running against conservative and 2016 presidential candidate Evan McMullin. The Utah Democratic Party is not running a candidate in this election and is encouraging members to back McMullin. Over at Religion News […]
Boyhood and guns
Over at JSTOR Daily, Rachael Kay Albers asks “how marketing made guns a fundamental element of contemporary boyhood.” She calls attention to the scholarly work of Charles-Edward Anderson, Anne G. Kimball, Sarah L. Olson, Jay Mechling, Wendy Varney, and Garen […]
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Did you know that Current patrons can now choose to support us annually or monthly? Click the red SUPPORT button to join us with an annual subscription, and get a 10% discount. Existing monthly subscribers who switch to an annual subscription can take advantage of […]
William & Mary’s monument to the enslaved
More and more colleges and universities are coming to grips with their connections to slavery. Here is historian Jody Lynn Allen at Perspectives on History: In the 1930s, William & Mary (W&M) constructed a four-foot brick wall around the oldest […]
What is going on in Nashville? (And why didn’t I know Pat Sajak was the chair of the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees?)
Over at Religion News Service, writer David Dark introduces us to the Nashville “Prayer Trade.” Here are some of the things I learned (or was reminded of) from the piece: Michael W. Smith, Ricky Skaggs, and Steven Curtis Chapman were […]