Well, it looks like Mastriano actually IS running for governor of Pennsylvania! Some context on the ad. Here we go: Michael Sokolove has a nice overview of the Mastriano campaign today at The Atlantic. A taste: Mastriano’s campaign is severely underfunded, […]
What do Americans think about Confederate flags and monuments?
Public Religion Research Institute just released a very revealing study about Confederate flag and Confederate monuments in America. You can read the entire report here. Here are a few of the findings that caught my attention: 72% of Americans believe […]
More John McGreevy on global Catholicism
Check out Carrie Gates’s recent interview with Notre Dame historian John McGreevy. They discuss his new book Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis. A taste: In the book, you address many of the challenges the […]
How turn-of-the-20th-century Italian immigrants were tricked into debt peonage
Writer Brad Ricca tells the story of the Italian immigrants of Sunnyside Plantation in Arkansas. Here is a taste of his piece at The Washington Post: In the early 1900s, a small travel agency in Greenville, Miss., began sending representatives […]
Iliff School of Theology and a book bound with the skin of a murdered Lenape man
I was unaware of this story until I ran across Carol McKinley’s reporting today at The Denver Gazette. I’ll let her explain: Nearly a half-century ago, a patch of human skin, stretched and tanned like an animal hide, was hand-carried to […]
Advanced Placement African American Studies: a progress report
Back in August we brought your attention to Advanced Placement African American Studies. Sixty high schools around the country are piloting this new course during the 2022-2023 academic year. Over at CNN, Brandon Tensley reports on how things are going […]
Evangelical roundup for October 3, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Evangelicals for Lula. The rise of evangelicalism in Argentina. Evangelicals for Chris Jones in Arkansas. Richard Cizik joins an interfaith panel on Christian nationalism. Shane on the death penalty: And Shane’s forthcoming book: Randall […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: “When bad thinking happens to good people” Boys and men are struggling in the United States Newsletters, Substacks, and journalism Steve Futterman reviews John McEuen, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: […]
If elected governor of Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano will ban critical race theory, “pornographic” literature, and “pole dancing” in schools.
Yes, you read that correctly. Here is Alia Shoab at Insider: Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who is the Republican candidate for governor, said he would ban pole dancing in schools if he was elected. “On day one, the sexualization […]
Evangelical leaders on Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s Martha’s Vineyard stunt
Peter Smith of the Associated Press reported on this last month. I must have missed his piece. If you are not familiar with my reference to DeSantis’s “Martha’s Vineyard stunt” get up to speed here. Here are some quotes from […]
Patricia Limerick is fired from the University of Colorado’s Center of the American West
Limerick, arguably the most prominent historian of the American West in the country, is the Center‘s co-founder and has run it for thirty-six years. Here is Jason Blevins at The Colorado Sun: Patty Limerick, an iconic professor, author and scholar […]
What if we took the originalist interpretation of the Constitution to its logical endpoint?
Writer A.J. Jacobs, the author of The Year of Living Biblically, spent one month trying to live by the Constitution “as strictly and literally as possible.” And he did it in New York City no less! Here is a taste […]
David Dark on moral cowardice
Watch:
Why didn’t we impeach and remove this guy from office when we had the chance?
The latest from Trump’s social media platform: This post is inspired by Digby and David French. Here’s French: Of course not everyone agrees with me, Digby, or French.
Hollinger: “Today’s Christian nationalists want to shut down a conversation about what the implications of Christianity might be for the United States.”
Over at Public Seminar, Cal-Berkeley intellectual historian David Hollinger talks with New School historian Claire Potter about his forthcoming book, Christianity’s American Fate: How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular. Here is a taste: CP: You suggested earlier […]
Episode 49: Church Bouncers
A United Church of Christ television ad celebrating inclusion draws heat from the Christian Right. Episode 49: “Church Bouncers’” 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: […]
People bought A LOT of books from religion presses in 2021
Here is Publishers Weekly: According to final statistics from the Association of American Publishers, sales for the religion press category rose 21.9% last year, to $1.42 billion. The increase was the first for religion publishing and followed a 8% decline […]
In a sermon on “defending truth,” Tim Barton makes multiple false claims
The son of Wallbuilders founder David Barton recently gave a rambling “history” sermon at Christian Missions Church in Jacksboro, Texas. This is what can happen when the past is only useful as a form of activism. Here is Barton: Let’s […]
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“ Christopher Shannon, “REVIEW: After Philosophy“ Paul Luikart, “Beach Body, Beat Body“ John Fea, “Seeing New Things, Asking New Questions“ John Fea, […]
Albert Mohler says he would vote for Kari Lake or Doug Mastriano and then tries to explain why he wouldn’t vote for a pro-life candidate who “could not uphold the Constitution.”
Yes, you read the headline correctly. Perhaps you are as confused as I am. Over at The New York Times, Astead Herndon, the son of a Christian pastor and the host of “The Run-Up” podcast, talks about evangelicals, Trumpism, and […]