The other day I got a letter in the mail from a Christian non-profit organization that included a tiny American flag on a stick. I took it outside and planted it in a small flower patch in front of my […]
Trump court evangelical Mark Burns advances to a runoff for the GOP nomination in South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District
Readers of this blog know pastor Mark Burns. In July 2016, he offered a prayer at the GOP National Convention. He asked God to defeat the “liberal democrats” and said that the Republican Party is the “conservative party under God.” […]
Anti-abortion advocates want to keep a federal ban on abortion in the GOP platform despite Trump’s views
Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, believes that the issue of abortion in a post-Roe v. Wade America should be decided by the states. In other words, he does not support a federal ban on abortion. But here’s […]
Jimmy Carter approaches 16 months in hospice care
Here is Meghan Overdeep at Southern Living: AsĀ Jimmy CarterĀ nears his 16th month inĀ hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, his grandson, Jason Carter, says thereās āreally been no changeā in the former presidentās condition.Ā Jason, 48, the oldest of […]
Race, Class, and Religion in a Northern New Jersey Town
I had no idea āborn-again Christiansā were living in my midst
A Palestinian Baptist laments the Southern Baptist Convention’s decisions on the Middle East
Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and a member of Amman Baptist Church in Jordan. He runs a news website that covers the Christian community in Jordan and the Palestinian territories. He is also a 1975 graduate of Messiah […]
The Southern Baptist Convention messengers reject the so-called “Law Amendment”
Today at their annual meeting in Indianapolis the Southern Baptist Convention rejected an amendment that would change the denomination’s constitution to clarify that the only kind of church in friendly cooperation with the convention is one that āaffirms, appoints, or […]
Heer: “Unlike Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Donald Trump will never be a traitor to his class. He is, in truth, an accurate embodiment of it.”
According to the BBC, American billionaires are “rallying behind Trump” in the wake of his felony conviction. Jeet Heer of The Nation has some thoughts on that. A taste: Trumpās wealthy supporters are not going to be convinced by the […]
Mike Pence on Joe Biden: “I canāt think of a thing heās done that I agree with”
Mike Pence spoke to the Southern Baptists in Indianapolis today. Here is Adele Banks at Religion News Service: Former Vice President Mike Pence addressed Southern Baptists at a luncheon event focused on public service where he criticized President Joe Biden, […]
If you want to get a sense of the state of conservative Christianity in America, check out the responses to David French’s recent New York Times piece
On Sunday we covered David French’s New York Times piece on getting canceled–literally canceled–by his former church, the Presbyterian Church in America. In that piece, we included some survey data I collected back in 2020 about how Trump, politics generally, […]
“The success narratives of modern liberal life leave little room for having a family.”
Here is Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman at The New York Times: For young, secular, politically progressive men and women, having children has become something of an afterthought. Liberal conventional wisdom encourages people to spend their 20s on journeys of […]
“Donāt want more immigrants in this country? Then tell grandma she can never retire.”
Here is Catherine Rampell at The Washington Post: As IāveĀ noted before, immigrants are driving the U.S. economic boom. That is: The United States has escaped recession, hiring growth has exceeded expectation, and inflation has cooled faster than predicted ā all […]
$4000 for a book review at The New York Review of Books?
Christine Smallwood reflects on the practice of book reviewing. Here is a taste: Whatever is going on in the life of the critic is going to show up in her reading; it canāt not. Reading, writing, and thinking have experiential […]
The director of Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center denounces “moral chaos” at other schools.
You really can’t make this stuff-up. Here is Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana reporting on Ryan Helfenbein’s speech at today’s MAGA-sideshow in Indianapolis. Helfenbein is a Vice President at Liberty University and director of the Standing for Freedom Center at […]
James Lawson training Nashville students in non-resistance
James Lawson passed away today. Here is Lawson training Nashville young people in non-violence. It’s from a documentary titled “A Force More Powerful.”
James Lawson, RIP
Lawson was the non-violent activist who mentored the young men and women involved in the Nashville Student Movement. I had a chance to meet one of his students, Rip Patton, in June 2017. I wrote a little bit about my […]
Ralph Reed explains why the Faith and Freedom Coalition supports Donald Trump
Reed recently talked with Michael Scherer, a political reporter at The Washington Post, about why his organization is endorsing Trump. Here is a taste: MR. SCHERER: I want to start with the news last week. We had the felony conviction […]
Tony Evans: “I am stepping away from my pastoral duties and am submitting to a healing and restoration process established by the elders…”
It looked like the biggest story from Evangelical land today was going to be the annual meetings of the Southern Baptist Convention and Presbyterian Church in America. Then this story broke on the website of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, the […]
Still thinking about voting for Trump in November? Check out his last rally
I realize that most voters already have their minds made up. But if you are still undecided, I would encourage you, especially if you are a Christian, to think about whether you want this guy as your president again. Here […]
Jon Lauck and the history of the Midwest
I recently read Jon Lauck’s excellent history of the 2004 South Dakota Senate race between John Thune and Tom Daschle. Daschle v. Thune: Anatomy of a High-Plains Senate Race is one of the many Lauck books shaping the historical study […]