What is happening in Evangelical land? Evangelical politico Bob Vander Plaats: “Iowa is going to be wide open.” Good advice on how to send money to evangelical groups working in Maui. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is an organization to avoid […]
If it scares you, it must be Marxism
Here is a taste of Ben Burgis‘s piece at Jacobin: Earlier this month, best-selling author Jordan Peterson declared that “climate justice” is “the new guise of murderous Marxism.” The same day, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis appeared at a town hall event […]
Commonplace Book #276
The world of the diversity engineers is a world in which virulent white racism and white supremacist attitudes still reigned unchallenged, a world of victims and victimizers, a world in perpetual recovery, a world of endless slights. Here racist crimes […]
Trump plans to release a 100-page report on the Georgia election fraud claims
If Mike “MyPillow Guy” Lindell appears in the footnotes of this report I don’t know whether I am going to laugh or cry. 🙂 Here Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan at The New York Times: Hours after former President Donald […]
Jenna Ellis’s crowdfunding page and more pro-Trump evangelical responses to the Georgia indictments
Indicted evangelical lawyer Jenna Ellis has established crowdfunding page to help pay for her legal fees. She has already raised over $7000. It appears that Donald Trump’s PAC won’t pay her legal fees because she supports Ron DeSantis. Lance Wallnau […]
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to Donald Trump: “The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen”
Today the governor of Georgia responded to a Trump post on “Truth Social”: Here is Richard Luscombe at The Guardian: Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, insisted on Tuesday that the 2020 presidential election in his state “was not stolen” in […]
Jenna Ellis is not the only religious figure indicted in Georgia
We discussed Jenna Ellis here. Over at Religion News Service, Jack Jenkins has the story of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor Stephen Lee. A taste: While most of those indicted are lawyers or people with close connections to Trump, at least […]
A message from the executive editor of Current
Hey, that’s me! 🙂
The political folly of the Iowa State Fair
Here is a PBS report on the GOP candidates in Iowa:
Trump is indicted for a fourth time. Some responses:
Get up to speed here. The Speaker of the House: Ohio GOP congressman Jim Jordan: Jenna Ellis (INDICTED): Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn: Texas Senator Ted Cruz: Arizona congressman Andy Biggs: California congressman Adam Schiff: Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert: Georgia congresswoman […]
What role should environmental history play at sites devoted to the American Revolution?
Blake McGready is program assistant at the Gotham Center for New York City History and a Ph.D candidate at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Check out his piece at The Panorama on the what he […]
Fulton County, Georgia grand jury indicts Donald Trump. That’s #4. Evangelical lawyer Jenna Ellis also indicted. (UPDATED)
Trump may be done-in by the political philosophy of federalism. Since this Georgia indictment is a state charge, not a federal indictment, Trump cannot pardon himself should he win in 2024. Ironically, it may not be Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, […]
It was only a matter of time before evangelicals turned on Vivek Ramaswamy because of his Hindu faith
I’m no Ramaswamy fan, but he is one of the most interesting candidates in the GOP primary for presidency. I was talking about him to a reporter a few months ago and said that it would only be a matter […]
Finding common ground with book banners
There’s not much common ground to be had, but I appreciate writer Garret Keizer’s piece today at The New York Times. A taste: More than half a century has passed since I graduated from high school, an eon in digital […]
Episode 115: “Evangelicalism: Its Metaphors and Stories”
What is American evangelicalism? In her new book The Evangelical Imagination, Karen Swallow Prior, one of the most careful observers of, and participants in, evangelical life, analyzes the literature, art, and popular culture that has surrounded the movement and unpacks some of […]
Evangelical roundup for August 14, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? Some new research on evangelical women entering the workplace in the 1980s. Climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe on taking the Bible seriously. Bring back love. Why evangelicals still need Jonathan Edwards. The World Evangelical Alliance […]
Former Trump NSA Michael Flynn to pastors: “Put the Bible aside and read the Constitution during some of your sermons”
The latest from the Michael Flynn: I cannot find the context for this talk. Perhaps someone can help me on that front and I will add it to the post. But this is Christian nationalism in its most extreme form. […]
“The notion of a unified Italian culture in America is something of a recent invention.”
Over at The Baffler, Michael Nicholas writes: “Today, as Italian Americans continue marrying non-Italians, and membership in ethnic/fraternal organizations has declined, social media often facilitates the performance of a shared identity.” He’s talking about stuff like this: Here is a […]
Pro-Trump heckler to Mike Pence in Iowa: “You are far from a Christian”
It is not going well for Mike Pence at the Iowa State Fair: During a Q&A session someone asked Pence, “My question is this. Why did you commit treason on Jan. 6.” Watch: Here is USA Today: Former Vice President Mike […]
Do we all need to grow up?
David Brooks thinks so, and he’s probably right. Here is a taste of his recent New York Times column: If I were asked to trace the decline of the American psyche, I suppose I would go to a set of […]