A few things online that caught my attention this week: Books in 19th-century New York City The end of the world as we know it Andrew Delbanco on reparations for Black Americans David Brooks’s on his taste in music David […]
Way of Improvement
An invitation to think about Current on “Small Business Saturday”
Did you know Current is an LLC? That makes us a small business. I invite you to give this little magazine/website some love tomorrow on “small business Saturday.” Since we launched in April 2021, Current has continued to attract readers and high […]
David French hits back at the “absurdity” of Al Mohler’s attack on him even as evangelical right-wingers try to write him out of Christianity
Earlier this week we called your attention to Al Mohler’s attack on David French. Mohler was very upset with French’s support of the Respect for Marriage Act. Get up to speed here. David French has now hit back against Al […]
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:
More from the “Evangelical Fearmongering 101” syllabus
When Thomas Jefferson was running for president in 1800, Federalist evangelicals claimed that if the Virginian won the election he and his henchman would try to close their churches and confiscate Bibles from their homes. When Irish Catholics started arriving […]
The Plymouth settlers were pilgrims, not patriots
The Pilgrims would not recognize themselves in the rhetoric of so-called Christian patriots. Here is a taste of Wheaton College historian Tracy McKenzie‘s piece at Religion News Service: Certainly, the English Christians we call the Pilgrims were searching for an […]
Robert Jeffress helped stoke the GOP “civil war.” Now he wants no part of it.
Here is Anugrah Kumar’s piece on one of Donald Trump’s most prominent court evangelicals: Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, who was one of the first Evangelical leaders to publicly support former President Donald Trump and attend his rallies during the […]
What if the Christian Right is wrong?
Certainty is a hallmark of the Christian Right and fundamentalist thinking more broadly. There is little place for the mystery of God or words like “maybe” or “perhaps.” I am reminded of N.T. Wright’s words about such dogged commitments to […]
Are evangelicals really abandoning Trump?
The press seems to love this story. Here is The Huffington Post. Here is The Washington Post. Here is Rolling Stone. But are evangelicals really abandoning Trump? It’s too early to tell. James Robison’s comments at National Association of Christian […]
The forgotten virtue of gratitude
Our annual Thanksgiving tradition here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. I wrote this Inside Higher Ed piece on gratitude in November 2008. I have had to remind myself of this piece a lot in the last couple of years.–JF It was a typical […]
Eric Metaxas: “Spokesperson for election fraud conspiracies and an evangelist for a politicized God who would support going to battle for Donald Trump”
“On the Media” podcast tackles Eric Metaxas and Salem Media. It’s well done. The first episode shows how Salem radio hosts who refused to promote Trump were fired from the network. Ben Shapiro (once an anti-Trumper), Joe Walsh, and Michael […]
Allen Guelzo and Jon Meacham at Gettysburg’s Remembrance Day Ceremony
It wasn’t just about Confederates reenactors. Watch:
Is National Conservatism Christian?
Over at The Bulwark, historian Joshua Tait writes, “Christianity’s emphasis on forgiveness, suffering, the meek and poor runs totally counter to the tendencies of the New Right and National Conservatism. Here is a taste of his piece: Within National Conservative […]
David French’s civic pluralism versus Al Mohler’s Christian nationalism
Last week, the Senate advanced the Respect for Marriage Act. The bill legalizes (“provides statutory authority” for) same-sex and interracial marriages. Here is a summary of the bill from Congress.Gov: Specifically, the bill repeals and replaces provisions that define, for […]
The Author’s Corner with Christen T. Sasaki
Christen T. Sasaki is Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. This interview is based on her new book, Pacific Confluence: Fighting over the Nation in Nineteenth-Century Hawai’i (University of California Press, 2022). JF: What […]
The Author’s Corner with Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith is Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Regional Director of Public Programming at Miami University of Ohio. This interview is based on his new book, The Spires Still Point to Heaven: Cincinnati’s Religious Landscape, 1788–1873 (Temple University Press, […]
Confederates at Gettysburg
I was going to take some students in my Civil War America course to Gettysburg this weekend. They were excited about going to the cemetery and reading the Gettysburg Address on November 19, the day it was delivered by Lincoln […]
“Jack Smith makes me look like a golden retriever puppy”
When I first saw this image (above) of the Justice Department’s new special counsel to investigate Donald Trump I thought it was a joke. Why did Merrick Garland appoint Coach Beard from Ted Lasso to prosecute Trump? But it looks […]
Evangelical roundup for November 21, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Mike Huckabee is fired-up about global poverty CBS: American evangelicals and the antiabortion movement in Israel. Evangelicals respond to the possible end of Twitter. Did Trump “use” evangelicals? Election denier David Brody is starting […]
A former Liberty University Dean claims the school fired him after he reported “foul play,” “troubling concerns,” and violations of Christian ethics
John Robert Markley is a Liberty University graduated who worked at the Christian school as an assessment coordinator, New Testament professor, and, most recently, Administrative Dean for Academic Operations. He claims that when, beginning in 2018, he blew the whistle […]