As animated programs for kids and adults become more inclusive, conservative evangelicals fight back. Episode 51: “’The Politics of Tinky Winky;’’ dropped today. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above have access to new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is...
Christian Right
Who is Donald Trump’s white supremacist dinner guest?
His name is Nick Fuentes. Here is Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer at the The New York Times: Former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday night had dinner with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and racist who is one of...
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...
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...
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...
Court evangelical James Robison: Trump acted “like a little elementary schoolchild”
The Washington Post is covering a speech by the seventy-nine-year-old James Robison at the November 16 meeting of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers. Read the Post piece here. According to its website, the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL)...
Why last night’s Mike Pence interview was so hard to watch
In case you missed it, CNN hosted a townhall conversation with former vice president Mike Pence. Jake Tapper hosted the event and Pence took questions from the audience. Pence is clearly positioning himself for a presidential run in 2024 and...
The conservative Calvinists who believe women should not have the right to vote
Over at The Roys Report, Steve Rabey has a piece about the disciples of Moscow, Idaho pastor Doug Wilson who believe that the United States made a mistake when it gave women the right to vote. Here is a taste:...
Mean evangelicals
Here is Kelsey Dallas at Deseret News: As a prominent religion scholar and practicing Christian, Richard Mouw is often asked to explain people of faith’s behavior in the public square. More specifically, he is asked why his fellow evangelicals seem...
In a wild conversation, Michelle Bachman and Eric Metaxas claim elections were stolen yesterday
The conspiracy continues! In this interview, Metaxas says that after last night’s election it is time for Christians to think more deeply about the “biblical view of stealing.” Michelle Bachmann, the former congresswoman and presidential candidate who now serves as...
Shapiro defeats Mastriano. Here is what Mastriano’s followers are saying
It was never really close. Let’s face it, Mastriano had no chance. It was foolish for the Pennsylvania GOP voters to pick him as his candidate. He is too extreme for Pennsylvania. His candidacy speaks volumes about the state of...
Fearmongering 101
Trump court evangelical Jim Garlow recently wrote an election piece at Charisma magazine. He says that charismatic Christians (the readers of Charisma) should vote for Democrats if they want: HT: Kyle Mantyla This sounds a lot like what the Federalists...
What MAGA Christians are saying about the Paul Pelosi attack
We covered some of the original reactions to the attack on Paul Pelosi over the weekend, but in the last couple days the rhetoric of the Trump evangelicals is getting worse. If you want to understand how the pursuit of...
Eric Metaxas believes Rick Warren, Tim Keller, and Andy Stanley are “Hitler’s favorite kind of pastors”
Eric Metaxas is hawking a book that condemns evangelicals for failing to stand-up to Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. He compares Biden and the Democrats to Adolph Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s and is using his widely...
Evangelical leaders, including Mark Driscoll, anoint Kari Lake with oil
In case you haven’t heard of Kari Lake, she is running for governor of Arizona. She has the endorsement of Donald Trump. She is also an anti-masker, anti-vaxxer, and 2020 election denier. She believes that the Biden administration is advancing...
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...
“I think we have yet to find the limits, or the bottom, of who and what White evangelicals might justify in their allegiance to Trump and the Republican Party.”
The quote in the title is from Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. It comes from an interview with Jennifer Rubin...
Doug Mastriano’s Christian nationalism
The guy running for governor of Pennsylvania on the GOP ticket says that he is not a Christian nationalist. But if I were to name one person who best embodies Christian nationalism in American politics right now I would pick...
Episode 50: “Happy Birthday Jesus!”
The Christian Right tries to “put the Christ back in Christmas” Episode 50: “’Happy Birthday Jesus!;’’” 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: If you like...
Interview with Frank News
Frank News brings context to a 24/7 news cycle through conversation — free of armchair experts, revisionism, and moralizing. I had a great experience working with Tatti Riberio and Noelle Forougi. Here is a taste of the interview: The preoccupation...