Trump. Race. COVID. #MeToo. Evangelical congregations will never be the same again. There is no back to “normal.” Reform is needed. Thanks to the reporting of Kate Shellnut at Christianity Today, we now know a lot more about what is […]
empathy
Michelle Obama’s DNC convention speech was deeply Christian
After the first night of the Democratic National Convention I tuned into Fox News. Laura Ingraham was on the air and, as might be expected, she was trashing the convention. I stopped watching after about forty minutes of analysis from […]
When the *imago Dei* gets politicized
I have noticed a lot of conversation of late about the Judeo-Christian idea that human beings are created in the “image of God” (imago Dei). In his speech at Mount Rushmore last weekend, Donald Trump said “Every child, of every […]
Thinking historically about Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech
A lot of conservatives liked Trump’s speech on Friday night. I am told that The Wall Street Journal gave it a positive review. I commented on the speech here, but I thought I would say a few more things about Trump’s […]
A Time for Empathy, A Time for History
I published this piece at The Christian Century on July 12, 2016. It seems relevant today: On Sunday, after a tragic week of race-related killings in Dallas, Minneapolis, and Baton Rouge, I took a seat in my white evangelical middle-class […]
Tonight in the Rose Garden and at St. John’s Church, Trump Announced His 2020 Re-Election Strategy
It’s hard to know where to start writing about what we all just witnessed earlier this evening. Donald Trump was scheduled to speak in the Rose Garden at 6:30pm. Shortly before his speech, Attorney General Bill Barr came out to […]
When a Populist President Can’t Offer the People “an honest basis for hope.”
What happens when a president with a strong base among white working class people is incapable of cultivating empathy and hope in a time of crisis? Here is Juliette Kayyem at The Atlantic: In a crisis as severe as the […]
From the Mailbag: Help a History Teacher Address Difficult Sources With Students
A high school teacher, who is very up-to-date on recent scholarship in history teaching and learning, writes: I’m writing to ask if you have or know of any resources our department can use as we craft a statement and collect possible […]
Out of the Zoo: “I Am A Man”
Annie Thorn is a sophomore history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan and our intern here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. As part of her internship she is writing a weekly column titled “Out of the Zoo.” It focuses on life as […]
Out of the Zoo: “A Perfect Fit”
Annie Thorn is a sophomore history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan and our intern here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. As part of her internship she is writing a weekly column for us titled “Out of the Zoo.” It focuses on […]
“Out of the Zoo” is Back!
Annie Thorn is a sophomore history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan and our intern here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. As part of her internship she is writing a weekly column for us titled “Out of the Zoo.” It focuses on […]
Garrison Keillor on Plaza Life
Another great piece from Garrison Keillor: There has been a proliferation of plazas in the past twenty years, here in New York City but also elsewhere in America, even in Minnesota, where I’m from. Maybe in the zoning laws there […]
Searching for Roots in San Felice-Circeo
Last week I visited, for the first time, the place where my paternal grandfather was born. San Felice-Circeo is an Italian village (comune) on the Mediterranean (Tyrrhenian) Sea about 100 km south of Rome. In the 1930s Mussolini claimed large […]
History as “Moral Science”
Check out this article on Mark Peterson, author of The City-State of Boston and history professor at Yale. A taste: Yale historian Mark Peterson believes that history is best told by abiding by the Golden Rule. The accurate representation of the past is “a kind […]
Out of the Zoo: “Special Olympics”
Annie Thorn is a first-year history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan and our intern here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. As part of her internship she will be writing a weekly column for us titled “Out of the Zoo.” It will […]
Out of the Zoo: “Listening Ears”
Annie Thorn is a first-year history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan and our intern here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. As part of her internship she will be writing a weekly column for us titled “Out of the Zoo.” It will […]
What if Trump Were a Democrat?
George Marsden teaches us all an important lesson in historical empathy. Here is a taste of his guest post at The Anxious Bench: For those who are (as I am) puzzled and sometimes troubled by how so many fellow believers […]
More on Empathy and Disgust (and Lament)
Some of you will remember my response to Elesha Coffman’s blog post about Robert Orsi’s recent plenary address at the biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith and History. Here is a taste of that post: Count me as one […]
In Defense of Empathy
In a recent post at The Anxious Bench, Elesha Coffman of Baylor University asks, “Why was [Robert] Orsi, whose scholarly home is the American Academy of Religion, giving a plenary at the C[onference on] F[aith and H[istory]?” As the person who […]
Should Conservative Professors Be Leading the Way in Identity Politics?
Jon Shields, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, thinks that conservative professors should embrace identity politics. Here is a taste of his piece at The Dallas Morning News: When I was in college, I took a class in logic. There […]