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) […]
evangelicals and politics
What are the court evangelicals saying about Trump’s announcement last night?
Unfamiliar with the term court evangelical? Read this. It is worth noting that Trump said nothing about evangelicals and very little about the moral issues they deem important during his speech last night. I did not see many court evangelicals […]
Why would Mastriano concede the election to Satan?
As I write this at 1:30am ET, Doug Mastriano has yet to concede the election to Mastriano. The election wasn’t close. It will be difficult for Mastriano to make a case for election fraud. As I have already noted, Mastriano […]
Metaxas says Biden and Pelosi are not Catholics and anyone who believes otherwise are buying into a “lie” from the “pit of hell”
Metaxas showed-up at a Trump rally in LaTrobe this weekend. The Biden and Pelosi stuff starts at the 2:38 mark: My “favorite” part of this interview is at the 3:10 mark when the Trump-loving Metaxas says that “when somebody lies […]
For MAGA Christians, it doesn’t matter if the founding fathers’ quote they use is true, as long as it rallies the base
Dutch Sheets is a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation, a brand of charismatic evangelicalism that powers the Christian MAGA movement. Sheets leads pro-Trump prayer tours around the country, travels around with Lance Wallnau, Charlie Kirk and others where he […]
The “amoral Trump clown show” that Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and others are passing off as a religious revival
Last week I devoted my weekly Current column to the meaning of Christian baptism and the way the pro-Trump ReAwaken America tour was desecrating that sacred Christian rite. Today at Religion News Service, writer Jacob Lupfer tells us more about […]
What are evangelical pundits and politicians saying about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband?
In case you missed it, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was cracked over the head with a hammer by an intruder in their San Francisco home. The intruder shouted “Where’s Nancy?” (This, by the way, was the same thing that […]
Should America be a Christian nation?
45% of Americans say the United States should be a Christian nation, according to a new study from Pew Research. An even higher number–60%–believe that the founding fathers “originally intended” for the United States to be a Christian nation. And […]
The Nixon Library has released another recording in which Billy Graham and Richard Nixon discuss Jews and the “Synagogue of Satan”
Back in September we called your attention to a 1972 conversation between Billy Graham and Richard Nixon that was, according to researcher Mike Hertenstein, “quietly posted on the Nixon Library website.” The conversation reveals Graham talking about Jews as part […]
Is November 2022 the most important election since 1850?
As I type this, I am watching presidential historian Jon Meacham on CNN. He is saying that the 2022 midterm elections are the most important elections since the 1850s. Why? Because the rule of law is on the ballot. Michael […]
What happened to Michael Flynn?
Here is Peter Wehner at The Atlantic: A prayer at a “ReAwaken America” event in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a few days ago, at which Michael Flynn appeared, captured the sensibilities of this moment: “Father God, we come to you in the name of […]
“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 […]
How can evangelicals help to preserve democracy during this election season?
Current contributing editor Daniel K. Williams offers some helpful advice. Here is a taste of his piece at Christianity Today: Harvard historian James Kloppenberg, author of Toward Democracy, argued that democracy in the US will succeed only if parties on both […]
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 […]
The Christian Right rallies around Herschel Walker
Here is Brian Kaylor at Word & Way: On the morning after an explosive news report that U.S. Senate hopeful Herschel Walker paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, the Georgia Republican attended a closed prayer event at First Baptist Church in […]
Hollinger: “Today’s Christian nationalists want to shut down a conversation about what the implications of Christianity might be for the United States.”
Over at Public Seminar, Cal-Berkeley intellectual historian David Hollinger talks with New School historian Claire Potter about his forthcoming book, Christianity’s American Fate: How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular. Here is a taste: CP: You suggested earlier […]
Episode 49: Church Bouncers
A United Church of Christ television ad celebrating inclusion draws heat from the Christian Right. Episode 49: “Church Bouncers’” 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: […]
Albert Mohler says he would vote for Kari Lake or Doug Mastriano and then tries to explain why he wouldn’t vote for a pro-life candidate who “could not uphold the Constitution.”
Yes, you read the headline correctly. Perhaps you are as confused as I am. Over at The New York Times, Astead Herndon, the son of a Christian pastor and the host of “The Run-Up” podcast, talks about evangelicals, Trumpism, and […]
Episode 48: The Christian Right Against Arlen Specter
Evangelical Bush supporters are angry at the new chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Episode 48: “The Christian Right Against Arlen Specter’” dropped today. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above have access to new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here […]