Speaker of the House Mike Johnson knows what we all know about Donald Trump: And I could go on. I know how many Trump evangelicals will respond to these claims. They will say something like, “I am voting for a […]
evangelicals and politics
Donald Trump’s Wildwood, New Jersey rally was characterized by vulgarity, personal attacks, and even a pro-Hannibal Lecter reference. His evangelical supporters are silent.
My Italian grandparents spent a week or two in Wildwood, New Jersey for decades. They drove three hours down the Garden State Parkway to this honky-tonk shore town because they enjoyed sitting on the beach, walking the boardwalk, and spending […]
Nancy French, Ghosted—a conservative, interrupted
Nancy French’s memoir is a story of God showing love to the weak and redeeming creation while also calling fallible people to restore justice already here on earth.
Trump takes a pro-choice position on abortion. Tells everyone to “follow their heart.” Some evangelical leaders respond, but most show no outrage.
This morning Donald Trump announced that abortion was a decision best left up to the people in the states. Watch: Two quick thoughts: The Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America came out quickly this morning with this: “We are deeply disappointed […]
Franklin Graham praises Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his “honesty”
In case you missed it, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an independent, told CNN’s Erin Barnett that Joe Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Donald Trump. Watch: Franklin Graham liked what he heard: […]
Jesus and the powers
I am looking forward to reading N.T. Wright’s and Michael Bird’s new book Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies. This morning I got a small taste of the argument as […]
“The Church of Trump”
Check out Michael Bender’s New York Times piece on how Trump is infusing Christianity into his MAGA movement. Here is a taste: Mr. Trump’s braiding of politics and religion is hardly a new phenomenon. Christianity has long exerted a strong […]
Liberty University students come to Washington D.C. to engage with Trump’s congressional surrogates
The students–hundreds of them–heard speeches by Marsha Blackburn, Bob Goode, Tom Emmer, Lauren Boebert, Tom Cotton, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Speaker Mike Johnson, and others. New president, same old stuff. Here is the Liberty website: Hundreds […]
The 19% are still here!
Back in 2018, I wrote Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump. I dedicated the book “To the 19 percent.” This, of course, is a reference to the 19% of white evangelical Christian voters who did not vote for […]
North Carolina Republicans pick Mark Robinson as their gubernatorial candidate
In November 2024, voters in the North Carolina governor’s race will have the opportunity to vote for a man who: His name is Mark Robinson and he currently holds the position of Lieutenant Governor. Tonight he won the The Tar […]
Eric Metaxas: “We are beyond politics”
Eric Metaxas believes the country has moved “beyond politics.” It’s now an all-out spiritual war. Here is one his latest tweets: He believes Joe Biden is a murderer: In this interview, Metaxas and conservative journalist Megan Basham go after Russell […]
South Dakota Senator John Thune is the latest evangelical to jump on the Trump train
Yet another evangelical leader has endorsed a candidate for president who instigated an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, is under indictment on 91 felony charges, and sexually assaulted and defamed a woman in a New York department store dressing room. […]
“Christian nation idea fuels US conservative causes, but historians say it misreads founders’ intent”
Happy to help Associated Press religion reporter Peter Smith with this piece. A taste: Those arguing for a Christian America are generally not historians and not really talking about history — they’re talking politics, said John Fea, author of the […]
My Christianity Today review of Rob Reiner’s new film on Christian nationalism
Reiner’s “God and Country” drops today. Christianity Today asked me to review it. Here is a taste of my review: Heave an egg out a Pullman window,” social critic H. L. Mencken famously said in 1925, “and you will hit […]
A quick primer on the Senate border bill
On Sunday, Senate negotiators released the text of a $118 billion bipartisan bill to reform the country’s immigration policies. The negotiators were Jim Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), and Krysten Sinema (I-Arizona). Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of […]
The GOP’s new culture war is not about the evangelicals
The NH primary results show that evangelicals are not the central factor in Trump’s rise.
Alienated America for Trump? Timothy Carney on 2016 and 2024
Tim Carney’s Alienated America explained the support for Trump in particular counties in 2016. Does this analysis still hold for 2024?
Blame Christians for Trump? Not so fast: Seven of ten in a theologically Reformed area did not vote for him
Iowa caucus results suggest a different story than today’s standard one about Christians leading the way in support of Trump.
Mitt Romney: Some Trump voters are “are out of touch with reality”
Earlier this week I received a query from a journalist who covers the United States for a conservative Protestant daily newspaper in the Netherlands affiliated with the Calvinist Reformed Political Party. (Follow the links to the paper and its party. […]
On the “deification of Donald Trump”
Check out Thomas Edsall’s column today at The New York Times. I was happy to contribute to it. A taste: In recent weeks, for example, the former president posted a video called “God Made Trump” on Truth Social that was […]