Here is the video of the AHA “History Behind the Headlines” series. Glad to join Jim Grossman, Jon Butler, Holly Brewer, and Heath Carter for this discussion:
God and country
The 70th anniversary of “under God”
Happy Flag Day! Seventy years ago today–June 14, 1954–the words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Brian Kaylor has the full story at Baptist News Global. Here is a taste: George Docherty was a progressive Presbyterian ministerĀ serving […]
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 […]
What’s going on at Charlie Kirk’s MAGA pastorfest?
MAGA pastors are in San Diego this weekend as part of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Faith event. Get up to speed here. Here’s what has happened so far: Let’s begin with Charlie Kirk. He is suggesting that evangelicals missed out […]
Breaking the “pseudo-revival” of Christian nationalism
This tweet comes from Pentecostal theologian Cheryl Bridges Johns and it speaks volumes. The Christian nationalist revivals that we see. for example. at Robert Jeffress’s First Baptist Church every Fourth of July are full of hubris and the celebration of […]
Was America founded as a Christian nation? Historian Allen Guelzo weighs-in
Here is the prize-winning historian at John Piper’s Desiring God website: John Randolph of Roanoke (1773ā1833) had no confidence that America was, or ever had been, a Christian republic. Six months after the close of the War of 1812 ā […]
Donald Trump Jr. is hawking a Bible
Act quickly. I imagine these “We the People” Bibles will sell out faster than the Trump digital trading cards and the Trump-King Cyrus prayer coins. š Here is Donald Jr.: For $69.99 you can buy a King James Version of […]
Sean Feucht leads 1000s of MAGA evangelicals in “striking the ground” for “victory” on Tuesday.
When ice cream mixes with horse manure is it still ice cream? When Christianity mixes with politics is it still Christianity? Here is evangelical worship leader Sean Feucht in Branson, Missouri at the latest stop on the 2022 ReAwaken America […]
How do evangelicals understand “Christian nationalism?”
Daniel Silliman has some nice reporting on this at Christianity Today. A taste: Caleb Campbell didnāt know he needed the term Christian nationalism. Heād heard it, here and there, but it hadnāt really registered. It was at the edge of his […]
Interview with Frank News
Frank News brings context to a 24/7 news cycle through conversation ā 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 […]
More on Doug Mastriano’s Christian nationalism
I was glad to help WITF’s Sam Dunklau with this story. Listen here: Or read the longer piece here. A taste: As state budget talks went into overtime last month, a dozen or so Republican lawmakers gathered in front of […]
Evangelical pastors running for office
The Washington Post video team is running a mini-documentary on pastors running for political office. The piece features Cameron McGill, a Bladen County Commissioner and pastor of White Lake Church. McGill was “recruited and trained” by the American Renewal Project. […]
Is there a difference between an evangelical worship service and a right-wing political rally?
Sometimes it’s really hard to tell. Here is Elisabeth Dias and Ruth Graham at The New York Times: They opened with an invocation, summoning Godās āhedge of thorns and fireā to protect each person in the dark Phoenix parking lot. […]
Resounding gongs and clanging symbols at Charlie Kirk’s “America Fest”
Charlie Kirk’s pro-Trump, God and country organization Turning Point USA recently hosted a conference called “America Fest.” Thousands of college students, fresh off of final exams, showed-up in Phoenix to attend the event. Let’s see how things went: Colorado congresswoman […]
If you want to get a sense of how many white evangelicals understand American history, check out megachurch pastor Jack Hibbs’s Facebook page
We have written about Hibbs before. He is the vaccine mandate-hating, Larry Elder-loving, pro-Trumper who pastors Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California. Over the last several years, Hibbs seems to have become a bit of a history buff. In a […]
The “ultimate American Bible”
Some of you recall Jay Green’s Current piece “Lee Greenwood Christianity.” Read it here. Over at Slate, Molly Olmstead reports on the Greenwood-inspired God Bless the USA Bible. Here is a taste: In May, controversy over ātheĀ ultimate American Bibleā briefly […]
Anyone who wants to believe that Independence Day is a Christian holiday should read Frederick Douglass’s “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” David Barton speaks at First Baptist-Dallas.
Yesterday was “Freedom Sunday” at First Baptist-Dallas. I have commented on this yearly service several times. Read my commentary here and here and here. My position on these patriotic services has not changed. In the past, First Baptist-Dallas pastor Robert […]
More on the evangelical Trumpers in Orlando this weekend: Ted Cruz confirms his Dominionism and Mike Pence gets heckled.
I am trying to stay up-to-speed on this evangelical Lost Cause conference known as The Road to Majority. Read our first post here. Here is Ted Cruz: Some responses: What Cruz is doing here is political fundamentalism It is one […]