The Graham-Nixon conversations were much worse than we originally thought. In late July 2018, the full conversation of a 1972 Billy Graham-Richard Nixon conversation was, according to researcher Mike Hertenstein, “quietly posted on the Nixon Library website.” It was labeled...
John Haas
Biden speaks to the nation on Afghanistan
I appreciate Biden’s defense of the withdrawal last night. This is a very presidential speech. The buck stops with Biden and he comes across as a leader of conviction. As Current writer and historian John Haas wrote yesterday on my...
“Processing ten years of denial in ten hours is rough”
I am still processing everything that happened in Afghanistan over the course of the last several days. At the moment, I am asking the same question everyone else is asking: Why didn’t Biden do a better job evacuating Americans and...
What should we make of today’s Supreme Court decision on religious liberty in New York?
Today the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the state of New York cannot limit attendance in houses of worship. Here is NPR: Gorsuch filed an unusually acerbic concurring opinion, blasting not only Governor Cuomo but also Chief...
Jesus HAS Vaccinated Us
But not in the way some Christians think He has. Listen here to historian John Haas’s short coronavirus meditation....
Blame China? Jesus Doesn’t Play That Game
Earlier today I wrote a post about how the court evangelicals were pushing Trump to exact revenge against China for its role in the spread of coronavirus to U.S. shores. Read it here. Christian historian John Haas recently published his...
Should Churches Speak-Out Against Trump in the Same Way that *Christianity Today* Has Done?
John Haas of Bethel University (IN) responds on Facebook to my post “Civility and the Search for Common Ground Are Important, But Sometimes We Need a Prophetic Witness“: So, if this “spade” is what you say, is it enough for...
Beto O’Rourke: Churches and Religious Institutions Should Lose Tax-Exempt Status If They “Oppose Same Sex Marriage”
Here is Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke on CNN last night: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR02Kf4wS_0&w=560&h=315] Every Democratic candidate for President of the United States should be asked this question. I have always appreciated Beto’s sense of conviction, but I hope he rethinks...
The Fox News Crowd Doesn’t Like Obama’s Use of the Phrase “Easter Worshippers”
Here is Obama’s tweet in the wake of the attacks on Sri Lankan Christians who were worshipping on Easter Sunday: The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to...
“Maybe for a Moment There We Did Get Close to Being a Christian Nation”
John Haas sends along the title of this post and the image below: Oklahoma City Times, November 12, 1918:...
This is Huuuuuuge! Believe Me!
Forget about that Mark Noll endorsement. This is bigly! Thanks, John Haas. Don’t forget to pre-order....
“Evangelicals are assuming that God is intent on investing the church with worldly security and strength”
Dick Polman tweets: If, hypothetically, the WSJournal had outed Prez Obama for screwing a porn star and had unearthed a $130,000 hush payment; and if, hypothetically, it turned out that his ’08 campaign had been involved in the payment…how do...
More Thoughts on the U.S. Survey
On Saturday we ran a post titled “How to Fix the U.S. History Survey Course: ‘Reimagine Everything.” One of the comments on that post came from veteran U.S. survey instructor John Haas, Professor of History at Bethel College in Indiana. ...
A Reader Responds to My Post on Russell Moore’s “Wall Street Journal” Piece on Religious Liberty
John Haas is one of the many thoughtful readers of The Way of Improvement Leads Home, but unless you also follow me on Facebook you often don’t get to read his insightful commentary. (John seldom, if ever, posts in the...