This has been an active summer for me, one that I did not anticipate, and I have not even written yet about my family trip to Japan! Recently I have read some new books on Latino politics and Christianity that I would like to highlight and connect it to two events: a new paper that was published and a somewhat formative moment in my life. First, I worked with a couple of my students on a research project this summer... Read more
In the spring semester, I did a bit of research towards a project that while a bit outside my wheelhouse, is influencing my methodologies in ways I think are interesting and important. I’ll be presenting a version of this project at a conference this fall, and I thought I might introduce a bit of it here also. This will be part one of a series over the next couple months where I explain my process and introduce pieces of what... Read more
Americans were expecting this presidential election year to be full of “unprecedented” events, and the news headlines have not disappointed. (I’m not even going to begin to include links!) But on top of the political spectacles, court rulings, and the flood of campaigning hyperbole and misrepresentations, it also seems to be an exceptionally emotional presidential election year for Americans. What I mean by “emotional” is the wide range of emotions, from being totally “checked out” to being very excited, with... Read more
Rachel Dobkin interviewed me in May for a Newsweek article that published this past Sunday entitled “Conservative Campuses Are Facing Cancel Culture Problems.” Dobkin discovered my story through the encouragement of Matt Warner and Karen Prior, who had read my Anxious Bench column in early May on my departure from Wheaton College, “And Come to the Defense of Those Targeted.” I voluntarily brought my story to Dobkin, shared with her for over an hour on the phone, and continued email... Read more
I love the story of an underdog. I find myself drawn to histories and narratives of folks who were disadvantaged but made good anyway. I’m not sure if it is particular to U.S. culture, or if it is connected to the mythologies scholars have noticed transcend geography, but it does seem that many of us enjoy the heroic narrative of the little guy (usually an actual male) making good and coming out triumphant over their enemies or obstacles. We associate... Read more
My last post explored how America’s imperial expansion reshaped its attitude to other religions, which were commonly viewed according to some grim racial stereotypes. Specifically I looked at how visions of Voodoo affected views of Black Americans, and that stereotype extended to Black variants of Islam. In fact, there is a lot more to say about those imperially-formed visions of Islam. The American encounter with Islam must be seen in the larger context of the European imperial project, which for... Read more
Summer for many academics means visiting archives or writing, and I’m certainly not an exception to that rule. As I’ve been working through the (many) archival photos I took last summer and writing on a book project on emotions in medieval York, I’ve spent a lot of my summer thinking about the ways that the teachings and preaching we listen to shapes our assumptions, actions, and emotions. A March study highlighted the fact that fewer Americans attend church at all... Read more
A couple of weeks ago, browsing books in a thrift store (one of my favorite decompressing pastimes), I came across an odd book I’d never seen before: Pat Robertson’s America’s Dates with Destiny. Published by Thomas Nelson in 1986, the book opens with a lament of “revisionist” history (apparently unaware of its own openly revisionary frame!). “Public school students,” Robertson claims, “can go twelve years of elementary and high school and another four years of college without one lesson featuring... Read more
A gecko popped its head over the open window to peer at us, its bright green throat tracking its heartbeat. My children squealed with delight as it crept cautiously toward a violet flower balanced on the white windowsill. Rising on its hind legs, the gecko delicately leaned against the rounded glass vase. Through the open window, the wide expanse of Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island spread out below us. It was here that Captain James Cook, a surveyor in... Read more
Empires affect religions and religious life in many ways, often unintentional, and the American empire was no different from its counterparts. I have described how, on occasion, metropolitan populations are influenced by the religions of subject peoples, and actually adopt them. But a quite different response was also possible, namely that ruling groups are appalled and disgusted by what they encounter on the frontiers of empire, and that reaction affects their attitude to quite separate kinds of religious behavior. Stereotypes... Read more
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