Although I didn’t need Donald Trump to remind me. As someone who has a life — a Christian, a historian, someone who roots for the Phillies, a lover of cats, a devotee of Coen Brothers movies, happily married — I never assumed that one part of me spoke for the entire mmmeeeeEE. That’s why I also balked at the evangelical version of identity politics — my religious identity must somehow follow me wherever I go — into the classroom, into... Read more
Just when you thought it was safe to pick up a newspaper, out comes the story that Billy Graham and his family are not all that they have appeared to be: Billy and Ruth Graham had five children, and many of their descendants work in ministry, including Billy Graham’s daughter Anne Graham and Franklin Graham’s son Will Graham, who are popular evangelists. Their grandson Boz Tchividjian works to combat child sex abuse in churches as head of a ministry called... Read more
A story on president-elect Trump’s “extreme” policies included this fear-mongering observation about a charter school that does promotes sexual restraint: Charter schools created with the help of the Barney Initiative are also proving to be an ideal vehicle for evading laws enforcing separation of church and state. Since my investigation into the opening of a Barney-related charter in Colorado called Golden View Classical Academy, an independent news outlet in that state confirms the school indeed provides students a religion-based curriculum... Read more
I know what I am going to do. I am going to read James Wood’s marvelous essay about the death of his mother (who was a school teacher) and remind the audience that the way to make a real difference in life is not with the big but the ordinary occupations and callings. Not only did Mrs. Wood inspire and shape her son who writes for the New Yorker and teaches at Harvard, but also the poet, Katrina Porteous (the... Read more
Journalists have had some ‘splainin’ to do of late after the presidential contest, accusations of media bias, and worries about fake news. Some of us (okay, me) are also concerned that reporters who cover religion choose stories that are more endearing to editors than actually cover what’s happening. Case in point: Jonathan Merritt and his recent chiding of the Southern Baptist Convention for those critics in its ranks who objected to Russell Moore’s anti-Trump statements during the campaign: In recent... Read more
Dave Barry showed the sort of humor that so escaped many full-time journalists, but his asides about technology amid his overview of the presidential campaign are worth repeating: In a fad even stupider than “planking,” millions of people wasted millions of hours, and sometimes risked their lives, trying to capture imaginary Pokémon Go things on their phones, hoping to obtain the ultimate prize: a whole bunch of imaginary Pokémon Go things on their phones. . . . We continued to... Read more
The following reaction to Donald Trump’s victory is a little dated, but it does illustrate the aspect of the Trump candidacy that was so fascinating — to see academics and journalists do their impersonations of Jerry Falwell (the elder) and James Dobson: And so here we are, at the end of what the New York Times recently called an “exhausting parade of ugliness”. That’s an apt description – but this particular parade has now been extended by at least four... Read more
Americans have heard a lot about the dangers of fake news of late and before that some were treated to the benefits that come from historical inquiry. Much of this introspection stemmed from — you guessed it — what to do about Donald Trump. I myself have asserted that narratives are much more important than news. In fact, most journalists regularly insert the word “narrative” into their own analysis of the news. So when the story line emerges that evangelicals... Read more
As much as Daniel Williams bent over backwards to be sensitive to opponents shocked by pro-life terminology, his efforts paid dividends in the review Defenders of the Unborn received in the hallowed pages of elite journalism: Among those of us who wish to protect access to abortion, it’s easy to feel that “right to life” language is a cover for an attack on feminism. It’s a feeling supported by a common story about history: The anti-abortion movement began after Roe... Read more
Readers of the historiography of religion in the United States might have sensed a cultural wave that Donald Trump’s candidacy caught if they read Daniel K. Williams fine history of the pro-life movement, Defenders of the Unborn. Before even getting to the history, Williams felt compelled to explain his words and perform a kind of mea culpa: To a degree than most other historical topics, the debate over abortition is an issue of current political controversy with deep convictions on... Read more
Putting the Protest in Protestant
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