In the wake of the election of Donald Trump with the strong support of white evangelical and other conservative white Christians, my organization, PRRI, released last week our annual update of the largest ongoing study of Christian nationalism ever conducted….
Why you should care about the Kennedy Center board
The arts — in whatever form they take — play an important role in all societies. In fact, archeologists often look to the artistic and cultural remnants of a society to understand what it valued and believed. In addition to…
When a church’s sexual abuse is so pernicious the church should close
“The nation of Israel was born because Joseph went to prison,” former IHOPKC pastor Mike Bickle told the congregation in what would become his final sermon in October 2023. “He’s thrown in prison because of the betrayal of his brothers.”…
She’s baaaaaack!
It’s February 2025 and Paula White is back at the White House. On Feb. 7 at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump announced the (re)creation of the White House Faith Office, to be led by White. She also led…
Delivering the nation’s health care into the hands of anti-vaxxers is the wrong decision
When I was pregnant with our twins, I read stacks of books on “what to expect when you’re expecting.” (I’ve since discovered, with twins always expect the unexpected.) One well-marked book in my stack was about childhood vaccinations. It was…
Why Trump seeks to create a government of one person
“Do you believe I am unwittingly supporting the Antichrist?” Benjamin Cole asked BNG Executive Director Mark Wingfield in perhaps the most contentious episode of BNG’s “Stuck in the Middle with You” podcast to date. In an hour-long conversation on current politics, the…
Trump’s plan to fight antisemitism is more authoritarianism
It is a documented fact that antisemitism is on the rise not only in the United States but globally. Donald Trump has a plan to fight this: Deport university students. Amid the flurry of executive orders flying out of the…
Following Leonard Leo’s dark money in pushing America to the far right
Last summer, I did a deep dive into the organizations connected to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and the entities that fund them. In doing so, I learned much about the network of dark money shaping our shared political and…
How ‘flood-the-zone’ politics is changing democracy and ministry
The “flood-the-zone” strategy is not new, but it is wildly effective. How can we understand its effect on churches and ministers? The immediate aim of President Donald Trump’s White House is to keep journalists off balance, news and social media…
MAGA ramps up attacks on US Christian groups
Donald Trump and his allies are widening their attacks on religious groups compassionate toward immigrants, refugees, the poor and LGBTQ people. The Catholic and Episcopal churches have faced the heat from the MAGA movement for some time and are again…
Here’s what tax dollars will fund with the Texas school voucher bill
With proposed legislation to create school vouchers in Texas, a majority of taxpayer money could go to private schools that teach anti-science ideas and young-earth creationism. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has made “school choice” his mission over the last few…
American values and a tale of two islands
In a move that is more publicity stunt than workable policy, President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to prepare to house tens of thousands of “criminal aliens” at the Navy base at Guantánamo Bay. “We have 30,000 beds in…