When Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, plowed his truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve — killing at least 15 people — Fox News and leading MAGA politicians immediately unleashed a targeted lie: “An illegal…
My quest to find the origins of the term ‘conservative resurgence’
A few months ago, a former colleague published a video blog in which he confessed he fears he accidentally coined the term “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention. That sent me digging into the depths of the internet and…
Tucker Carlson seeing demons in his bedroom is not a good sign
Tucker Carlson claims he was “physically assaulted” by a demon in his bedroom. The deposed Fox News host made this news public in a documentary, Christianities?, hosted by John Heers and directed by Scooter Downey, an Eastern Orthodox Christian who served as…
When flat earthers and creationists find common ground
It was hyped as “The Final Experiment.” Led by pastor Will Duffy of Agape Kingdom Fellowship in Wheat Ridge, Colo., a group of people who believed in a flat earth and others who believed in a global earth traveled to Union…
Beware the billionaires who promise to make America great
The growing number of billionaires joining the Trump administration seemed humorous at first. “How many billionaires does it take to change a light bulb at the White House?” None. Billionaires don’t change light bulbs. Thirteen billionaires — a baker’s dozen…
Sing a new song: Reflections on Band Aid at 40
When it comes to Christmas music, I prefer mine sacred and sung by an English university choir. I haven’t really been “into” popular Christmas music or pop stars’ Christmas records (sacred or secular) since I was a kid — with…
Rep. Barry Loudermilk pushes democracy to the brink
A Republican-controlled subcommittee of the U.S. House Oversight Committee has unleashed an attack on the peaceful transfer of power in federal government. Led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R.-Ga., this subcommittee conducted its own investigation of the January 6 insurrection at…
Remember that time the pastor reenacted a scene from Die Hard?
“Christmas at the movies!” the pleasant, feminine voice sings as the smiley-faced popcorn, coffee, candy bar and soda cartoon characters come waltzing into the auditorium before getting interrupted with an explosion, heavy metal music, and a man yelling, “Don’t need…
Three highlights from PRRI’s post-election survey
The color line in the American religious electorate As has been the case for the last four decades, when the political parties began sorting themselves along ethno-religious lines in the wake of the Civil Rights movement, the largest voting divides…
The new battleground for Methodists is in Africa
Hope and jubilation were palpable at the United Methodist General Conference in Spring 2024. Conservative forces that had hammered away at the denomination for more than half a century had decamped, unfortunately taking with them more than 7,600 local congregations,…
Yes, a free and fair press is under assault by Trump and MAGA
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States can’t stay off the political hot seat. There’s a bill now before the U.S. Senate, known as the PRESS Act — the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act —…
The TheoBros can’t quit Russell Moore
The TheoBros just can’t stop hating on Russell Moore. The current editor of Christianity Today and the former acolyte of Al Mohler, Moore has become a lightning rod for the far-right Calvinists who see him as someone who sold out…