It is no secret that Donald J. Trump is intent on exacting retribution on his perceived enemies. Top of his list is former President Joe Biden. While the recently released report by the Justice Department’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian…
Author debunks America’s ‘Christian past that wasn’t’
The audacity of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick only scratches the surface of the lies generations of Christian nationalists have been telling in order to remake America in their own religious image, according to Warren Throckmorton, author of The Christian…
Is there a common source for the Ten Commandments bills?
As Republican-dominated states seek to require displays of the Ten Commandments in school classrooms, critics are noting some odd similarities in the language of the bills. It seems possible — even likely — the bills are originating from a common…
The Ten Commandments and the tyranny of minority rule
George Orwell, in his classic novel 1984, highlights an important aspect of full-blown authoritarianism: the presentation of lies as truth. In the first few pages of Orwell’s book, readers are introduced to the ironically named “Ministry of Truth” which features…
Lawyer says it’s fair for Christians to discriminate because that’s what the Founders intended
It is fair for Christians to have the privilege of posting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms because the nation’s Founders based the government on the Ten Commandments, a former Texas Congressman argued at the state Capitol April 29….
Professor outlines three common rebuttals to church-state separation
The principle of church-state separation is not a myth even though those exact words don’t appear in the U.S. Constitution, according to scholar David R. Brockman. Brockman, nonresident scholar in religion and public policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute and…
Speaker Mike Johnson wrongly attributes prayer to Thomas Jefferson
Upon his re-election as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, R-La., read a prayer he said was written by Thomas Jefferson. Problem is, those who have studied the former president’s life and words say there is no…
Professors defend Thomas Jefferson from Christian nationalism
The evangelical narrative of one of America’s Founding Fathers continues to be so historically inaccurate that a duo of authors has released an updated version of their book defending the real legacy of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson definitely was not a…
Baptists were for separation of church and state before they were against it
For a Baptist to oppose separation of church and state feels like disowning one’s own mother without cause. What more could Thomas Jefferson have done for Baptists than pen the First Amendment with John Leland, a Baptist preacher, looking over…
Did Thomas Jefferson say the president should attend church as an example?
Last month, Michael Coulter and I brought out the second edition of our book Getting Jefferson Right: Fact-Checking Claims About Thomas Jefferson. The book was first published in 2012 as a feature-length review of David Barton’s book The Jefferson Lies. In response,…
Speaker Mike Johnson betrays core Baptist value
It didn’t take long for Baptists who care about religious liberty to learn just how far astray Mike Johnson, the new speaker of the House, has drifted from our traditional support for church-state separation. Based on his remarks from the…
Is ‘In God We Trust’ an assertion of Christian nationalism or of American history in public schools?
As schoolchildren head back to class in Texas this week, many of them will be greeted by the sight of the American and Texas flags displayed along with the text of the National Motto: “In God We Trust.” That’s because…