In the year of our Lord (?) 2023, tune into any news platform right or left of center and you’ll hear that “American democracy is under threat.” Rightwing media says the 91 charges in four indictments against former President Donald…
Erasmus indicts Trump — and the USA
One thing that has gone tragically wrong with American politics over the past eight years is that the electorate has admitted into the highest reaches of national life a man obviously lacking in the moral temperament, training and character required…
Two evangelical Christian leaders indicted along with Trump in Georgia
Two evangelical Christian leaders were among the 18 individuals indicted in Georgia Aug. 14 and charged with criminally conspiring with Donald Trump to overturn his 2020 election loss. Jenna Ellis, an attorney who has worked with many conservative Christian organizations,…
Why I keep writing about Donald Trump
Writing about Donald Trump has been a six-year cottage industry. Some observers say people are tired of Trump. This argument suggests writing about Trump only keeps him in the news cycle and does more harm than good. There’s merit to…
Trump, ‘law and order,’ and evangelical hypocrisy
“There’s a new sheriff in town” is a familiar American idiom. It evokes the image of a strong man who has come into a lawless Western town to establish much-needed law and order. This is a man who would rule…
Marjorie Taylor Greene says we can ignore Trump’s bad news because God ‘has plans’
Don’t worry about Donald Trump’s third criminal indictment, Marjorie Taylor Greene told Republicans Aug. 2, because “God has plans.” The controversial U.S. representative from Georgia appeared on the far-right cable network Real America’s Voice to talk about Trump’s latest legal…
How many indictments will be too many?
America got dueling news regarding Donald Trump this week. We learned the 2024 presidential candidate is so far ahead in the Republican primary polls that he appears to be a shoo-in for renomination. And at the same time, we learned…
The Tim Scott problem
A couple of years ago, in response to President Biden’s 2021 State of the Union speech, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott gave an eloquent speech that earned him the admiration and support of many conservatives while catapulting him to serious…
Blind trust can be dangerous
Stanley Hauerwas is “considered by many to be one of the world’s most influential living theologians” and was named “America’s Best Theologian” by Time magazine in 2001. He shares a humorous memory in his autobiography, Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir: The…
MAGA followers are not stupid
The stupid epidemic has arrived. Entire Christian denominations insist there is only one way to read the Bible, and they expel anyone daring to dissent. Politicians and the media reach for the accusation of “stupid” out of the intractable arguments….
GOP candidates make their case to conservative Christian activists
They’re off and running, and if history is any guide, most white evangelicals will vote for one of these 11 candidates in the 2024 presidential race, now some 500 days away. So far, polls show Donald Trump far ahead of…
Why are ‘unhinged’ people elected to Congress?
After Donald Trump’s indictment on 37 federal charges, U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., posted a cryptic tweet: “President Trump said he has ‘been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM.’ This is a perimeter probe…