Last April — long before Charlie Kirk’s untimely and horrific assassination Sept. 10 — I wrote an article about his rise from college dropout to Trump influencer. Since Kirk’s murder, I’ve watched with fascination the battle over his legacy. The…
Conservative coalition plans patriotic programs for America’s 250th birthday
The U.S. Department of Education has formed an America 250 Civics Education Coalition with 41 conservative groups in preparation for the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary next July 4. The coalition “is dedicated to renewing patriotism, strengthening civic knowledge…
The Department of War: A step backward for America
America once made a conscious choice to step away from the language of war. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, reorganizing our armed forces after World War II. Two years later, the Department of War…
Du Mez calls conservatives to speak against Doug Wilson
Even conservative complementarian evangelicals should be speaking out against Doug Wilson, according to historian and author Kristin DuMez. In an Aug. 16 column on her Substack, the professor at Calvin University addressed the issue in light of the latest national…
CNN interviews Doug Wilson, and Pete Hegseth likes it
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has come under public fire for publicly endorsing the misogynistic views of Idaho pastor Doug Wilson and his colleagues in a CNN interview. But Hegseth’s support for Wilson and his ultra-conservative theology is not new information….
Trump 2.0: Hymn sings, prayer meetings and ‘biblical’ deportations
Pentecostal pastors laying hands on the president in the Oval Office. Prayers to open cabinet meetings. Hymn sings in the Roosevelt Room. Cross necklaces as faith-forward fashion statements. A prayer meeting at the Pentagon. Such public expressions of faith are…
Most books banned from Naval Academy are back on shelves
Nearly all the 381 books pulled from the U.S. Naval Academy Library in April are back on the shelves after the Pentagon instituted its own criteria for banning books. “I am thrilled to report that, as a result of the…
Pete Hegseth Leads Christian Prayer Service in the Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon’s auditorium on Wednesday morning, during working hours, in which President Trump was praised as a divinely appointed leader.
Hegseth shuts down Women, Peace and Security program
It’s hard to surprise me these days. Still, even I was stunned to learn the U.S. Department of Defense is shutting down the “Women, Peace and Security” program — a bipartisan initiative signed into law in 2017, by President Trump….
Trump 2.0: 100 days of Orwellian Newspeak
Every presidential administration uses messaging to manipulate facts and explain inconvenient truths. But Trump 2.0 rivals the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell’s 1984 in its assaults on language, logic and memory. Winston Smith and the other dedicated messengers who…
Fear and loathing of history led to Hegseth’s book ban, authors say
The fear and loathing of history motivated the banning of nearly 400 books at the U.S. Naval Academy, according to a panel of scholars whose works were included in the purge. “I think very clearly that my book was taken…
Hegseth bans books by Jones, Butler, Wallis, Angelou and Kendi
Books by Robert P. Jones, Anthea Butler, Jim Wallis, Maya Angelou and Ibram X. Kendi are among the 381 volumes banned from the U.S. Naval Academy library by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last week. “It is heartbreaking and frightening…