Over the weekend, I had an email conversation with Tom Edsall of the New York Times. I’m thankful for Edsall as a reporter who asks big, thorny questions and gives ample space in his column for complicated answers from scholars and experts….
CNN’s disastrous platforming of Donald Trump
“CNN’s New Hampshire town hall with Donald Trump last night may have done more to boost his chances of winning the GOP presidential nomination than anything that’s happened since the 2020 election.” That was Politico Playbook’s substantive conclusion this morning. It’s…
The stupidity of Christian nationalism
Editor’s note: This is the second opinion piece in a new series on religious liberty authored by BJC Fellows and made possible by a grant from the Prichard Family Foundation. “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good…
School board battles are back with a vengeance
Over the past few years, MAGA politicians and local activists have made education, especially the teaching of history, a hot spot in the culture wars — with the megaphone of Fox News. In the waning days of his presidency, Donald…
‘In a pluralistic democracy’: An interview with Jennifer Rubin
For years, Jennifer Rubin, conservative columnist for the Washington Post, and I didn’t see eye to eye on many issues. An ardent champion of the traditional Republican Party, she advocated for candidate Lindsey Graham in 2015 (“If being right is…
Lent, confession and the ‘no true Scotsman’ fallacy
These 40 days of Lent are designed to be opportunities for sober reflection and acts of confession, both individual and corporate. This period of introspection leads to the high point of Holy Week, the commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus…
Why a potential indictment of Donald Trump will matter so little to most of his Christian supporters
The country is collectively holding its breath this week to see whether former President Donald Trump will be indicted for falsifying business records to cover up the payment of $130,000 of “hush money” to adult film actress Stormy Daniels on…
Five charts that explain the desperate turn to MAGA among conservative white Christians
New data from PRRI’s Census of American Religion show continued decline of white evangelicals as a proportion of the American population. I prefaced my 2016 book, The End of White Christian America, with an “Obituary for White Christian America.” It read,…
Why aren’t we talking about the theology that drives white Christian nationalism?
Poll after poll and webinar after webinar lays out the data on white Christian nationalism. The facts of this threat to both democracy and faith are well-documented. What’s missing from nearly every public discussion is the toxic theology that fuels…