That Was The Week That Was

Posted on by Chris Gehrz

Here…

• Election Day had me wondering how Christians can best “honor the emperor” in contemporary American politics.

• We said farewell to a farm that’s been in my mom’s side of the family for over a century.

• It’s awards season: here’s how you can nominate our book for one.

• Just how many Americans are “spiritual, but not religious“?

…There (Roy Moore)…

• Just when you think Americans politics can’t get any lower, it seems that a U.S. Senate candidate molested a fourteen-year old girl… and some evangelicals rush to his defense.

Among the many rightly horrified responses, two stick out: those by conservative writer David French and (even more so) his wife Nancy, who was herself assaulted as a young girl by her pastor.

• It’s rare that Christianity Today and Religion Dispatches take the same stance on anything, but both rushed to condemn one particularly ridiculous and blasphemous defense of Judge Roy Moore.

• If you’re a conservative and you’re still prepared to defend Moore, read Rod Dreher.

• If all this leaves you feeling dirty and despondent, renew your hope with the author of Reclaiming Hope.

…and Everywhere

• I wish this is what “conservatism” meant in the age of Trump: “Far from being a merely defensive measure, we take such a stance of resistance for the sake of the present: we believe the wisdom we need to live into complicated futures is found among forgotten friends—that the people written off as personae non gratae by our contemporaries offer neglected perspectives that can give us fresh insight into contemporary problems.”

• The history of one of America’s most historic sites: the National Mall.

• Russia’s government marked — or rather, didn’t mark — the 100th anniversary of its most famous political event. (That’s not quite fair: RU did a multi-media #1917LIVE campaign.)

• Over at The Anxious Bench, I was at my crotchiest: arguing for the virtue not only of singing “traditional” hymns, but singing them out of a hymnal.

• More importantly, I hosted a guest post by the authors of one of my favorite books of 2017.

• What does it mean to be evangelical, parts [numbers smaller than infinity, but only just] by Mark Galli and Scot McKnight?

• An upcoming fashion gala will be Catholic-themed, to “highlight the enduring influence of religion and liturgical vestments on fashion.” (Note: not from The Onion)

• Glad to see Theoloqui revive, at least for a day, as Cathy Norman Peterson reflected on the year since Donald Trump’s election.

• In general, Inside Higher Ed does far better than The Chronicle of Higher Education in covering Christian colleges, thanks primarily to reporter Scott Jaschik, who interviewed the editors of a new book on diversity in Christian higher ed.

• Moody Bible Institute is downsizing.