With the 2020 elections just over two weeks away, I’ve started to see more Christians on social media post some version of this claim: Whomever we elect president, God is still in charge. Yes, on the one hand, and amen. As today’s psalm opens: The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the … More The With-God Life: The King Who Loves Justice
Even if 2020 weren’t a presidential election year in the United States, I’d still spend this fall celebrating democracy. Not only is this the 100th anniversary of American women getting the vote, but I’m teaching a class on the Cold War, a conflict that began with the defeat of one authoritarian regime and ended with … More A Democracy, If You Can Keep It
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. (Psalm 146:5-7) It’s reassuring to start another week … More The With-God Life: “Do not put your trust in princes”
I didn’t watch more than highlights of the impeachment hearings, but I did listen (twice) to the speech Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) made yesterday. The first senator in history to vote for the conviction of a president from his own party, Romney offered a measured but powerful statement that was as principled and courageous as … More Romney’s Speech — and the Meanings of Silence
Is evangelical opposition to Donald Trump simply evidence of elitism? That was the argument of Matthew Schmitz, who didn’t so much counter Christianity Today editor-in-chief Mark Galli’s critique of Trump as dismiss Galli and his CT colleagues as elite evangelicals — and therefore, by Schmitz’s definition, not really evangelical at all: …evangelical leaders who have come … More The Problems and Possibilities of Evangelical Populism
One consequence of living in a time of political polarization, echo chambers, and epistemic closure is that it’s rare to be genuinely surprised by any political statement. For example, I struggle to think of any response to the impeachment of Donald Trump that wasn’t predictable — on either side of that debate. Any response, that … More On Christianity Today Calling for Trump’s Removal from Office
Okay, let’s talk about Beto O’Rourke. Last Thursday night, at a Democratic presidential candidates forum on LGBT issues, CNN host Don Lemon asked the former Texas congressman whether “religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities—should… lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage.” O’Rourke answered: Yes. There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax … More On Christian Colleges and Tax Exemptions
On today’s new episode of The 252, Chris Moore and I talked through some of the books and articles we’ll be assigning next spring in our History and Politics of Sports course at Bethel University. Our basic text will be Richard Davies’ Sports in American Life, but Chris also suggested adopting Victor Cha’s analysis of the politics of … More Wednesday’s Podcast: A Sports Reading List
Our second season of The 252 — “sports talk radio as done by academics” — is going to alternate every other week between two formats: our usual three-segment mix of sports news, history, and commentary; and long-form interviews with athletes, coaches, writers, and others who can help us understand the history and politics of sports. Today’s … More Wednesday’s Podcast: Red State Christians
I don’t know if the county fair is still the indispensable element of American democracy that an early 20th century editorial claimed it to be, but I sure do enjoy my annual visit to the Washington County Fair in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. My kids and I love seeing everything from blue ribbon-winning woodwork and photography … More The Future of Farming in America
The Pietist Schoolman 