Truth is, evangelical historians tend to characterize the movement in terms that suit their own religious agendas. Sutton is all over that here. 3/3

I’m no expert in that I don’t do primary historical research on American religion. But since my college honors thesis on modern fundamentalism and 19th century revivalism, I’ve been tracking closely. 2/3

A bit extended for an excerpt, but Sutton is making an incredibly important point. American evangelicalism as we know it is a fairly recent development, an organized and funded attempt to protect theological fundamentalism while being less sectarian. 1/3

Palantir put out the most cartoonishly evil statement possible. They’re so arrogant and self-confident they don’t seem to believe their fascistic plans can be opposed.

We must get rid of Palantir altogether.

twitter-thread.com/t/2045574398...

Establishing an "American Church" Fascist Takes on Religion

We’ve been laughing while Trump and Vance have made theological asses out of themselves. Now we know it’s a strategy—and the model is the Nazi German Church. My take—and I don’t see anyone else saying so.

Just enjoyed the deep pleasure and honor of Zooming into a senior seminar at Austin Presbyterian Seminary, led by Professors David Jensen and Donghyun Jeong. Students had read my eschatology book l, and they had absolutely the best questions. Some stumped me. Does not get better than that.

Excited to visit Linfield University this week!

Hegseth Likens Easter Rescue of U.S. Airman to Resurrection of Jesus Christ

He should fear Jesus more. Not because Jesus is vengeful, but because Jesus confronts us with the truth.

❗️Bloomberg leaked a transcript of a phone call between Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin on October 17, where Orban offered to help Putin. The conversation took place before a planned meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest, which was later canceled.

Religion is often key to the story.

Hegseth has intervened in military promotions for more than a dozen senior officers The defense secretary’s efforts to block or delay promotions to general or admiral for some officers has raised concerns that he may be targeting them because of race, gender or affiliation with the B...

Context: Hegseth is a member of a CREC church (Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches), a movement led by Doug Wilson. He’s invited Wilson to preach at the Pentagon. Wilson describes himself as just to the right of JEB Stuart politically & says he’d prefer married women not be allowed to vote.

Jesus: A Death Like Ours Many Christians tend to glorify Jesus' death, as if somehow Jesus suffered in ways no one else does. Jesus' death does not distinguish him from the rest of humanity so much as it unites us with him. I...

On Good Friday I often turn back to a couple of old pieces. How can a crucifixion be good news? “Through Jesus God has taken the weight of human suffering, even our capacity to inflict enormous pain upon one another, and God has brought these awful realities into the core of God's very own self.”

Apocalypse Now? Trump, Iran & the Return of End-Times Thinking YouTube video by History Uncensored

Honored to appear on @historyuncensored.bsky.social with @biancanobilo.bsky.social and, among others, the far superior Anathea Portier-Young.

youtu.be/DgIHsLrQoj4?...

This is important. So please bring in religion scholars. Like @julieingersoll.bsky.social, who’s been on the case a long time.

Total loss for the Trump admin on its attack against Anthropic.

Yikes. That’s fair.

Do we believe this?

but it does kinda cover up that even the search for data involves interpretation, and that no data exist apart from interpretation. In any field. /done

Old man yelling at clouds here. We used to talk about “evidence” in our field. Now lots of folks like to use “data.” I get that there’s a rhetorical appeal to data—it sounds sciency at a time when our field is under cultural assault from many directions— 1/2

I think social/political issues are huge factors here. Recommend the books I cited. Like other nations, we’ve had an overall decline in religiosity. Billions and billions of dollars have been invested in politicizing American Christianity toward the right.

Great question. Two data points. A political or religious map of the US will likely reflect divisions from our Civil War. And the emergence of private Christian schools runs pretty close to the patterns of desegregation in American states.

They are self-reported, but I believe the numbers.

Convenient Explanations in Religion: Seminary Trends and the Decline of Mainline Christianity The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) recently released its 2026 Annual Data Tables, an event that predictably causes a stir in theological education.

I’d be grateful if y’all would read and, if you find it helpful, share. Chip on my shoulder. 🙂

This is the Doug Wilson reconstructionist stream of Christian nationalism. By the way, Wilson just said that in a Protestant state, Catholics could not hold public office. The one Pete Hegseth invited to preach at the Pentagon. 3/end

where these guys (of course they’re guys) are all giddy and say quite clearly what they think of democracy. Why not read what they have to say? 2/3

When Christian Nationalists Say They Want to Destroy Democracy, Believe Them “Now’s the time to gaslight them into thinking that democracy is a right-wing project," podcaster reveals during election night conversation

Nashville reporter has been all over the story. With investments from ultra-rich tech investors, a group of Christian nationalists is trying to take over a chunk of Tennessee, building their own micro-state regardless of what long-term residents think. He found an election night 2024 podcast…

The Dangerous Reason Trump Is Ignoring Public Opinion It's not because he is convinced that MAGA is on his side.

Trump is no longer behaving like a politician whose survival depends on public opinion. He is behaving like someone who has concluded that public opinion no longer matters.
open.substack.com/pub/saltypol...

In my presentations I point out that “Christian nationalism” is an imperfect term, then emphisize the element of Christian dominionism, which is more precise. I also note the long legacy of invoking America as a Christian nation or America’s “Judeo-Christian heritage.” 3/3

Carter points out that American Christians have always tried to shape society according to their religious convictions. He calls particular attention to progressive/ecumenical initiatives. 2/3