Evangelical Christianity

Friday

Nikos Mohammadi

How Tucker beat Huckabee

Earlier this month, when Tucker Carlson was in Jordan interviewing Levantine Christians, the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called out the pundit with whom he’s been engaged in a public online feud for some time: “Instead of talking ABOUT me, why don’t you come talk TO me? You seem to be generating a lot of heat about the Middle East. Why be afraid of the light?”  That, we can now see, was a bad mistake on Huckabee’s part. Carlson took up the offer, and, after some rather fraught back-and-forth about his travel arrangements, interviewed Huckabee at the private terminal at Ben Gurion Airport a few miles outside Tel Aviv.

colorado springs
Stephen L. Miller

A night in God’s country with Donald J. Trump

‘If we put our trust in Him, if we place this miracle of democracy from sea to shining sea. then He will bless America beyond all that we could ask or imagine.’ That’s how Vice President Mike Pence ended his remarks as he introduced President Trump in Colorado Springs. Pence was of course referring to the Almighty, but you wouldn’t know it. In the small maxed-out arena, the large crowd was there to listen to Trump’s sermon. Colorado Springs is known as one of the most religious cities in America. NPR dubbed the city a ‘Mecca for Evangelical Christians’, while the Guardian labeled it ‘a playground for pro-life, pro-gun evangelical Christians’. There were gloves in back pockets and more work-boots than Birkenstocks present.

Tuesday

Neal Pollack

Trump unleashes the evangelists

The Trump administration issued a memo Monday saying that federal workers are openly allowed to express religious beliefs in the workplace “to the greatest extent possible unless such expression would impose an undue hardship on business operations.” This means that they can display Bibles, religious artwork and items “such as crosses, crucifixes and mezuzah,” among other religious symbols. But that’s not all. Workers are also allowed to talk about how their own faith is “correct” and how others should “re-think” their beliefs. “During a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the nonadherent should re-think his religious beliefs.

Friday

Daniel Hummel

For evangelicals, Trump’s Iran strike was divine

When Trump announced U.S. forces had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites on June 22, he ended with an unusual presidential benediction: “I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel, and God bless America.” Eric Metaxas, one of Trump’s most fervent evangelical supporters, was amazed: “I could not believe what I heard... that was the most bold declaration of faith that any president has made in our history.” The statement thrilled Trump’s evangelical base, but its place in wider events mattered just as much. Pastor Greg Laurie of the Harvest Christian Fellowship called the airstrike “a foreshadowing” of a prophecy fulfilled.

Evangelical

Tuesday

Alexander Larman

The Christian movie finally finds its niche

When Mel Gibson’s ultra-violent, ultra-religious Passion of the Christ made $612 million worldwide, it was not earning its money from teenagers looking for a night out. Despite its R rating, churchgoers were being bused to theaters by the millions, thanks to the heavy support it received from evangelical Christian groups. Everyone from Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell to Pat Robertson and Chuck Colson came out in support of the film, although the Pope’s supposed endorsement — "it is as it was" — was denied by the Vatican. Yet faith-based films have quietly been big business in Hollywood for decades now.

Sunday

Ben Sixsmith

The sad irony of celebrity pastors

When I was a young attendee of a Charismatic Christian church, people were very keen to make themselves look ‘cool’. There was Christian rock. There was Christian rap. There was something called The Street Bible, which reframed Biblical stories through a modern lens. I don’t want to be too mean about this stuff. Some of the Christian rock was pretty good. The Street Bible had a sense of humor about itself. Even the rap wasn’t that bad. (I say that because I know what you are imagining. ‘My name is Ben and I’m here to say/Worship God and don’t be gay.’) Hillsong, at the time, was a very cool church. They had enormous services, and hit songs, and pastors who looked as if they had walked out of daytime television.

pastors carl lentz

Tuesday

Cockburn

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of horniness

Let nobody say the outgoing president of Liberty University is not an intellectual.Cockburn will not belabor you with the full tragedy of Jerry Falwell Jr. Who is he kidding, you already have read (though not seen, mercifully) all the details.Falwell’s rapid downfall is a testament to the dangers of hubris. At the tender age of 44, Falwell was handed the presidency of a university his father had already built. He was paid roughly $1 million a year for this privilege. To keep the job indefinitely, Falwell didn’t need to do much. Even taking photos of himself half-undressed with a woman half his age at a yacht party, and entering into a ménage à trois with a pool boy, would have been completely fine.

jerry falwell jr liberty

Saturday

Cockburn

Breaking: social conservative says socially conservative things

Stop the presses! Jenna Ellis — a legal adviser for President Trump’s reelection campaign, constitutional law attorney, and Christian — said some Christian things five years ago.Out of the clear blue sky on Friday afternoon, two CNN writers fired off a quick hit piece detailing Ellis’s ‘anti-gay positions’, which include opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas and the suggestion that legalizing gay marriage could lead to the acceptance of pedophilia and bestiality. Andrew Kaczysnki and Em Steck dove into the juicy details of an analysis by CNN KFILE, which analyzed some of Ellis’s podcast interviews and statements between 2014 and 2019.

jenna ellis