Here are ten books I recommend to pastors, professors, and students who wish to gain a better understanding of religious liberty and the threats against it. I will describe each book and then rank its level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most difficult. A Level 1 book is one you [ Read More ]
We live in a volatile age. The last decade of American politics has proved to be dysfunctional, rancorous, and polarizing. Together, we have experienced the increasing disintegration of both major political parties, the deep ideological and cultural divisions revealed by the 2016 election cycle, the inability of Congress to carry a sustained or constructive debate [ Read More ]
During March 2016 Breitbart News’ then-editor Milo Yiannopolous published a long-form essay entitled, “An Establishment Conservative’s Guide to the Alt-Right.” The banner image at the top of the article depicted a cemetery in the dead of night: in the background of the picture is a tombstone inscribed “GOP 2016;” in the foreground of the picture [ Read More ]
The emergence of the alt-right provides an opportunity for God’s people to respond with truth and grace. If we respond with truth but not grace, we are bullies and haters. If we emphasize grace but don’t speak the truth, we are cowards and practical relativists. If we respond with truth and grace, we are Christian [ Read More ]
Even though some mainstream news outlets have reported on the alt-right regularly for two years now, many Americans seem unaware of the movement. Many of those who are aware find it undefined and incomprehensible, containing as it does terms, personalities, and loose coalitions that are confusing and obscure. For that reason, this series on the [ Read More ]
Only those Americans whose heads were buried deeply in the sand could have missed the emergence and significance of the alt-right movement during the past two years. Although the alt-right had existed for years as a loose confederation of white identity groups, it burst onto the political scene in 2015. Differentiating itself from older white [ Read More ]
On Wednesday, June 14, the messengers of the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention condemned “the anti-gospel of alt-right white supremacy.” The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority of approximately 5,000 votes in favor to no more than 10 votes against. In light of the SBC’s condemnation and of the alt-right’s emergence on the national scene during [ Read More ]
Recently, President Trump announced that he was withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement that aims to counteract global warming by reducing carbon emissions. He did so, according to U. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, even though he believes climate change is real and is caused in part by pollutants. The response to [ Read More ]
In 1998, at the age of 24, I left the United States for the first time in order to become a university instructor in Kazan, Russia. Kazan is a breathtakingly beautiful city that is best known internationally for having been the home, for a short while, of both Lenin and Tolstoy. It is also a cultural [ Read More ]
Americans have long debated gun rights and gun control, but the discussion seems to have taken on a renewed intensity over the past couple of years. The debate is complex and multi-faceted. It has legal, ethical, and pragmatic dimensions; there is no consensus on any of the dimensions, and a person’s stance on the issue [ Read More ]