Religion Dispatches
…rton’s plans (including taking over the history curriculum of the state of Texas), end of story. Barton is a “controversial” historian, not a “discredited” one, and the hearer/reader has the impression that the history he presents is unpopular among many and probably suspect, but somehow open to debate. Barton talks at length; the legitimate scholars get a sentence or two of a sound-byte cut from longer interviews. To put it somewhat crudely, the…
Read More
…-Fort Worth. This followed a stint teaching free-market economics at North Texas State University. Dick Armey definitely meant it when, while serving as majority leader, he called Hillary Clinton “a Marxist.” And no one believed that his “Barney Fag” crack in relation to the Massachusetts legislator was any slip of the tongue. Armey apparently does believe that socialism is on the march with Obama in the White House. He recently told the Los Angel…
Read More
…ormat that’s convenient for “the most conservative cabinet in decades,” as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the current administration. Playing fast and loose with objective facts has long been a norm for modern American politicians, but in the wake of Trump’s electoral victory—and his campaign built on fear, misogyny, racism, and xenophobia—the use of “alt-facts” seems to be spreading like a dangerous virus for which our culture has not yet developed a…
Read More
…he was arrested, she let the officer know that he was violating Johnson v. Texas, which protected her right to stand on the flag. He arrested her anyway, to the irritation of the judge who later had to award her the costs related to the arrest. In that case, the church member won some money, but she deserved it. And she didn’t taunt the officer into arresting her, and even laid out very clearly and calmly what would happen if he violated the law p…
Read More
…stors. Conference participants would grow to include Mike Huckabee, former Texas governor Rick Perry, former mayor of Indianapolis and deputy mayor of New York City Stephen Goldsmith, and current U.S. Representative Daniel Webster (R-FL). Past members of the IBLP’s Board of Directors and Advisory Board include billionaire and part-owner of the San Antonio Spurs James Leininger, former Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX), and Georgia State Senator Ralph…
Read More
…ccording to her, have one response: As the Greeks said, Molon Labe; or the Texas version: Come and Take it. […] conservative principles are not meek, that was just our failed former leaders. They are battle tested. Such language is only fitting given the pervasive hyper-masculinist messages, down to the “Washington was a Chad” sticker at the Claremont Institute’s booth [see image at top]. The most important gathering of conservatives in the 21st c…
Read More
…ly.) One of my favorite informal fallacies to teach students is called the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy. The story goes that a fellow shot a bunch of times at the side of an old barn, then painted bullseyes around each bullet hole and proclaimed himself a marksman. The marksman’s folly is easy to see in the story, but a bit more difficult to recognize in real life when we come across things that seem to happen more than chance should allow… such as…
Read More…and by not eating. Lou Engle’s “Esther Call” will be finishing in Dallas, Texas today on Good Friday. The “mass event […] focuses on God’s forgiveness for those who have been involved in abortion […and calls on] viewers to pray for an end to the bloodshed of innocent lives.” Along with co-leader Laura Allred, Engle has called on women to repent for the nation’s abortions on behalf of America’s women. That’s a far cry from the original Esther—a bi…
Read More
…vangelicals. While few adopted the Reconstructionist theology wholesale, a number of Christian Right leaders were tantalized by the idea of restoring America to their view of the America as a Christian nation ordained by God and under the leadership of Godly men. The result was a broad tendency that critics call ‘Dominionism’ which comes in both hard and soft varieties in terms of theocratic authoritarianism. Stephen McDowell, Providence’s co-foun…
Read More
…cks behind the veneer of “protect and serve.” Raised by a single mother in Texas, I cherish the various roles an extended village played in making my rearing whole. Second only to my maternal grandfather, my late elder cousin Anthony Ruben, Sr.—a career Black police officer—played an outsized paternal role in my childhood. I learned to play basketball and football, was transported to and from school, and witnessed familial fidelity from a Black co…
Read More