How the Right’s War on ‘Critical Race Theory’ Taps into the Powerful Religion of American Innocence
I would never pick a fight with the formidable Michelle Goldberg, but I must pick…
Read Moreamerican exceptionalism
A Locked and Loaded Covenant: The Religious Roots of America’s Gun Culture
Garry Wills was being only slightly ironic when he wrote (in the wake of the…
Read MoreObama Appeals to American Exceptionalism
But do we still think we’re more ethical?
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State of the Union Stuck in that Olde-Time Semi-Niebuhrianism
Obama’s SOTU was a deft combination of centuries-old American exceptionalism and a decades-old consensus that can best be called “semi-Niebuhrianism.”
Read MoreTrayvon Martin and American Exceptionalism
Is a black person’s life worth anything in America? Not as long as America remains “Exceptional.”
Read MoreNote to CPAC Conservatives: “City [Up]on a Hill” Wasn’t About American Exceptionalism
Bruce Springsteen channels John Winthrop.
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Gingrich’s Anti-Secularism Greatest Hits
Some history on the historian.
Read MoreThe New Culture War: “Real” Americans vs. the “Mobs” of Occupy Wall Street
Bachmann Weaves Own Salvation Story into Christian Nation Mythology
In speech at Liberty University, Bachmann conflates knowing Jesus with freedom from socialism.
Read MoreBelated July 4th Video: The Greatest Speech of the (19th) Century
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” illumines the hypocrisy of a nation unable to check and challenge itself concerning its own moral hubris.
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