pat robertson

Top Five (Less Sensational, But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson (1930-2023)

Mark Hulsether — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 05:27:59 EDT

Sure, it’s easy to poke fun at Pat Robertson for his 2,000-pound leg press claims or to scold him for his vile Haiti comments, but Robertson thrives on the ‘persecution.’ Our list spins the Robertson moral differently and shows just why he’s been a truly dangerous figure.

The 'Dreher Affair' Highlights the Right's International Networks

Annika Brockschmidt — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 03:30:09 EST

Right-wing Christian blogger and media figure Rod Dreher has moved to Hungary, where he continues to admire Viktor Orbán , the country’s authoritarian prime minister whom he’s called “one of the most extraordinary world leaders of our time.” Dreher isn’t…

Putin's Violent Holy War Rhetoric Made it to the Christian Right Fringe — And There's Reason to Believe it'll Go Mainstream

Thomas Lecaque — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 05:30:57 EDT

It starts with a tweet: https://twitter.com/realRickWiles/status/1585375961033605120?s=20&t=DZQ… And it is, of course, not simply that. Shortly before, in support of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin appointing a “chief exorcist” against Satanism, he said : “Can you think of anybody, in the…

New Apostolic Reformation Faces Profound Rift Due to Trump Prophecies and 'Spiritual Manipulation of the Prophetic Gift'

Frederick Clarkson, André Gagné — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 04:47:29 EDT

Updated 8/16/22: The authors’ response to a correction request follows the article. - eds Four weeks after the January 6th insurrection , two leaders of the revivalist New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) were concerned about the future of their movement. They…

Has American Conservatism Abandoned the Christian Right?

Bradley Onishi — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 02:08:57 EDT

Most of us don’t want to grow up to be our parents, especially when we’re in our twenties and ready to forge our own path in the world. For better or for worse, age often proves that we’re more like…

Why Did an Antisemitic Christian Zionist Have the Chutzpah to Declare That He'd Be Leading a Holocaust March?

Ben Lorber, Aidan Orly — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 05:35:26 EDT

This week, Jews in Israel and around the world will commemorate Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust Remembrance Day that marks a somber time for remembrance and reflection. On Thursday, thousands of Israeli and diaspora Jews and supporters will walk silently from…

The Most Forgotten Queer Folks in the US are Fighting Back Against a Powerful — and Publicly Funded — Group That Discriminates With Impunity

Chrissy Stroop — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 01:51:59 EDT

“How do we get people to view the CCCU as an extremist organization, the same way they view ADF?” It’s a great question that Paul Southwick, a gay attorney and the director of the Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP), put…

Kirill's Sermon May Be Bad Preaching and Even Worse Theology — But it's a Top-Notch Rejection of Liberal Democracy

Daniel Schultz — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 04:45:53 EST

Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, gave a sermon on forgiveness this past Sunday at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. It was a doozy , to use the vernacular. Many will rightly zero in…

"If Every Church Said, 'We Will Take Over Our Community'": The (Christian Right) Revolution Starts Small and Local

Frederick Clarkson — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 04:35:05 EDT

One of the features of the rise of the Christian Right has been the development of institutional infrastructure. From the rise of televangelism and conservative think tanks in the 1970s and 80s, to the creation of national political organizations beginning…

As Pat Robertson Retires, Here Are 10 of His Most Cringeworthy Moments

Chrissy Stroop — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 02:25:04 EDT

After 60 years at the helm of his Christian Broadcasting Network, and 55 hosting its signature “news” magazine broadcast, The 700 Club , the 91-year-old Southern Baptist minister and Christian media mogul Pat Robertson is retiring. Many religion journalists and…

Bill Mill-ennialism: Arkansas' End Times Politics May Be Coming to a State Near You

Frederick Clarkson — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 02:43:35 EDT

It was the best of the end times. It was the worst of the end times. It was the age of Trump. It was 2019. Trump was compared with the greatest of God’s biblical champions. Things would never be the…

The Evangelical Abortion Myth: An Excerpt from 'Bad Faith'

Randall Balmer — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 04:43:14 EDT

The Religious Right’s most cherished and durable myth is its myth of origins. According to this well-rehearsed narrative, articulated by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and countless others, evangelical leaders were shaken out of their political complacency by the United States…

The Roots of White Evangelicalism’s Crisis Are in White Evangelical Churches, Not Republican Politics

Jesse Curtis — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 10:36:35 EDT

In recent months, the Southern Baptist Convention has faced a steady stream of high-profile defections, including black pastors such as Charlie Dates , popular Bible teacher Beth Moore , and Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore. The recent…

James Dobson's Family Values Were Influenced by a Eugenicist [Audio]

Bradley Onishi — Wed, 19 May 2021 10:08:42 EDT

This exclusive three-minute clip, featuring historian Audrey Clare Farley, is from the May 17 episode of Straight White American Jesus, a podcast hosted by Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller. RD will be collaborating with SWAJ to regularly bring you audio…

Attack on the US Capitol Has Many Journos Finally Taking White Evangelical Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism Seriously

Chrissy Stroop — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 12:21:35 EST

A month ago, I argued here on RD that America’s national conversation about Christianity is “fundamentally unserious.” Not because, as conservative Christian commentator Bonnie Kristian would have it , Democrats find it offensive when an elected Republican like Rep. Madison…

How U.S. Conservatives Conjured the Jesus of Their Dreams

Peter Laarman — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 03:37:40 EDT

It seems that when Donald Trump and his Republican enablers are able to seat a sixth right wing justice on the Supreme Court, our Lord Jesus will be doing backflips in heaven in pure ecstasy over this triumph for the…

Falwell's Fall Was Unrelated to the Anti-Science, Racism, and Patriarchy Trifecta that Built Liberty

Rita Nakashima-Brock — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 01:49:46 EDT

Four years after he played a key role in shifting white evangelical support from Ted Cruz to Donald Trump Jerry Falwell, Jr. is absent from the Republican Convention and has resigned in disgrace from his powerful position as president of…

Behind a Recent Stunt in Idaho Lies a Dangerous Theocratic Movement

Chrissy Stroop — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 04:28:58 EDT

Last Tuesday, just days before Idaho became one of a handful states to see a record high in new COVID-19 cases, 15 Republican members of the Idaho House of Representatives went rogue, gathering in the House chambers for what they…

White Evangelical Leaders Still Too Preoccupied With 'Order' to Listen to Black Truth

Chrissy Stroop — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 04:46:56 EDT

Yesterday, President Donald Trump stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, holding a Bible aloft as a nod to his white Christian nationalist base as he condemned those who damaged the church during the protests the…

Bill Gates' Comments on Covid-19 Vaccine Enflame 'Mark of the Beast' Worries in Some Christian Circles

Christopher James Blythe — Mon, 04 May 2020 02:36:54 EDT

If the worries of most quarantined Christians in the United States center on health and when they might resume their lives, there is a segment that wonders whether this moment has greater biblical significance. These apocalyptic-minded Christians seem to have…

Barr and Pompeo Speeches Show Why Evangelical Warriors Won't Abandon the President

Bradley Onishi — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 02:37:23 EDT

Barr’s war on secularism and Pompeo’s end-times infused diplomacy are windows into why Trump’s evangelical supporters will not turn on him because of his foreign policy in Turkey, much less his phone call with Ukraine.

Are White Evangelicals as Concerned About Middle Eastern Christians as We're Meant to Believe?

John Stoehr — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 01:46:57 EDT

If the lives of Middle East Christians mattered so much to white evangelical leaders, they’d do everything in their power, which is a lot, to pressure Trump to reverse his terrible choice. They will not, however, for three reasons.

The Problem with the Latest Predictions for 'the Rise of the Religious Left'

Hollis Phelps — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 01:59:51 EST

Not only are claims that the religious left is “on the rise” as old as the contemporary religious right itself, but the framing of the religious left may actually further enable the religious right.

No God but Country: The Religion of John McCain Has Something Important to Tell Us

Kathryn Lofton — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 02:28:01 EDT

When asked to write about McCain’s religion I thought I’d review the alignment between the American military and American religions. What I found is as much about what the American public needs to hear about religion as it was about what McCain felt or thought about religion.

The Tense History Behind Jimmy Carter's Liberty U. Commencement Address

John Fea — Thu, 24 May 2018 02:59:18 EDT

On Saturday the Liberty University community heard a commencement address from an evangelical Christian who disagrees with Trump and Falwell Jr. on almost every major policy issue of the age.