American Revolution

A Patriotic Review of The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism, InterVarsity Press, 2022.

Washington was not angry, immoderate or impatient.  In short, his example is instructive for our own angry, immoderate and impatient times.

Goldman responds to commentators who believe that Americans must return to some overarching identity and purpose. He argues that this task is difficult when the conditions that allowed previous unity no longer exist. Moreover, nationalists do not reasonably explain programs that could reignite a meaningful shared identity.

One flag waving over the rioters at the US Capitol, emblazoned with a tree and the slogan “An Appeal to Heaven,” garnered particular attention as a symbol of so-called “Christian nationalism’s” effort to “take America back for God.”

Christian Realism is our theme at Providence, and Christian Realism was the theme of George Washington’s life that America celebrates with today’s federal holiday.

Today would be the 300th birthday of colonial pastor Jonathan Mayhew—a pastor, citizen, and prophet who articulated a rationale for self-defense by British citizens in North America.

Renewed debates over history reveal the narratives that conservatives and progressives employ to justify or decry American history. One narrative insists on lionizing historical figures, the other on demonizing them—yet both distract from the ongoing pursuit of the American ideals of justice, liberty, and equality.

History suffers from an apparently terminal illness—it is quickly dying and dying before our eyes.

Eric Patterson contends in Just American Wars that the US is unique because of how it considers ethical and moral dilemmas when it fights. Particularly, the country’s democratic institutions force any politician who wishes to engage in a war to explain to voters, civil society, and other parts of the government why the war must be fought.