I noticed the stunning lack of self-awareness in the Vance clip: “think about what it means not just to be made fun of or bo be criticized by your peers”. Many of us do not have to imagine that. We have lived it. We lived it as non-Dutch students at Calvin (and I know we had it good compared with the much tinier minority of Navajo and Black students), as women in societal and church patriarchy. Many people I know have lived it as persons of color in a society structured to establish and sustain white privilege. And yet Vance, a member of the 30% who control things, can make this statement.
My (former) reformed community has long lamented that all our problems started with kicking prayer out of schools. I am more and more convinced this is wrong. It was when the humanities were downgraded from being the core of education to being shoved aside as "progressive", "unimportant", "not economically productive", or "focused on those people".
For a long time now, I’ve been arguing that the primary targets of Christian nationalists are likely to be fellow Christians who do not toe the Christian nationalist line.
Go Calvin University and Hope College. Don't cave in to the pressure. Love your "fellow enemies" but do not serve them.
Jonathan, the issue here isn’t about “Christian nationalism” or whether Christians disagree on politics. The real question is: *What is the standard for truth?* If some Christians are being “targeted,” as you say, it’s not because they’re refusing to toe a political line—it’s because they’re embracing ideas that conflict with biblical truth.
Loving our enemies, as Jesus commanded, doesn’t mean surrendering to their worldview. It means standing firm in what’s true while engaging with grace and clarity. Calvin University and Hope College shouldn’t cave to pressure—whether from political movements or cultural trends—but neither should they redefine love as passive acceptance of falsehood. If truth divides, that’s not a flaw in truth. It’s a reflection of reality (Luke 12:51).
We've seen it coming; hard to believe that so many have been blind. My alma mater, Saint Mary's College at Notre Dame is committed to equality and the sacred value of every individual.
The writing was on the wall as to what is to come.
How people could have voted for a future, a country, such as what the Trump Administration & Conservative/Fundamental/ Evangelical Christians are striving to create, amazes, saddens & angers me.
Realizing I am pretty useless if stuck in all those emotions.
Donating to ACLU & to Democratic Senators & Congressmen, from my family’s limited income -as we are both now retired & my husband has significant health issues, which are an expense.
Doing my best to be an encouragement to my children & grandchildren… hoping we come out of this craziness.
What were people, those who voted for Trump, voted for Jill Stein & those who did not bother to vote at all, thinking???!
In 2015, I told everyone I could what would happen if Trump became president. I was accused of being a heretic, of causing disunity in the church, of speaking against God‘s anointed, of being woke, liberal, feminist, man bashing, you name it I was called it. I was told that I was being an extremist, sewing distrust, and hate, when all I wanted to do was make people see who Trump was and what his platform was, and what kind of people supported him.
I don’t feel vindicated, I feel horrified and sick. I’m glad my parents are not here to see what is happening. They warned us when Reagan became president that he would be the beginning of an end for the next 50 years and I thought they were extremist thank you so much for your work. Jesus and John Wayne was one of our book club choices not a church book club but my Crossfit book club!
I wonder how many who voted, programmed by their choice of media sources, didn't know about Project 2025 and were not really aware of what they were voting for.
I can't muster much optimism that private Christian colleges will resist the pressure. More likely, I think, will be the kind of response that Prof. Du Mez got when her speaking engagement was cancelled: "We know the accusations are untrue, but our hands are tied..." The cavalry won't be coming over the hill to help. We will have to make this stand on our own, and there will be casualties. Professors will lose their jobs. Students will be deprived of honest teaching and learning opportunities. Dissidents will be persecuted. This is more a time for Revelation theology: Hold fast and keep the faith, because God's love and justice win in the end.
The recent Atlantic article, "The Army of God," pretty well sums it up ... they've been planning on this for years now ... laying the ground work, building their coalitions of madness ... all of America's racial bigotry, fear, and pride, have coalesced around this moment, joined now by the likes of the hyper wealthy and their consumer capitalism. The perfect storm of hate and greed.
I read that Atlantic article. It seems like they were under the radar for a long time but have been emboldened to come out of hiding by the Christian Nationalists' new powers in JD Vance and Project 2025.
I have been thinking about Bishop Budde's reference to "the politics of contempt". It is painfully difficult for progressive Christians to avoid showing contempt for those who express contempt for us.
Oh I feel this one already. Recently (like yesterday) I saw old church folks posting calls for tribunals (and worse) for top CDC docs, and I just really wanted to ask if they’d stand me up there too. That would really stress my wife - so I don’t ask. A year or so I had mused to my wife that soon we’d have all our kids through school and no house payment, and could perhaps have a season of rest. I suppose that kind of expectation runs against the grain of the Gospel no matter how you look at it. Perhaps it’s appropriate to use a few cowboy and saddle metaphors ( cue the 90s CCM lyrics) for what lies ahead for us. 🤠 And I’m grateful for all of you folks here who comprise “us”, who can’t just rest in suburban comfort while wicked men crush helpless folks. 🙌
This is happening at all levels of the education system. I heard yesterday from a friend in East Texas. Her daughter came home from school horrified. Her history teacher told the students that he was required to say that 6 million Jews had died in the Holocaust, but it wasn't true. He had listened to podcasts by "people who knew what they were talking about." He said it was "just not possible" that 6 million could have been killed--probably more like 500,000. The teacher also said that Hitler undoubtedly was one of the best leaders ever because he was able to get his whole country against the Jews. To put Hitler's accomplishment in perspective, he said, imagine if Trump tried to turn the whole US against Mexicans. It would be hard because "not everyone will hate Mexicans."
My friend called the principal this morning. She's not optimistic that anything will happen. The principal said they would investigate but also said that "people have opinions." I suggested she ask the principal if he think it is appropriate to offer students the opinion that Hitler did a great thing by unifying Germans against Jews. Also, if it's cool to teach opinions, they it must be OK for a teacher to teach critical race theory, right?
This is an extreme case (for the moment), but it's what the new orthodoxy will look like, and it will be enforced by school boards and universities that impose false teaching.
I see two wonderful things in this story...you are doing something about it, and your kid knew enough not to believe it. I was that kind of kid myself. Let's not underestimate how many people will NOT be taken in, and the general trend of the culture toward more empathy and inclusivity. Doesn't mean we don't keep fighting, but we fight with hope!
That story is incredibly disturbing. Yes, people have opinions but there are also facts. The Nazis killed 6 million more other people as well as 6 million Jews that often get left out of the conversation, too. The fact that the principal wouldn't have a serious talk with that teacher is not a good sign.
To add injury to insult, I should have mentioned: My friend fears that just by bringing this to the principal's attention, she and her daughter will become targets for hate and retaliation. While she couldn't let what this teacher did pass without a response, she also is now living in fear.
Thx so much Kristin. Don’t forget our wonderful Catholic universities and our commitment to Catholic Social teaching. Just like other Christians we are polarized with Vance being an ultra conservative right wing Catholic. The USCCB is now waking up to fear what is happening to immigrants. And Vance’s claim that is only because of funding is ludicrous as the money is only used on immigrants.
I will keep going forward. I am an activist and lobby/advocate in the areas of hunger, poverty and immigration.
I’ve been out of the Catholic Church for decades. Anyone heard lately about what the next papacy might shape up to be? Seems like another Pope like Francis could go a long way towards fighting the creep of the right that we’re seeing in evangelicalism in the global south. Maybe John McGreevey would know. Dunno…
I hope that your readers have let you know that your writing and speaking are helping the people across the country immensely. Your family must be so proud of your work. A result of listening to your speeches, Convocation, and reading your books and articles has been a grounded reference for having conversations with others. Thank you. It feels like I have made small positive steps with my family, friends, and colleagues who have continued down the path of MAGA.
Thank you. I sometimes (daily, hourly) wonder why I keep at this, but in case it isn't too late, things have to be said. If it is too late, they still do.
As someone who prepared to be a historian but didn't go into academia (no jobs), I fear for all of you who are in the cross-hairs of rightwing (I refuse to call them conservative) revisionists.
But if they want to put a target on my back and come after me for posting the unbiased, unvarnished version US history, warts and all, I say: "Come ahead, and be sure to bring a sack lunch."
"For a long time now, I’ve been arguing that the primary targets of Christian nationalists are likely to be fellow Christians who do not toe the Christian nationalist line." That started back in 2016 and shifted into high gear in 2020. Folks like Eric Metaxas and Charlie Kirk are trying to do exactly that. It will take a concerted effort from church and Christian college leadership to stand up to them.
Great article. Thank you so much for all you are doing in this area. I am the mom of two Calvin grads and I pray that Calvin and other Christian institutions have the courage to stand up for the values Jesus calls us to. Keep up the good work.
Thank you, Kristin.
I noticed the stunning lack of self-awareness in the Vance clip: “think about what it means not just to be made fun of or bo be criticized by your peers”. Many of us do not have to imagine that. We have lived it. We lived it as non-Dutch students at Calvin (and I know we had it good compared with the much tinier minority of Navajo and Black students), as women in societal and church patriarchy. Many people I know have lived it as persons of color in a society structured to establish and sustain white privilege. And yet Vance, a member of the 30% who control things, can make this statement.
My (former) reformed community has long lamented that all our problems started with kicking prayer out of schools. I am more and more convinced this is wrong. It was when the humanities were downgraded from being the core of education to being shoved aside as "progressive", "unimportant", "not economically productive", or "focused on those people".
For a long time now, I’ve been arguing that the primary targets of Christian nationalists are likely to be fellow Christians who do not toe the Christian nationalist line.
Go Calvin University and Hope College. Don't cave in to the pressure. Love your "fellow enemies" but do not serve them.
Jonathan, the issue here isn’t about “Christian nationalism” or whether Christians disagree on politics. The real question is: *What is the standard for truth?* If some Christians are being “targeted,” as you say, it’s not because they’re refusing to toe a political line—it’s because they’re embracing ideas that conflict with biblical truth.
Loving our enemies, as Jesus commanded, doesn’t mean surrendering to their worldview. It means standing firm in what’s true while engaging with grace and clarity. Calvin University and Hope College shouldn’t cave to pressure—whether from political movements or cultural trends—but neither should they redefine love as passive acceptance of falsehood. If truth divides, that’s not a flaw in truth. It’s a reflection of reality (Luke 12:51).
We've seen it coming; hard to believe that so many have been blind. My alma mater, Saint Mary's College at Notre Dame is committed to equality and the sacred value of every individual.
I’ll be speaking at St Mary’s this winter.
Would that be for the Center for the Study of Spirituality, headed by the inimitable Dan Horan?
history dept!
It will be a great presentation!
The writing was on the wall as to what is to come.
How people could have voted for a future, a country, such as what the Trump Administration & Conservative/Fundamental/ Evangelical Christians are striving to create, amazes, saddens & angers me.
Realizing I am pretty useless if stuck in all those emotions.
Donating to ACLU & to Democratic Senators & Congressmen, from my family’s limited income -as we are both now retired & my husband has significant health issues, which are an expense.
Doing my best to be an encouragement to my children & grandchildren… hoping we come out of this craziness.
What were people, those who voted for Trump, voted for Jill Stein & those who did not bother to vote at all, thinking???!
They weren’t
In 2015, I told everyone I could what would happen if Trump became president. I was accused of being a heretic, of causing disunity in the church, of speaking against God‘s anointed, of being woke, liberal, feminist, man bashing, you name it I was called it. I was told that I was being an extremist, sewing distrust, and hate, when all I wanted to do was make people see who Trump was and what his platform was, and what kind of people supported him.
I don’t feel vindicated, I feel horrified and sick. I’m glad my parents are not here to see what is happening. They warned us when Reagan became president that he would be the beginning of an end for the next 50 years and I thought they were extremist thank you so much for your work. Jesus and John Wayne was one of our book club choices not a church book club but my Crossfit book club!
Horrified and sick. Exactly. And I’m angry. A simmering anger at everyone who chose this and continues to enable it.
I wonder how many who voted, programmed by their choice of media sources, didn't know about Project 2025 and were not really aware of what they were voting for.
I can't muster much optimism that private Christian colleges will resist the pressure. More likely, I think, will be the kind of response that Prof. Du Mez got when her speaking engagement was cancelled: "We know the accusations are untrue, but our hands are tied..." The cavalry won't be coming over the hill to help. We will have to make this stand on our own, and there will be casualties. Professors will lose their jobs. Students will be deprived of honest teaching and learning opportunities. Dissidents will be persecuted. This is more a time for Revelation theology: Hold fast and keep the faith, because God's love and justice win in the end.
The recent Atlantic article, "The Army of God," pretty well sums it up ... they've been planning on this for years now ... laying the ground work, building their coalitions of madness ... all of America's racial bigotry, fear, and pride, have coalesced around this moment, joined now by the likes of the hyper wealthy and their consumer capitalism. The perfect storm of hate and greed.
I read that Atlantic article. It seems like they were under the radar for a long time but have been emboldened to come out of hiding by the Christian Nationalists' new powers in JD Vance and Project 2025.
I have been thinking about Bishop Budde's reference to "the politics of contempt". It is painfully difficult for progressive Christians to avoid showing contempt for those who express contempt for us.
Oh I feel this one already. Recently (like yesterday) I saw old church folks posting calls for tribunals (and worse) for top CDC docs, and I just really wanted to ask if they’d stand me up there too. That would really stress my wife - so I don’t ask. A year or so I had mused to my wife that soon we’d have all our kids through school and no house payment, and could perhaps have a season of rest. I suppose that kind of expectation runs against the grain of the Gospel no matter how you look at it. Perhaps it’s appropriate to use a few cowboy and saddle metaphors ( cue the 90s CCM lyrics) for what lies ahead for us. 🤠 And I’m grateful for all of you folks here who comprise “us”, who can’t just rest in suburban comfort while wicked men crush helpless folks. 🙌
This is happening at all levels of the education system. I heard yesterday from a friend in East Texas. Her daughter came home from school horrified. Her history teacher told the students that he was required to say that 6 million Jews had died in the Holocaust, but it wasn't true. He had listened to podcasts by "people who knew what they were talking about." He said it was "just not possible" that 6 million could have been killed--probably more like 500,000. The teacher also said that Hitler undoubtedly was one of the best leaders ever because he was able to get his whole country against the Jews. To put Hitler's accomplishment in perspective, he said, imagine if Trump tried to turn the whole US against Mexicans. It would be hard because "not everyone will hate Mexicans."
My friend called the principal this morning. She's not optimistic that anything will happen. The principal said they would investigate but also said that "people have opinions." I suggested she ask the principal if he think it is appropriate to offer students the opinion that Hitler did a great thing by unifying Germans against Jews. Also, if it's cool to teach opinions, they it must be OK for a teacher to teach critical race theory, right?
This is an extreme case (for the moment), but it's what the new orthodoxy will look like, and it will be enforced by school boards and universities that impose false teaching.
I see two wonderful things in this story...you are doing something about it, and your kid knew enough not to believe it. I was that kind of kid myself. Let's not underestimate how many people will NOT be taken in, and the general trend of the culture toward more empathy and inclusivity. Doesn't mean we don't keep fighting, but we fight with hope!
That story is incredibly disturbing. Yes, people have opinions but there are also facts. The Nazis killed 6 million more other people as well as 6 million Jews that often get left out of the conversation, too. The fact that the principal wouldn't have a serious talk with that teacher is not a good sign.
To add injury to insult, I should have mentioned: My friend fears that just by bringing this to the principal's attention, she and her daughter will become targets for hate and retaliation. While she couldn't let what this teacher did pass without a response, she also is now living in fear.
Thx so much Kristin. Don’t forget our wonderful Catholic universities and our commitment to Catholic Social teaching. Just like other Christians we are polarized with Vance being an ultra conservative right wing Catholic. The USCCB is now waking up to fear what is happening to immigrants. And Vance’s claim that is only because of funding is ludicrous as the money is only used on immigrants.
I will keep going forward. I am an activist and lobby/advocate in the areas of hunger, poverty and immigration.
Yes!
I’ve been out of the Catholic Church for decades. Anyone heard lately about what the next papacy might shape up to be? Seems like another Pope like Francis could go a long way towards fighting the creep of the right that we’re seeing in evangelicalism in the global south. Maybe John McGreevey would know. Dunno…
I hope that your readers have let you know that your writing and speaking are helping the people across the country immensely. Your family must be so proud of your work. A result of listening to your speeches, Convocation, and reading your books and articles has been a grounded reference for having conversations with others. Thank you. It feels like I have made small positive steps with my family, friends, and colleagues who have continued down the path of MAGA.
Thank you. I sometimes (daily, hourly) wonder why I keep at this, but in case it isn't too late, things have to be said. If it is too late, they still do.
Her colleagues at Calvin are also immensely proud of her. She is the voice we need at Calvin!
❤️
Good to hear that! Kristin deserves and needs a solid surrounding wall of support!
As someone who prepared to be a historian but didn't go into academia (no jobs), I fear for all of you who are in the cross-hairs of rightwing (I refuse to call them conservative) revisionists.
But if they want to put a target on my back and come after me for posting the unbiased, unvarnished version US history, warts and all, I say: "Come ahead, and be sure to bring a sack lunch."
"For a long time now, I’ve been arguing that the primary targets of Christian nationalists are likely to be fellow Christians who do not toe the Christian nationalist line." That started back in 2016 and shifted into high gear in 2020. Folks like Eric Metaxas and Charlie Kirk are trying to do exactly that. It will take a concerted effort from church and Christian college leadership to stand up to them.
Great article. Thank you so much for all you are doing in this area. I am the mom of two Calvin grads and I pray that Calvin and other Christian institutions have the courage to stand up for the values Jesus calls us to. Keep up the good work.
Inspirational clarion call to be a follower of Christ. alert, courageous and unafraid. Thanks Kristin!