Reading Time: 9 minutes Hungerford, England, 1987. 16 people were killed by a lone gunman. The Conservative government introduced the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, making registration mandatory for owning shotguns and banning semi-automatic and pump-action weapons. There was a huge firearm amnesty. Dunblane, Scotland, 1996. 16 children died in another rare UK shooting. The Conservative government passed a ban […]
The Flare
Posted inNews
Student to receive $90K settlement after Pledge of Allegiance lawsuit
Reading Time: 2 minutes Although our public institutions are supposed to promote free speech and the separation between church and state, there is increasing pressure from religious groups to bring God back into the classroom. When such groups, or even sympathetic teachers or administrators get their way, secular students can face punishments that adversely affect their education. That’s exactly […]
Posted inPolitics
Why does Christianity still dominate the Democratic Party?
Reading Time: 6 minutes When you think of Christian nationalism, Republican social conservatives probably come to mind, and for good reason. In 2020, President Trump won 59% of those who attended religious services at least monthly. Among white Americans, that number jumped to 71%. Although infamously impious himself, Trump made a point of pandering to evangelical Christians as much […]
Posted inNonreligious News
An atheist called out religious hate speech. Facebook punished him for it.
Reading Time: 2 minutes YouTuber and podcaster Seth Andrews recently received a 30-day suspension from Facebook for the crime of… calling out the bigotry of a Christian hate-preacher. And since I accidentally played a role in his banishment, it seems worth chiming on what a horrible move this is on the part of Facebook (and its parent company Meta). […]
Posted inNews
What are Christian nationalists fighting for?
Reading Time: 4 minutes In 1980, the Christian fundamentalist Jerry Falwell, Sr. gave a sermon to the church he founded. The sermon was fiery, and Falwell condemned his political opponents as morally bankrupt. “We’re fighting a holy war,” he roared. “What’s happened to America is that the wicked are bearing rule. We have to lead the nation back to […]
Posted inNews
It’s either Christian nationalism or democracy. You can’t have both
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the days before President Biden addressed the nation to commemorate the violent attack on the US Capitol by conservative rioters, commentators speculated on the President’s likely message. Would he stick to memorializing the dead and affirming a commitment to democracy, or point directly at the cause? In the end, Biden opted for direct, offering […]
Posted inReligious News
Are charter schools threatening church-state separation?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Even though Christianity and its value system have long dominated this country’s politics, the separation of church and state was one of America’s founding principles. The founders ensured that there would be no official state religion, a choice with long-lasting effects on the country’s future. As the country industrialized and levels of education increased, Americans […]
Posted inPolitics
Christian nationalism and the insurrection
Reading Time: 2 minutes January 6th, 2021 was the moment when Americans started taking white nationalism seriously. The insurrection was led by right-wing groups who stormed through the Capitol and came within feet of lawmakers. The mob waved the Confederate flag as they walked through the halls, prepared to use violence in their attempt to install Donald Trump as […]
Posted inRacial justice
What is the “Great Replacement” Theory?
Reading Time: 2 minutes The “Great Replacement,” also known as the White Replacement Theory, holds that liberals are deliberately pushing to change demographics in the United States for political gain. The theory is largely promoted by white supremacist groups, but it seeped into the conservative mainstream with the election of President Donald Trump. Adherents of the “Great Replacement” believe […]