Religion and history

Driving home today, I caught part of Jay Sekulow's show. I know, I know. CIL told me not to listen to religious radio. But today was interesting.

During his show, he answered calls from people running into problems starting bible studies at public schools when other groups don't have that kind of problem. I understand their concern and think that most of us want Christians to have the same equal access that other groups enjoy. Of course, many of the Christians who listen to his show are also being told on other shows to find out if schools allow gay and lesbian clubs to know if they should yank their kids out. I guess freedom is only for Christians then?

But I digress. During the show, Sekulow did an ad for his boss (Pat Robertson) and Regent University. He had a clip of former AG John Ashcroft shilling for the school, and his promotion was interesting. He said that studies there would not avoid issues of faith in history.

Do people really think that grad schools at non-Robertson backed schools ignore religion? Do they think that we don't talk about religion or faith in history? We do. We read widely about religious expression; how that changes, and how it impacts the political culture around it. We read about the variety of religious expression and how people approach faith.

What we don't do, however, is explore the role God played in American history. Why? Because that is well outside what our discipline can do. We cannot determine what God thinks about anything. We can't determine what God did or did not do about anything. If that is what Christians want from history, they will be disappointed, and I am afraid will often turn to David Barton and Regent University for an answer they prefer. They shouldn't, but if they don't like the answer, that seems to be the choice.

One other note, btw, was a guy on the radio after my mando lesson. This is the same guy who said some ridiculously stupid things about gender roles. Tonight, he was talking about taking God's name in vain. He certainly talked about profanity, which I expected. But I was surprised to hear him chide those who use God's name to raise money. He even used the example of someone who claimed that "God would take them home if you don't send money." Oral Roberts getting slammed! Wow. About damn time. So tired of people saying stupid stuff like "God told me that you should do this."

Anyway.