by William Trollinger
Here at rightingamerica we are grateful for both the variety of authors’ voices and topics, and for the number and variety of readers. Below are the top ten posts that were published in 2025, with quotes from each of the posts. Enjoy reading or re-reading!
“White Christian nationalism is everywhere [in Amish Country tourist shops]: personal beverage containers in the shape of bullets, coffee mugs listing various calibers of guns with the quote ‘All faster than dialing 911,’ and Christian crosses with images of the American flag superimposed on them. The Amish are pacifists. They won’t go to war. . . . The disjuncture between who the Amish have been and how they are figured today in the context of Amish country tourism by white Christian nationalism is nothing short of stunning.”
- “God intended it as a disposable planet”: John MacArthur’s Reckless End-Times Theology, by Paul Braterman (May 27)
MacArthur “does not think that the evidence for ice-cap melting is scientific, and that other factors are at play: ‘This is all political [and] financial agendas, class warfare, class envy . . . driven by the socialist mentality, even some of the feminist mentality.’ . . . As MacArthur puts it, citing Revelation and the integrity of scripture: ‘God intended us to use this planet, to fill this planet for the benefit of man. Never was it intended to be a permanent planet. It is a disposable planet. Christians ought to know that.’ And that is a statement that would leave anybody who cares about this world speechless.”
- On the Cusp of Another Missouri Execution, by William Trollinger (October 13)
“As I write this . . . Lance Shockley is scheduled to be killed by the state of Missouri . . . Perhaps Missouri’s Governor Mike Kehoe will relent in response to very serious questions about whether Jason Shockley (who has consistently maintained his innocence) actually committed this crime . . . Perhaps Gov. Kehoe will take into account that Shockley has been an exemplary Christian guide and mentor both to his fellow inmates and to prison staff . . . Perhaps Gov. Kehoe will act in keeping with his Catholic faith, as the Church has long opposed capital punishment . . . Perhaps.” [Gov. Kehoe did not halt the execution.]
“Donald Trump and Bob Jones, Sr. are both the centers of their universe, both demand complete loyalty (as they capriciously define it), and both have no credentials. Further, both demand a certain ‘appearance’ from women around them, both have a cadre of young and compliant men to do their bidding. They both superficially use a vocabulary of religion, both draw stark divides between themselves and their cohort and everyone else, and they both [suggest] violence on the ‘everyone else.’ Donald Trump and Bob Jones, Sr., are both malignant narcissists, what we rhetoricians used to call demagogues.”
- In the Wake of the Fatal Shooting of Charlie Kirk: What’s Next for Turning Point USA, The Far Right, and American Evangelicalism?, by Tucker Hoffmann (September 16)
“I want to illuminate the startling realization that the spheres of theological discourse and political discourse are, in my opinion, collapsing into one another. . . . In the case of Kirk’s death we are hearing political speech from the pulpit and a homily of retribution from the campaign trail. I fear for what is to come when we consider the impact of this type of speech when it comes to our own subjectivity as Christians of every denomination, and on Americans who are not affiliated with Christianity at all. While I can’t forecast the future, I can say that it does not look good.”
- A Century After Scopes: Much Has Not Changed, and Much Has Changed, by Susan Trollinger and William Trollinger (April 08)
“Today we have a plethora of Christian schools and homeschools . . . Folks like AiG’s Ken Ham have been quite aggressive about promoting this alternative educational system. And now there are states that are funding or seeking to fund private schools. So the fight now is not just about getting creationism, the Bible, and white Christian nationalism into the public schools. It is also about funding private schools, including fundamentalist schools. It is about expanding the right-wing subculture. It is about taking dominion over the culture. This is where we are. 100 years after Scopes.”
- “Compromising Biblical Authority”: Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis, and the Christian Right, by William Trollinger (May 14)
“How is blatantly using the Bible as a mere prop for right-wing culture war arguments NOT the quintessential example of ‘compromising biblical authority’? For all their bluster about Christians who ‘compromise’ the Bible, the folks at AiG and elsewhere in the Christian Right elide the fact that it is their own compromises, their own turning from the Gospel, that have driven people away from the faith. . . . the ‘quantitative and qualitative evidence strongly support the argument that the Christian Right has been a primary reason for the remarkable rise of the religious nones in the United States.’”
“Michel Foucault has a small volume on parrhesis – the word translated as ‘boldness’ – that is so powerful. Foucault says parrhesia involves risk, truth, danger, and a willingness to speak truth to power. Parrhesia may be the most needed virtue for preachers. Some preachers belong to the status quo and they preach the gospel of ‘the king’s temple.’ Others are Amos and they preach the truth that clashes with the status quo. . . . In our dangerous political environment, I believe the preacher must simply bring to bear the truth of Scripture. I believe the Word has plenty to say to our current political malaise.”
- My Brother Mike, Autism, and the Ignorance and Incompetence of RFK, Jr., by William Trollinger (June 04)
“My brother Mike was born with autism spectrum disorder. Contrary to RFK’s absurd statement[s on the topic], Mike paid taxes, held multiple jobs, played baseball, wrote short stories, and – I can’t believe I have to say this – used the toilet unassisted. And while his autism challenged our family, it absolutely did not destroy our family. In fact, there are all sorts of ways in which Mike brought our family together. . . . That the creative potential, intellectual and artistic abilities, and social warmth of people with autism would be erased in a few sentences uttered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services is shameful.”
- Tim LaHaye, David Barton, and Russell Vought: Pseudoscience, Pseudohistory, and Christian Nationalism, by Paul Braterman (January 23)
“Not surprisingly perhaps, the structure of [Russell Vought’s argument in behalf of Christian Nationalism] is identical to the arguments used by creationists . . . An uncritical acceptance of Scripture with no attention to historical context, unstated reinterpretation of that Scripture to further an agenda, selecting and misconstruing quotations, claiming a monopoly of Christian thought for his own wealth-friendly version, and finally and most dangerously, grouping together wildly disparate opinions, to make it seem as if our choice is restricted to two alternative worldviews, only one of which is sanctioned by God.”