In Depth:  USA

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Letter

Church and state

Date posted: 31 Aug 2025

Dear Editor,

You report on the new Texas law requiring classroom walls to display the “Ten Commandments”. I studied the Louisiana version of this law for my forthcoming book Democracy after Christendom. Both laws, identically, prescribe the text to be displayed. This is a redacted version of Exodus 22v2-17 in the King James Version. Louisiana requires a “context statement” saying that the text forms part of the history of the USA’s educational and legal system. Neither law states the real Biblical context, nor that the display is a translation of an originally Hebrew text. I wonder what would happen to a teacher who explained to students the Biblical context and the Christian understanding found in Matthew 22.36-40.

Family campaigner James Dobson dies

Family campaigner James Dobson dies

en staff
en staff

Influential US evangelical author and psychologist James Dobson died today, Thursday, it has just been announced.

News agency Associated Press described him as "a child psychologist who founded the conservative ministry Focus on the Family and was a politically influential campaigner against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights". He was 89.

Young survivor sings tribute to Texas flood victims

Young survivor sings tribute to Texas flood victims

Emily Pollok
Emily Pollok

One of the young survivors of July’s catastrophic flash flooding in Texas has written a song in tribute to the 27 girls from Camp Mystic killed in the disaster.

Skyler Darrington, 12, shared her revised rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on US TV show Fox & Friends. “That event really helped my faith grow,” she said during the broadcast. “All my friends were there. We sung during the tragic event, and it just helped us grow.”

Not about US: The misuse of one verse in American evangelicalism
Politics USA

Not about US: The misuse of one verse in American evangelicalism

Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett

Former Vice President Mike Pence has for many years introduced himself to audiences by saying: “I’m a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican – in that order.”

I’ve heard many evangelical Christians in the UK speak warmly of Pence’s strong Biblical faith. Indeed, there is much to admire. But I’m concerned.

Why is evangelism increasingly ‘optional’?
letter from America

Why is evangelism increasingly ‘optional’?

Josh Moody
Josh Moody

It has become startlingly obvious to me over the years that evangelism, and its importance, has increasingly receded in the life of the church in America.

I know there are exceptions, and of course there are many individuals who are effective and zealous in personal evangelism. But my anecdotal and instinctive observation was recently confirmed by Lausanne’s survey on the importance of the Great Commission. The survey asked whether the average Christian, in various countries, believes that sharing the gospel is essential or optional. It is no great surprise that where the church is growing rapidly the average Christian believes that sharing the gospel is essential: Africa, Asia, Latin America. But where the church is not growing (North America and Europe) the average Christian thinks that evangelism is merely optional. You can look at the figures yourself here: lausanne.org/ report/great-commission-discipleship.

Letter

US election

Date posted: 26 Sep 2024

Dear Editor,

While agreeing with seven points raised by Richard Morgan in his article ‘If you’re a Bible-believing evangelical Christian, you WILL vote for Trump’ in the September edition of en, it seems to me that, sadly, American Christians must feel completely disenfranchised with what is on offer in their November elections.

Karen Swallow Prior and the ASP
editorial

Karen Swallow Prior and the ASP

Editorial
Editorial

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ is a reasonable comment sometimes made about human beings’ propensity to fiddle with things that are already working quite well, thus making them worse.

But what about US politics? Few would argue that the system is working well, or that the choice of candidates being offered in presidential elections over the last decade or so (perhaps much longer, in fact) is particularly edifying, inspiring or encouraging – especially from a Christian point of view.