Credentials
Curriculum Vitae [.pdf]
Books
Rhetoric of the Protestant Sermon in America: Pulpit Discourse at the Turn of the Millennium. E. C. Miller and J. J. Edwards, eds. (Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2020). [.html] Reviewed in Homiletic (2020).
The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States. E. C. Miller, ed. (Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2018). [.html] *Winner of the NCA Spiritual Communication Division Outstanding Book Award, 2019, and featured on the New Books in Political Science podcast. June 15, 2018. [.html] Reviewed in Rhetoric & Public Affairs (2021) and Politics & Religion (2019).
Articles
“William Ellery Channing, ‘Unitarian Christianity: A Discourse at the Ordination of the Rev. Jared Sparks.'” Voices of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory Project 18 (2023): forthcoming.
“The Means of Revival: Charles Grandison Finney’s Rhetorical Theory.” Journal of Communication and Religion 44.4 (2021): 63-79. [.pdf] *Finalist for the Religious Communication Association Article Award, 2022.
“Forgive and Forget the Alamo: Collective Memory, Creative Agency, and Rhetoric in John Sayles’ Lone Star.” Pennsylvania Communication Annual 77 (2021): 70-89. [.pdf]
“From Dayton to Dover: Phillip E. Johnson’s Academic Freedom.” Journal of Communication and Religion 43.4 (2020): 23-38. [.pdf]
“Harry Emerson Fosdick, ‘Shall the Fundamentalists Win?'” Voices of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory Project 14 (2019): 18-31. [.pdf]
“‘The Protestant Contention’: Religious Freedom, Respectability Politics, and W. A. Criswell in 1960.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 22.1 (2019): 33-58. With James E. Towns. [.pdf]
“Randall Terry’s Liberal Prophecy: National Sin, Activist Redemption, and the Death of Freedom.” Pennsylvania Communication Annual 72 (2016): 39-58. [.pdf]
“Phyllis Schlafly’s ‘Positive’ Freedom: Liberty, Liberation, and the Equal Rights Amendment.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 18.2 (2015): 277-300. [.pdf]
“Fighting for Freedom: Liberal Argumentation in Culture War Rhetoric.” Journal of Communication and Religion 37.1 (2014): 102-125. [.pdf]
“Patrick Joseph Buchanan, Culture War Speech: Address to the Republican National Convention.” Voices of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory Project 7 (2013): 47-59. [.pdf]
“Rhetoric, Rationality, and Judicial Activism: The Case of Hillary Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.” Advances in the History of Rhetoric 15 (2012): 185-203. With Dave Tell. [.pdf]
Chapters
“‘Not About Discrimination’: Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and the Question of Intent.” In The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States, E. C. Miller, ed. (Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2018), 101-114. [.pdf]
“Civil Religion as Christian Religion: Francis Schaeffer’s Liberal Fundamentalism.” In The Rhetoric of American Civil Religion: Symbols, Sinners, and Saints, J. Edwards and J. Valenzano, eds. (Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2016), 111-128. [.pdf]
“Talk the Talk.” In Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers (12th ed.), P. Eschholz, A. Rosa, and V. Clark, eds. (New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016), 186-193. [.pdf] Re-printed with permission from Aeon. June 2, 2014. [.html]
Review Essays
“Freedom As and Against Democracy.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 25.3 (2022): 167-180. [.pdf]
“The Great Complacency: Conservative Christians and Climate Change.” Journal of Communication and Religion 45.2 (2022): 134-143. [.pdf]
“The Eyes of the World Upon Us, Again: John Winthrop’s Remarkable Comeback.” Journal of Communication and Religion 44.1 (2021): 124-130. [.pdf]
“The Drama of American Religious Freedom.” Politics & Religion 8 (2015): 818-825. [.pdf]
“In and Of the World: Christian Rhetorics in Opposition and Assimilation.” Journal of Communication and Religion 38.1 (2015): 113-131. [.pdf]
Reviews
Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, by Katharine Hayhoe. Reading Religion. June 30, 2022. [.html]
Seasoned Speech: Rhetoric in the Life of the Church, by James E. Beitler, III. Journal of Communication and Religion 42.4 (2019): 88-90. [.pdf]
God Hates: Westboro Baptist Church, American Nationalism, and the Religious Right, by Rebecca Barrett-Fox. Rhetoric & Public Affairs 22.2 (2019): 339-341. [.pdf]
Winsome Persuasion: Christian Influence in a Post-Christian World, by Tim Muelhoff and Richard Langer. Journal of Communication and Religion 41.2 (2018): 110-112. [.pdf]
The Monk’s Record Player: Thomas Merton, Bob Dylan, and the Perilous Summer of 1966, by Robert Hudson. Reading Religion. September 12, 2018. [.html]
The Anglican Communion at a Crossroads: The Crises of a Global Church, by Christopher C. Brittain and David McKinnon. Reading Religion. September 12, 2018. [.html]
The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America, by Francis FitzGerald. Politics & Religion 10 (2017): 741-743. [.pdf]
Rhetorics of Religion in American Fiction: Faith, Fundamentalism, and Fanaticism in the Age of Terror, by Liliana M. Naydan. Journal of Communication and Religion 39.4 (2017): 113-114. [.pdf]
The State of the Marital Union: Rhetoric, Identity, and Nineteenth Century Marriage Controversies, by Leslie J. Harris. Rhetoric & Public Affairs 19.1 (2016): 112-115. [.pdf]
Hunt the Devil: A Demonology of U.S. War Culture, by Robert L. Ivie and Oscar Giner. Communication Review 19.2 (2016): 156-158. [.pdf]
The Politics of Resentment: A Genealogy, by Jeremy Engels. Southern Communication Journal 81.2 (2016): 123-124. [.pdf]
Superchurch: The Rhetoric and Politics of American Fundamentalism, by Jonathan J. Edwards. Rhetoric Society Quarterly 46.1 (2016): 97-101. [.pdf]
Righteous Rhetoric: Sex, Speech, and the Politics of Concerned Women for America, by Leslie Dorrough Smith. Rhetoric Review 34.2 (2015): 155-158. [.pdf]
Creating Conservatism: Postwar Words that Made an American Movement, by Michael J. Lee. Political Communication 32.1 (2015): 174-176. [.pdf]
Beyond Religious Right and Secular Left Rhetoric: The Road to Compromise, by Karin Fry. Politics & Religion 8 (2015): 425-428. [.pdf]
Divisive Discourse: The Extreme Rhetoric of Contemporary American Politics, by Joseph Zompetti. Argumentation & Advocacy 51.2 (2014): 132-134. [.pdf]
Spiritual Modalities: Prayer as Rhetoric and Performance, by William FitzGerald. Quarterly Journal of Speech 100.1 (2014): 126-129. [.pdf]
Jimmy Carter, the Politics of Family, and the Rise of the Religious Right, by J. Brooks Flippen. Rhetoric & Public Affairs 17.1 (2014): 193-195. [.pdf]
Religious Rhetoric and American Politics: The Endurance of Civil Religion in Electoral Campaigns, by Christopher B. Chapp. Rhetoric Society Quarterly 44.1 (2014): 97-100. [.pdf]
The Myth of American Religious Freedom, by David Sehat. Journal of Communication and Religion 36.2 (2013): 214-217. [.pdf]
Interviews
“The Myth of American Individualism” – A Conversation with Alex Zakaras. Religion & Politics. February 21, 2023. [.html]
“How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular” – A Conversation with David A. Hollinger. Religion & Politics. October 18, 2022. [.html]
“A Climate Activist Reconsiders History” – A Conversation with Bill McKibben. Religion & Politics. September 13, 2022. [.html]
“Why Trump’s MAGA Resonates With White Christian Nationalism” – A Conversation with Philip S. Gorski. Religion & Politics. June 6, 2022. [.html]
“The Hijacked Christianity” – A Conversation with Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. Los Angeles Review of Books. May 22, 2022. [.html]
“The Decline of Church-State Separation” – A Conversation with Steven K. Green. Religion & Politics. April 26, 2022. [.html]
“Hijacking History: Why What We Teach Matters” – A Conversation with Kathleen Wellman. Religion & Politics. February 15, 2022. [.html]
“The Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church” – A Conversation with Michael J. O’Loughlin. Religion & Politics. January 18, 2022. [.html]
“Colorblind Christianity” – A Conversation with Jesse Curtis. Recommended Reading. December 20, 2021. [.html]
“How Meatpacking Work and Faith Intersect in the Heartland” – A Conversation with Kristy Nabhan-Warren. Religion & Politics. November 16, 2021. [.html]
“Passive Active – A Conversation with Stephanie A. Martin.” Recommended Reading. November 1, 2021. [.html]
“The Religious Conversions that Changed American Politics” – A Conversation with Rebecca L. Davis. Religion & Politics. October 19, 2021. [.html]
“Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe’s Faithful Quest to Heal a Divided World.” Religion & Politics. September 21, 2021. [.html]
“Taking on the Christian Patriarchy” – A Conversation with Beth Allison Barr. Religion & Politics. May 18, 2021. [.html]
“White Evangelical Racism” – A Conversation with Anthea Butler. Religion & Politics. April 20, 2021. [.html]
“The Power of Crafting as Jewish Practice” – A Conversation with Jodi Eichler-Levine. Religion & Politics. March 9, 2021. [.html]
“Debunking the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” – A Conversation with Ariel Sabar. Religion & Politics. January 26, 2021. [.html]
“Republican Jesus” – A Conversation with Tony Keddie. Recommended Reading. October 29, 2020. [.html]
“Trump’s Unholy Alliances” – A Conversation with Sarah Posner. Religion & Politics. July 29, 2020. [.html]
“The Price of White Evangelical Patriarchy” – A Conversation with Kristin Kobes Du Mez. Religion & Politics. July 7, 2020. [.html]
“Former Obama Staffer Offers a Primer on Religion in Public Life” – A Conversation with Melissa Rogers. Religion & Politics. May 27, 2020. [.html]
“Who Defines Evangelicalism?” A Conversation with Mark A. Noll. Religion & Politics. April 28, 2020. [.html]
“Family Matters” – A Conversation with Hilde Løvdal Stephens. Recommended Reading. March 16, 2020. [.html]
“The Gospel of Climate Change Skepticism” – A Conversation with Robin Globus Veldman. Religion & Politics. March 10, 2020. [.html]
“Who is an Evangelical?” A Conversation with Thomas S. Kidd. Religion & Politics. January 14, 2020. [.html]
“Lear on the Left” – A Conversation with L. Benjamin Rolsky. Recommended Reading. December 16, 2019. [.html]
“Christian Diplomacy” – A Conversation with Mark Thomas Edwards. Recommended Reading. December 1, 2019. [.html]
“Franklin D. Roosevelt, A Christian and a Democrat” – A Conversation with James D. Bratt. Religion & Politics. November 5, 2019. [.html]
“First They Came for the Buddhists: Faith, Citizenship, and the Internment Camps” – A Conversation with Duncan Ryūken Williams. Religion & Politics. July 23, 2019. [.html]
“Oil Patch Religion: How a Passion for Crude Shaped American Faith” – A Conversation with Darren Dochuk. Religion & Politics. June 18, 2019. [.html]
“Beating Guns Into Garden Tools” – A Conversation with Shane Claiborne. Religion & Politics. April 23, 2019. [.html]
“The American Church’s Complicity in Racism” – A Conversation with Jemar Tisby. Religion & Politics. April 2, 2019. [.html]
“Nixon Kids” – A Conversation with Seth Blumenthal. Recommended Reading. February 12, 2019. [.html]
“‘America First’ and The Origin of the Modern Jewish Conspiracy” – A Conversation with Paul Hanebrink. Religion Dispatches. January 9, 2019. [.html]
“What is the Future of the Evangelical-Republican Coalition?” – A Conversation with Paul A. Djupe. Religion & Politics. November 13, 2018. [.html]
“The Radical Rise of Liberation Theology” – A Conversation with Lilian Calles Barger. Religion & Politics. September 25, 2018. [.html]
“Disruptive Witness” – A Conversation with Alan Noble. Recommended Reading. September 9, 2018. [.html]
“You’re Using it Wrong: Rachel Held Evans Returns to the Bible” – A Conversation with Rachel Held Evans. Religion Dispatches. July 6, 2018. [.html]
“What Does It Mean to Be Christian in America?” – A Conversation with Matthew Bowman. Religion & Politics. June 19, 2018. [.html]
“How ‘Gratitude’ Underwrites Inequality, Power, and Exclusion” – A Conversation with Jeremy David Engels. Religion Dispatches. May 30, 2018. [.html]
“Fear, Nostalgia, and Power Drove Evangelicals to Trump” – A Conversation with John Fea. Religion Dispatches. April 18, 2018. [.html]
“How do Evangelical Colleges Keep the Faith?” – A Conversation with Adam Laats. Religion & Politics. April 17, 2018. [.html]
“The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock ‘n’ Roll” – A Conversation with Randall J. Stephens. Religion Dispatches. April 2, 2018. [.html]
“How Protestants Made the Modern World” – A Conversation with Alec Ryrie. Religion & Politics. February 20, 2018. [.html]
“How the Abortion Debate Turned the Christian Right Toward Liberalism… and Birthed the Religious Freedom Industry” – A Conversation with Andrew R. Lewis. Religion Dispatches. February 9, 2018. [.html]
“Evangelical Author on Why Christian Conservatives Supported Trump” – A Conversation with Stephen Mansfield.” Religion Dispatches. November 14, 2017. [.html]
“How America’s Charismatic Christianity Helped Fuel the Fantasyland Presidency of Donald Trump” – A Conversation with Kurt Andersen. Religion Dispatches. October 20, 2017. [.html]
“India in the American Imagination” – A Conversation with Michael J. Altman. Religion & Politics. October 3, 2017. [.html]
“The Origin Story of the Evangelical Mindset” – A Conversation with Francis FitzGerald. Religion Dispatches. May 31, 2017. [.html]
“In Pursuit of a Meaningful Life” – A Conversation with Emily Esfahani Smith. Religion & Politics. April 4, 2017. [.html]
“Rising to Heaven in a Secular Rapture: Trump’s Golden Promises” – A Conversation with Arlie Hochschild. Religion Dispatches. November 15, 2016. [.html]
“Before Breitbart: How Right Wing Media Transformed American Politics” – A Conversation with Nicole Hemmer. Religion Dispatches. October 31, 2016. [.html]
“How a Group of Catholic Pacifists Took on the Nuclear State” – A Conversation with Kristen Tobey. Religion Dispatches. September 7, 2016. [.html]
“The ‘Southern Cage’: How the Myth of the Redemptive Depression Keeps Blacks at the Margins” – A Conversation with Alison Collis Greene. Religion Dispatches. July 29, 2016. [.html]
“When Being Pro-Life Did Not Mean Being Conservative” – A Conversation with Daniel K. Williams. Religion & Politics. May 31, 2016. [.html]
“Is There Hope for a Truly Progressive Evangelicalism?” – A Conversation with Deborah Jian Lee. Religion Dispatches. April 21, 2016. [.html]
“Why ‘Family Values’ Defined Conservative Christianity (and Why ‘Religious Liberty’ has Replaced It)” – A Conversation with Seth Dowland. Religion Dispatches. January 28, 2016. [.html] Also at Salon. February 7, 2016. [.html]
“Will ‘Religious Freedom’ Be the Issue that Finally Unites the Religious Right?” – A Conversation with Neil J. Young. Religion Dispatches. December 1, 2015. [.html]
“The Political Legacy of Progressive Evangelicals” – A Conversation with Brantley W. Gasaway. Religion & Politics. October 25, 2015. [.html]
“Workers Once Forced the Social Gospel into Churches – Can it Happen Again?” – A Conversation with Heath W. Carter. Religion Dispatches. October 1, 2015. [.html]
“Why Christian Fundamentalism is Still a Big Deal in US Politics” – A Conversation with Jonathan J. Edwards. Religion Dispatches. June 1, 2015. [.html] Also at Salon [.html] and Alternet. June 10, 2015. [.html]
“The Fate of American Religious Freedom” – A Conversation with Steven D. Smith. Religion & Politics. January 13, 2015. [.html]
“Christian Morality vs. Free Markets: The Constants of a Conservative” – A Conversation with Michael J. Lee. Religion Dispatches. November 4, 2014. [.html]
“What 19th-Century Marriage Controversies Can Tell Us About the Fight Over Gay Marriage” – A Conversation with Leslie J. Harris. Religion Dispatches. October 7, 2014. [.html]
“Rejecting the Binary: Why Left v. Right Doesn’t Work” – A Conversation with Karin Fry. Religion Dispatches. September 18, 2014. [.html]
“How Conservative Christian Women Came to Claim ‘True’ Feminism” – A Conversation with Leslie Dorrough Smith. Religion Dispatches. July 16, 2014. [.html]
Conversations
“Fundamentalist U & Me: A Conversation with Adam Laats.” I Love You But You’re Going to Hell. May 27, 2018. [.html]
“American Christian / Christian American: A Conversation with Brandon A. Schmidt.” Recommended Reading. April 1, 2016. [.pdf]
Selected Web
“I Was a Wild Man: How to Decode Evangelical Testimony.” Religion Dispatches. July 16, 2015. [.html]
“The Perfect Victim.” Killing the Buddha. April 14, 2015. [.html]
“Civility, Unity, Tolerance, and Other Dangerous Terms.” Religion Dispatches. December 12, 2013. [.html]
“The High Stakes Poker Scam (A Vietnam Travel Story).” Tropicalmba. August 20, 2013. [.html]
“Barack Obama, Pro-Life Hero.” Religion Dispatches. October 24, 2012. [.html]
Press
Kelly Field, “Can a College Education Solve the Nation’s Prison Crisis?” The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 19, 2017. [.pdf]
Recommended Reading
RR 2022 – The Revolution to the Civil War [.pdf]
RR 2021 – The Puritans to the Great Awakening [.pdf]
Recommended Reading 