Column at patheos.com: "Patrick Henry, Homeschooler"

Patrick Henry, the greatest orator of the American Revolution, was homeschooled. Born in 1736 as the second of eleven children, he attended a small common school until he was 10. After that, his father took primary responsibility for his education. He read classics of Greek and Roman antiquity (sometimes in the original languages), ancient and modern history, and of course, the Bible. He also worked on his family's farm, hunted, and learned to play the flute and the violin. As a young man, Henry taught himself law in order to pass the bar exam, and in 1765 he burst onto the national scene when, as a freshman legislator in Virginia, he penned the colony's resolves against the Stamp Act and fulminated against the act on the floor of Virginia's House of Burgesses.

Read the rest at http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Patrick-Henry-Homeschooler-Thomas-Kidd-12-07-2011.html

Mayor Bloomberg and the Ban on 9/11 Prayers

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has refused to allow clergy to participate in the official 9/11 commemoration, much to the (appropriate) consternation of many. Some have suggested that Bloomberg does not want to contend with the problems of involving Muslims in the ceremony. But at root, his decision speaks to a fundamental discomfort that many American elites, especially of the east and west-coast variety, have with the public role of religion in American life.

There are three main reasons that prayers offered by clergy of major religious groups (including Muslims) should be allowed. First, and the most paltry reason, is that it would do Americans good (including the Muslim community) once again to have an imam publicly grieve with the victims’ families and agree with them that 9/11 was an abominable evil.

Second, these prayers would be consistent with the best of the American historic tradition. As Jordan Sekulow recently noted, we have always marked such tragedies and commemorations with prayers for the nation, from President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, to President Obama’s January address in Tucson commemorating the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the related death of six others.

Third, tragedies such as 9/11 beg for reference to God’s transcendent purposes and ultimate sovereignty. Refusing to address these themes deprives the grieving of their most important frame of reference. A commemoration without prayer—or at least without recourse to theistic principles-- can’t say much that is meaningful about 9/11, other than “We’re sorry this happened. We’ll try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Those sentiments are nice, but the evil exposed on 9/11 requires more; we need--we want--to agree as a community that there is an ultimate source of comfort in suffering, and that He has plans and purposes beyond what we can know in this life. He will set things right in the end.

On a cautionary note, however, Christian believers should remember that New York City was never going to have an exclusively Christian service to observe 9/11. The relatively generic prayers of such public events normally do not address the fundamental solution to human evil and the problem of suffering. That solution, Christians believe, is to be found in the cross of Christ. Mayor Bloomberg may ban faith from New York’s remembrance service, but nothing will stop churches from lifting up Christ, the "man of sorrows," this September 11.

Noll endorsement of Patrick Henry bio

So grateful for this endorsement of my Patrick Henry biography:  

“Patrick Henry is well known for crying ‘Give me liberty or give me death’ at a crucial moment in the struggle for American independence.  This well-researched biography shows that there was a great deal more to this strangely neglected founding father.  Thomas Kidd is especially compelling on why Henry’s life-long devotion to liberty could never move him to free his own slaves and why that same devotion led him to OPPPOSE the United States Constitution of 1787.  The book is accessible history at its best.”

—Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, and author of America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday's editorial at Patheos: Thou Shalt Not Say 'Jesus'

How can judges forbid anyone, even elected officials, from saying certain religious words?

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Thou-Shalt-Not-Say-Jesus-Thomas-Kidd-08-31-2011.html

Michele Bachmann and the Providence of God

"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'" said Michele Bachmann yesterday. As Stephen Prothero notes, providential readings of storms, earthquakes, and other disasters truly have been marginalized due to the rise of the scientific, secular mentality. Evangelical politicians and pundits should stop offering such providential interpretations unless they take time for theological reflection on God's role in the fallen natural world. I know this is asking a lot, but there are intelligent ways to talk about God's providence beyond saying that disasters reveal God's anger toward our policies and politicians. Crass providentialism feeds the worst stereotypes of evangelical thoughtlessness.   
UPDATE: Bachmann says she was just joking to make a point. Video of the speech here. 

Endorsement for Patrick Henry bio

Richard Beeman, John Welsh Centennial Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania, and author of Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution, says of my Patrick Henry bio:


“Thomas Kidd’s account of the life of Patrick Henry combines first-rate scholarship with a lively and elegant gift for story-telling. It makes a powerful case for the Virginia orator’s pre-eminent role in the fight to limit central government power during the era of the Revolution and early republic.”

Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots will be out in November with Basic Books.

Document reader on faith and the Founding

The Founding Fathers and the Debate over Religion in Revolutionary America: A History in Documents, co-edited by me and Matthew Harris (Colorado State) will be out in November with Oxford University Press.