One of the strangest political developments over the past several decades has been the devolution of the Religious Right and large swaths of politically active Evangelicals as they morphed from character counts moralists of the 1990s to MAGA Trumplicans.  Regardless of the merits of where the Religious Right stands today, one could be forgiven for being perplexed at how they arrived here at all.

Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is JB Shreve, creator of The End of History podcast and blog, to demystify the Religious Right’s conversion to the Church of Trump.  Both JB and Josh were raised in the cultural milieu of Evangelical conservatism and have an insider’s perspective on what went so wrong on the Religious Right.

About JB Shreve

JB Shreve spent his life in the highlands of western Arkansas, where he and his wife Casie raised their three children. JB worked in international ministry between 1998 and 2008 in various roles with organizations such as Bill Glass Prison Ministries, Christian Motorcyclists Association, and Open Doors with Brother Andrew.

After securing his degrees in International Relations and Middle East Studies at the Fulbright College and King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Arkansas, JB went to work in the corporate business sector.

In 2005, JB and his family moved to northwest Arkansas, where they joined a team to build a new church Transformation Center.  JB continues in an active leadership role at Transformation Center.

JB hosts two podcasts and blogs. JB Shreve & Faithful Considerations includes devotionals and bible studies, while JB Shreve & the End of History looks at our generation's current events, history, and socio-political issues.  JB has written two books: How the World Ends: Understanding the Growing Chaos published in 2019 and his latest book Politically Incorrect: Real Faith in an Era of Unreal Politics.

What does is mean to be an American?  And why do we Americans obsess so much over the question of what it means to be an American?  This nagging question has plagued our nation since its birth and various national “myths” have been advanced to offer some form of national identity and cohesion.  At times one myth has proven stronger than the others, only to be overshadowed as historical events call its sufficiency and truth into question.  So where does that leave us today in an era of collective, existential crisis?

Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to explore these questions is George Washington University associate professor of political science Samuel Goldman.

About Samuel Goldman

Samuel Goldman is an associate professor of political science at George Washington University, where he is also executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program.

Samuel is the Editor of FUSION, an online journal inspired by the belief that Western civilization is defined by intertwined threads of freedom and tradition, innovation and order, rights and duties.  In addition to academic work, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.

His most recent book, After Nationalism: Being American in a Divided Age was published by University of Pennsylvania Press in spring 2021.  His first book God’s Country: Christian Zionism in America was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2018.  Samuel received his Ph.D. from Harvard and taught at Harvard and Princeton before coming to GW.  You can follow Samuel on Twitter @SWGoldman