Daniel Silliman
@danielsilliman
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Journalist. Historian. Church deacon. Lives on a tiny farm in Appalachia.
Johnson City, TN
Joined April 2011
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Fact of the day: Pumpkin pie became a popular dish during Civil War-era celebrations of Thanksgiving because pumpkins were grown on small farms, not plantations, making the pie a symbol of abolitionist virtue.
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More on the abolitionist history of Thanksgiving
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Cindy Ott, Pumpkins: The Curious History of an American Icon (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2013).
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For the past few months, I've been investigating a history of unchecked sexual harassment at the place I work,
@CTmagazine
.
Here's the story:
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I don’t know if all the dots connect in this developing story of the Jerry Falwell Jr. scandal (or scandals?)
But it would be helpful, at least, to know what all the dots *are*.
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A Tennessee sheriff's deputy is accused of forcing a woman he pulled over in a traffic stop to get baptized.
"It had nothing to do with God," the baptized woman said. "It had something to do with power and control."
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Are all these things connected? The pool boy, the property deals, the lawsuit, the alleged racy photos, the shady deals with Michael Cohen?
Maybe. There are enough dots you can start to see a shape, even if you can’t for-sure say what that shape is. /end
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More millennials are going to church now than were before the pandemic.
From
@CTmagazine
's Oct issue:
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I've been digging deep into a story about a prominent Christian conciliator who worked behind the scenes at dozens of churches and ministries dealing with abuse—and used her authority to protect those in power.
My report is now up at
@CTmagazine
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Eric Metaxas explains how he started supporting Donald Trump during the furor over the Access Hollywood tape, where Trump was heard bragging about sexual assault
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His name did not appear on his art. Most of the millions who have seen it do not know who he is.
But Fred Carter’s art is unforgettable.
My obit for the little-known Black artist behind many Chick Tracts at
@CTmagazine
:
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From this month's
@CTmagazine
, the priorities of major Christian lobbying groups, measured in dollars:
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Hymn from the 400s or 500s, found in an archaeological dig in Egypt:
O cross, hope of the Christians
O cross, resurrection of the dead
O cross, guide of the blind
O cross, way of those who have gone astray
O cross, consolation of the poor
O cross, bridle of the rich ...
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Well the Southern Baptists made their own Wordle and they didn't put Jesus first
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Since it looks like Stacey Abrams and company may have pushed Georgia blue last night, a little thread on the religious history behind her historic organizing effort.
File this under “the religious roots of the progressive movement,” h/t
@jackjenkins
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Personal news: I have accepted a job as news editor at Christianity Today.
I'm thrilled I get to work with
@kateshellnutt
and the great team at
@CTmagazine
. I'll be reporting, writing, and editing from home in TN, and still get to teach a humanities class at
@MilliganCollege
.
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Today in the life of my Appalachian church, I got to vote for my wife to be an elder.
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Ugh. Hire religion reporters. Or at least editors who like, know the difference between a megachurch and a denomination.
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Sixty-eight percent of white evangelicals say America does not have a responsibility to accept refugees
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Jan. 2014: Cohen asks Liberty U.’s tech administrator, John Gauger, to rig online poll for Trump. Gauger agrees.
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March 2012: Jerry and Becki Falwell meet Giancarlo Granda at Fontainebleau Miami Beach. The Falwells are staying there. Granda is the pool boy. They develop “a friendly relationship.”
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2015: Gauger tries to rig two more online polls. Gets paid about $12,000 in cash and a boxing glove—says he was promised $50,000.
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Fifty years ago today, my dad accepted Jesus.
He was a 21-year-old drug dealer who had *just* stolen 2,000 pounds of marijuana and the money to pay for 2,000 pounds of marijuana. Instead of doing the deal, he'd decided to split.
Then he had a run-in with some Christians.
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Aug. 2017: The Fernandezes re-file suit, and it comes to attention of BuzzFeed reporter Aram Roston.
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Women preaching.
Women with clerical titles.
Women serving communion.
All things you can see depicted in the art of ancient Italian churches. From
@CTmagazine
:
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In personal news, my history of evangelical fiction now has a cover and a publication date with
@eerdmansbooks
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Jan. 2016: Trump speaks at Liberty. Cites “Two Corinthians,” instead of “Second Corinthians.”
Falwell endorses Trump. A turning point in religious right support.
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Fun fact: This book was one of the top 50 bestselling evangelical books this month, a mere 52 years after publication.
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Fall 2015: According to Cohen, Falwell asks Cohen to recover racy photographs from someone in Florida. Cohen flies to Florida, met with attorney of person with the photographs. Threatened them. Recovered photographs.
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Visiting a church in East Tennessee with a shaped note hymnal—something I’ve never seen in person before.
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Jerry Falwell encourages Granda to go into business, and allegedly offers to finance him.
Granda introduces Falwell to his friends, Jesus Fernandez Jr. and Jesus Fernandez Sr. There are discussions of plan of buying property together.
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March 2013: The Falwell LLC purchases the Miami hostel for $4.65 million. It has 120 beds, which go for $20 per night.
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While at Liberty, Trump allegedly meets and has his photo taken with Granda.
Tump’s lawyer-fixer, Michael Cohen, is also there.
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August 2012: Falwell’s business partner Chris Doyle forms a limited liability company to buy real estate. Called “Comeback Inn LLC.“
Falwell goes and looks at Miami properties with Chris Doyle, talks to Fernandez Jr. and Sr., Granda, and some real estate agents.
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Some exciting personal news. I've signed a contract with Eerdmans to write a religious biography of Richard Nixon. Working title: One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon's Search for Salvation. Coming June 2022.
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Few Americans, Republicans or Democrats, have many close friends who support a different presidential candidate in the 2020 race. The exception: white evangelicals voting for Joe Biden.
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Summer (?) 2015: Fernandez Jr. and Sr. sue Falwell, the Miami hostel, and Granda. Say they were promised 25% percent of venture, but then cut out.
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I finally got a hold of the Guidepost Solutions assessment of
@RZIMhq
.
It shows that the board refused to ask questions about sexual abuse allegations but found creative ways to redirect donor funds to sue
@LoriAnneThomps2
:
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Feb. 2013: Falwell’s son Trey establishes an limited liability company to buy a Miami hostel. Jerry Falwell loans $1.8 million to the LLC.
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“People with sentences like mine don’t even get that opportunity to ask society for forgiveness,” Howard Keller told
@CTmagazine
. “At the very least, the individual should have a chance to ask.”
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Jan. 2014: The hostel’s articles of organization are amended to make Granda a managing member.
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Ron Sider, ethical burr under the saddle of the white evangelical horse, has died.
My obit at
@CTmagazine
:
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Let’s do a timeline. Here’s what has been reported:
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Sept. 2012: Donald Trump speaks at Liberty University, is introduced by Falwell as great leader.
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Today in the life of my Appalachian church, in my 3rd to 5th grade Sunday school:
9-year-old girl: There’s something I don’t understand.
Me: That’s okay. What don’t you understand?
9-year-old girl: The Trinity.
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I reviewed 15 to 20 confidentiality agreements for this story for
@CTmagazine
. Many are so broad that someone who signs one could be in violation at any time.
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One of the traditional ways to celebrate Juneteenth—in addition to barbecue, parades, picnics, dances, and races—was freeing people from prison.
A few newspaper accounts of early 20th century Texas pardons:
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I did it. I have a first draft of all nine chapters of my religious Nixon bio.
Tomorrow I start on the intro and conclusion.
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I wonder if Jerry Falwell is thinking about Jim Bakker today.
He is making me think about Jim Bakker today.
A history thread:
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"We will seek the good in and for our all our neighbors," prays Silvester Beaman. "This is your country oh God. Teach us to live in it, love in it, be healed in it."
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"The shofars didn’t start until Saturday."
The first full account of the Asbury revival, as seen from the storage closet where school officials were making decisions. My reporting for
@CTmagazine
:
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Fact of the day: Atari once made a video game that was ONLY advertised in
@CTmagazine
.
And only in one issue, 40 years ago:
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Got a postcard from Mark Noll, telling me he liked a book review I wrote. It's a little thing, but man that was nice to get.
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This stat seemed crazy, until I started thinking about the number of churches in any given town with praise and worship every weekend.
Still kind of astounding.
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I wrote, by my count, 70 pieces for
@CTmagazine
this year, from in-depth investigation to obits to global news roundups. That’s a good year of writing, I think.
Ten pieces I was particularly pleased with, in chronological order:
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Investigation confirms my reporting at
@CTmagazine
that Ravi Zacharias abused massage therapist and finds he did a lot more.
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When Ira Glass realized his incredible reinvention of audio story telling was just ... sermons
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Albert Raboteau has died.
The great scholar of African American Christianity once wrote for
@CTmagazine
that to understand the Black church, you had to understand it was a persecuted church and professed the theology of martyrs.
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My book has a cover! And now you can preorder it from Amazon
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Early takeaway from this EPA panel on whether evangelicals should keep using the term "evangelical" with
@KSPrior
, Walter Kim, and
@MichaelRWear
is that Michael doesn't have enough books.
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Just catching up with this
@kevinkruse
article on George Wallace and it reminds me of a story I found in the Wheaton archives about George Wallace and Billy Graham.
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My obit for Tim Keller:
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@KatecBowler
Tie: New father-in-law karate performance and groom’s family trying to stage an intervention minutes MINUTES before the ceremony was suppose to start, while guests waited outside in Georgia in August.
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Glad to finally see my
@ASChurchHistory
article in real-life print.
Here's how I started the piece: Carl Henry had to know: Was it true?
He had heard a rumor. The rumor was a minister had said something.
What, exactly?
Something about Billy Graham.
Something ... unflattering.
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He and I are very different people, and have different faith journeys, but I am so grateful for what happened to him that day 50 years ago.
/The end.
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They say
@ebruenig
is an opinion columnist, but there's a really fine religion reporter fighting to get out
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My wood carving project for Holy Week (Station 9, Luke 23:26-28).
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This week in the life of my Appalachian church, there are plans for a musical, but the actor called to play Jonah doesn't want to do it and may actually be out of town.
(These are completely true stories, despite what it sounds like.)
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Only one minister told Richard Nixon he should confess to the cover-up of Watergate. Fifty years later, I tracked him down for
@CTmagazine
to ask him why.
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Could not be happier with these blurbs for Reading Evangelicals from
@kkdumez
,
@KSPrior
,
@AntheaButler
, Mark Noll, Grant Wacker and Darren Dochuk.
Really honored to have top notch scholars read my book and say things like this.
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Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of the mailman who wouldn't work on Sundays
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“There are two doors available to the devil to knock at and enter. The one is greed. The other is fear.” —Augustine, sermon on facing persecution
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Mark Driscoll asks supporters for $200,000 in year-end giving, citing "trials of various kinds" in 2021.
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Every month I round up stories from Christians around the world for
@CTmagazine
.
Here's one from September:
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Sent page proofs back to the publisher. It's getting close ...
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My academic journal article attacking the Bebbington quadrilateral via examination of the founding of Christianity Today that I started working on in 2017 is finally ... almost ... coming soon.
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I heard there was an auto tuned chord that David played and it pleased the Lord, but you don’t really care for music, do you?
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Today in the life of my Appalachian church: Someone had a 13 inch rototiller wheel they didn't need and checked to see if anyone wanted it.
Someone did.
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When Abrams was 15, the family moved to Atlanta, so her parents could attend Candler School of Theology, at Emory University.
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Still waiting on development $ for my road trip movie where Beth Moore and Matthew E Pierce try to leave the SBC and drive across country but can't because of the Billy Graham rule and the whole time Matthew is a giraffe but Beth thinks he's a marijuana plant stem?
@MatthewEPierce
Matthew E Pierce, I am telling you the truth. I was this many days old when I realized that your picture was a giraffe.
Forgive me for never having enlarged it. I thought all this time it was a stem from a marijuana plant.
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Dolly Parton, one of People's people of the year, warns against worshipping celebrities as idols
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If journalism is the first draft of history, a obit is like 1.5.
Thanks to the reporters through the years at Houston Chron, RNS, Baptist Press, Baptist Standard, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, AP, UPI, etc who made this accounting of Paul Pressler possible
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Twenty five years ago, Promise Keepers got tens and tens of thousands of white men to repent of racism.
I wanted to know, what happened next?
So
@CTmagazine
sent me to the people involved to ask
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Today marks one year since Ravi Zacharias International Ministries confirmed allegations of sexual abuse against its founder. And since the board announced a review of “structures, culture, policies, processes, finances, and practices” that may have contributed to that abuse.
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Dolly Parton joins King & Country for "God Only Knows"
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