Current: Commentary, Reflection, Judgment Information

Current is an online journal of commentary and opinion that provides daily reflection on contemporary culture, politics, and ideas. We seek to ground ourselves in the broad tradition of American democracy—a tradition whose practices and institutions we believe are moving through a period of great stress and testing. We confess that we once took for granted many of the basic assumptions of our democracy, including a shared core of American values. We no longer do. We are exhausted by the cultural warfare that now dominates our civic life, threatening to undermine bonds of family, friendship, and neighborhood. We are demoralized by the quasi-religious authoritarianism we see growing on both the right and the left. We endeavor here to provide commentary that clarifies and explains our political and cultural moment, summoning readers to intelligent, constructive responses. Like American democracy at its best, we aspire for Current to be free, dynamic, divergent, and civil. If spirited, even profound disagreements arise on this platform, we hope they will always be bounded by common regard for liberty of conscience and free inquiry, and moderated by shared commitments to humility, charity, and mutual respect. (See Eric Miller’s opening essay, “In the Arena: It’s Time to Play”). The founding editors of Current are longtime friends, collaborators, and conversation partners. This venture is built upon our Executive Editor’s widely read blog, The Way of Improvement Leads Home, which continues on this site. While we, the editors, are Christians, we are dedicated to engaging a diverse audience and to publishing diverse voices that share a vibrant commitment to free and open inquiry.