Nostalgia
Friday Roundup for October 3, 2025
Two blockbuster movies have been on my mind this week. The first is the 1973 Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford drama The Way We Were.
Opposites attract in this doomed-from-the-start love story. Yet in the end, it’s so easy to look back and imagine things were better before. That gets expressed in the film’s title song, sung by Streisand. You know the lyrics:
Memories light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time rewritten every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we?
Could we?
Memories may be beautiful and yet
What’s too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it’s the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
The second film on my mind is the 1985 hit Trip to Bountiful starring Geraldine Page, who plays an older woman trapped in a lifeless apartment in Houston with her son and controlling daughter-in-law. The fond memories of her hometown in rural Texas haunt her and call to her. That town, poetically, is called Bountiful.
Finally, Page’s character makes her escape and takes a bus ride home to Bountiful, where she discovers the boom town has gone bust and little remains. The buildings are derelict and one of the last residents, a friend with whom she hopes to live, has recently died.
“This theme is so old it shows up prominently in the Old Testament.”
Both these films remind us of the truth that all of us are prone to long for better times we knew in the past — especially when under stress. This theme is so old it shows up prominently in the Old Testament, where the Children of Israel complain to Moses that they were better off in the “fleshpots of Egypt” than lost in the wilderness with him.
As we age, life grows more complicated and the past looks more simple. Except for those whose lives have improved so dramatically that there’s no need to long for the past.
This is why we witness such a disconnect between most white Americans and most Black Americans about nostalgia for the 1950s. What appears to privileged white folks as the good old days triggers memories of Jim Crow laws and segregated schools for Black folks. This is why some white evangelicals go to extraordinary lengths to imagine life actually was better back then for Black folks too — even to the point of endorsing slavery.
Barbra gets it right when she sings: “Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time rewritten every line?” And when she sings: “What’s too painful to remember we simply choose to forget.”
“What’s too painful to remember we simply choose to forget.”
This is the premise of an excellent piece we published today by Alan Bean, who explains why Charlie Kirk had so much appeal among white evangelicals: His views epitomized 1953 America as seen through the eyes of privileged white Americans.
Alan explains: “Kirk believed America couldn’t get back to 1953 without discrediting the movements that grew up around civil rights, women’s rights, indigenous rights, immigrant rights, gay rights and, most recently, trans rights.”
What we see among white evangelicals and MAGA adherents always is a defense of their rights over anyone else’s rights. Here at BNG, we’ve made that point over and over and over. Even when my nostalgia is your nightmare, my need is more important than yours.
The big problem with nostalgia, of course, is that it’s almost never accurate. Felipe De Brigard, a cognitive neuroscientist at Duke University, explains, “Nostalgia doesn’t need real memories; an imagined past works too.”
There’s a profound connection between nostalgia and grief. The very word takes its root from the idea of home sickness. Coined in 18th century Switzerland, the word comes from the Greek nostos, meaning “to return home,” and algos, meaning “pain.”
That could mean, of course, the pain of not returning home or the pain of returning home.
This all connects ironically to the current evangelical crusade against empathy. Josh Olds explained again this week why the much-derided concept of empathy actually is the heart of the gospel. Yet conservatives such as John MacArthur, Joe Rigney and Allie Beth Stuckey have had to make a case against the “weakness” of empathy in order to justify their own nostalgia for 1953.
“Real Jesus-like empathy should make us consider the needs of others as we ponder our own nostalgic hopes.”
Real Jesus-like empathy should make us consider the needs of others as we ponder our own nostalgic hopes: If life were the way that’s most comfortable for us, what would that mean for others? You may long to be king or queen, but that means someone would be your servant.
Nostalgia is one of the trickiest of emotions because it can propel us forward or backward, toward healthy memories or haunting memories. But in all cases, nostalgia may keep us from living in the present.
How to proceed, then? Stephen Shoemaker reminded us this week of the words of Thomas More: “The times are never so bad but that a good man can live in them.” Facing that reality requires us to see the way we are more than the way we were.
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In a world of insanity, I’d like to offer for your consideration this week eight of the craziest bits of news we published:
Pete Hegseth assembled all top brass for an event that made reality TV look sane. And in his angry speech calling for destruction of enemies, he called Jesus a “warrior.” Our Cynthia Astle has a few thoughts on that, inspired by John Prine.
Hegseth’s spiritual mentor, Doug Wilson, attempted to buy Christianity Today for $10 million, which left me with a big question: Where did Wilson’s Canon Press get $10 million? I also explain what’s behind this charade.
Conservative media continues on a disinformation campaign to demand President Donald Trump defund and discredit“liberal groups” they wrongly blame for their own misdeeds. We’ve got the headlines to prove it.
Mara Richards Bim has been looking into the recent sniper shooting at a Dallas ICE detention facility, and she’s finding the story the Trump administration is spinning just doesn’t add up. For example, if the shooter used a slow bolt-action rifle, how could the building be “riddled with bullets” as claimed?
With no empathy left, the Trump administration doesn’t want us to think about hungry people and poor people, so they’re eliminating the government’s annual food insecurity report. Jeff Brumley dug around to find out what that will mean.
Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission met again and continued its recitation of how persecuted American evangelicals are — despite their allies holding the White House, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court.
Mark DeVine is a professor at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School. He recently wrote an article for The Federalist that is, in a word, unhinged. He’s apparently been so infected with the evangelicals-are-persecuted virus that he’s lost sight of reality. And, of course, all this was inspired by the death of Saint Charlie Kirk. If any left-leaning faculty member had written this kind of piece, they would have been fired already, but Samford seems to have an affinity for appeasing the far right. Prove me wrong.
And to cap off the week, Trump wants to execute more people — in Washington, D.C., and nationwide.
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In other news this week:
Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and Just City Advocates sponsored a panel discussion about how capital punishment makes things worse for families.
Steve Rabey previews three cases to watch as the U.S. Supreme Court begins a new term Monday.
A Florida Baptist church ordained four women to ministry on the same day.
Jack Martin was a pioneer in ministry to prisoners in Thailand.
J. Alfred Smith will be remembered in services Oct. 9 and 10 as one of the most influential Black Baptist pastors of his generation.
Louie Bailey is concluding a 40-year run as minister of music at Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.
The man who killed at least four worshipers at a Mormon church in Michigan Sept. 28 displayed a Trump sign outside his home and was known to wear MAGA gear.
Fellowship Southwest has changed its name to FaithWorks.
Since Jennifer Lyell is dead, David and Mary Sills will not seek legal damages against her estate but they will continue their litigation against the Southern Baptist Convention and 10 other people or entities.
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In other analysis and opinion this week:
Tyler Hummel explains how The Chosen has redefined “Christian” filmmaking in ways the producer’s own father could not do.
Greg Garrett interviewed Leyla King, a Palestinian American Episcopal priest who serves as the canon for mission in small congregations for the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas and is author of Daughters of Palestine: A Memoir in Five Generations.
Edmond Davis explains how Charlie Kirk mastered the illusion of stump debates.
David Bumgardner explains why a toxic theology keeps fundamentalist men from stopping the abuse of women.
Elisabet Avalos says we need to treat trafficking victims as humans
Carmen McDonald details the vulnerability of immigrant victims of sexual abuse.
Michael Chancellor says it’s not our place to assess who’s in and who’s out of the kingdom of God.
Martin Thielen introduces us to some early heretics of the Christian church.
Rodney Kennedy makes a case for why it is fair to compare MAGA advocates to Nazis.
Farah Merchant says the Perfect Victim Myth undermines bodily autonomy.
Aba Black explains why DEI is good medicine for training doctors.
Justin Cox asks, “Who gets to be a Baptist?”
Will McCorkle wonders how your grandchildren will view your role in the present struggle.
Bill Leonard revisits the poignant words of Martin Niemöller to say, “Then they came for the comedians.”
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Here’s a quick recap of our BNG podcasts this week:
In “Stuck in the Middle with You,” Ben and I have a new interview with Jennifer Davis Rash of The Alabama Baptistabout recently unsealed recordings of the SBC’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.
In the latest episode of “Non-Disclosure,” Mallory Challis talks with parents Greg Yandell and Joe Alarcon about how Kanakuk gained and shattered their trust, leaving an irrevocable impact on their families. She also explains how pastors at some SBC churches allegedly helped minimize abuse allegations.
And over at “Highest Power: Church + State,” Rick Pidcock talks with Matthew Taylor about preaching the gospel in an era of Christian power and with R.L. Stollar about how the teaching of John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham and James Dobson harmed families and children.
A final word
A word of thanks to so many of you who have responded to our fall fundraising campaign. We continue to grow in financial support and number of donors each year. That’s so important to keep us going. You all are wonderful!
See you all next week.
Mark Wingfield
Executive Director and Publisher
Baptist News Global