Parents’ Rights, Religious Freedom, and the State

Last updated on: July 17, 2023 at 9:04 pm By Lisa Clark Diller

There’s an old saying that political battles in the United States are first fought in her schools. And while fewer major national conflicts are centered around nuclear families, it is indeed children who are the ultimate test of the boundaries of state power and liberal democracy. Liberalism presumes autonomous individuals and their rights. But where do the rights of children stand in this matrix? Are they individuals or are they required to be parts of communities and family units who... Read more

Fourteen Million Caribbean Americans (And Their Churches)

Last updated on: July 6, 2023 at 5:52 am By Philip Jenkins

0 Comments

I recently posted about the critical importance of the Caribbean dimension in American history. The same observation holds true about present day realities, but issues of labeling mean we tend not to see it. But without that Caribbean dimension, we miss a huge amount about contemporary American life, including its urban, social, and political history. The religious angle is unavoidable. Bear with me as I try to find and define the Caribbean. It is an important question, and the answer... Read more

What’s Wrong with Racism?: The Supreme Court and You

Last updated on: July 5, 2023 at 3:26 pm By Malcolm Foley

0 Comments

This is now the first question that I ask whenever I enter into a conversation about race. I also always joke that I hope that I find myself among a sympathetic audience that thinks that something is wrong with racism. Having been given that assurance, I encourage the room to throw out one of racism’s manifold evils: “It’s unfair!” “It leads to and comes from hate!” “It breaks apart our unity!” “It leads to violence!” “The category of race is... Read more

Medieval Christian Nationalism? Crusades and Christian Nations

Last updated on: June 25, 2023 at 4:05 pm By Lynneth Renberg

0 Comments

For those of us who are American, today is the Fourth of July: a day for fireworks, family, and celebrating (or reckoning with) the history of the United States of America. I have to admit, as a scholar of medieval history, I was tempted to ask a scholar of American history to write today’s post! Many scholars would say that nationalism as we think of it today didn’t exist during the Middle Ages. But after some thought, I wonder if... Read more

On the Students for Fair Admission v. President and Fellows of Harvard decision

Last updated on: July 2, 2023 at 12:01 pm By Ansley Quiros

0 Comments

On Thursday June 29, the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in college admissions in an anticipated decision. The ruling, Students for Fair Admission, Inc. vs. President and Fellows of Harvard University and UNC, et al. overturned Grutter v. Bollinger and Fisher v. University at Texas-Austin, and set a new precedent for higher education in America. Since, as the decision begins, “both Harvard and UNC employ a highly selective admissions process to make their decision” and those admissions decisions can... Read more

American History and the Caribbean Dimension

Last updated on: July 2, 2023 at 3:44 pm By Philip Jenkins

0 Comments

Should students of American history be allowed to escape without taking a course or two on the Caribbean? I have described the dangers of writing American history backwards, using the territory of the Lower Forty-Eight states as if these were the nation’s natural and predestined bounds, and were always intended to be. But throughout the colonial period, we must never forget that each of the great colonial empires on the North American continent was part of a much larger New... Read more

Berlin and Baylor: Models for Memorializing a Difficult Past

Last updated on: June 28, 2023 at 3:18 am By Andrea L. Turpin

0 Comments

You would not think that the land of beer and sausages would help me with my summer health goals. But Germany is also the land of public transportation. Suffice it to say, I walked a lot of Berlin over my nine days there. (I extended a trip to participate in a wonderful SCRIPTS conference, “Religion and the Liberal Script: Contestation, (In-)Compatibility or Sustenance?”) I came back healthier—and more informed. Berlin is an unusual city. Over the twentieth century it has... Read more

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Christian Apologetics

Last updated on: June 23, 2023 at 10:53 pm By Daniel K. Williams

0 Comments

It was a hot summer in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956. The temperature soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in August and highs remained in the 90s for weeks. But what made the summer especially miserable for the African Americans who lived in Alabama’s capital city was their standoff with the city authorities over the issue of racial segregation. Ever since the previous December, the vast majority of Montgomery’s Blacks had refused to ride the buses in protest over the city’s segregation... Read more

Religion, Race, and Never Have I Ever: A Roundtable on Season Four

Last updated on: June 26, 2023 at 3:18 pm By Melissa Borja

0 Comments

At long last: the final season of Never Have I Ever is here, and we finally get answers to our burning questions. Will Devi end up with Ben or Paxton? Will she fulfill her dream of getting into Princeton? Just as we have done for the last three summers, I gathered together scholars of Asian American religion to offer some reflections on Season Four of Never Have I Ever. We each address different themes: Himanee Gupta of SUNY... Read more

Looking Backward: How We Tell US History The Wrong Way Round

Last updated on: June 28, 2023 at 7:48 am By Philip Jenkins

0 Comments

I am presently working on a History of the United States. My only minor problem is that I am far from sure that such an effort is possible, or at least without a great many cautions and caveats. Put crudely, I don’t know any more where the country begins or ends. Let me explain. Back in 1997, I published the first edition of a History of the United States, which has been successful mainly in Britain and Europe (it has... Read more