Reflect, Reclaim, Rejoice: Preserving the Gift of Black Sacred Music from GodFilms | A ministry of GBOD on Vimeo. Read more

by Reginald Boyce R3 Contributor Black History Month has begun and it has been everything but exciting. In fact, I suggest it has been somewhat embarrassing. Embarrassing for both America and Black America. These past few weeks have shown us the diminutive growth of America as a whole. From stereotyping a young black Suma Cum Laude graduate from Stanford to the demoralizing interview on Super Bowl Sunday between our POTUS and the belligerent and pugnacious Bill O’Reilly. The dominant culture has once... Read more

Reginald S. Boyce is the Senior Servant at the New Hope Baptist Church of Jackson, TN, where he has served since the summer of 2013. Prior to coming to New Hope, he led the Greater Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church of Memphis, TN. for 3 years and Mt. Pleasant C.M.E (Milan, TN) and Johnson Chapel C.M.E Church (Trenton, TN) for 3 years. He began his pastorate at the age of nineteen. He is currently a student at Memphis Theological Seminary where... Read more

By Tyler Heston*Special to R3 In Benjamin Ray’s African Religions’ chapter “Creation and Origins,” various stories and myths were gathered to show the similar beliefs between different African cultures. One story was the Batammaliba people’s creation story, which will be examined here. These people attributed creation to the self-existent and androgynous God Kuiye, who is the “master architect” of the earth. We see this belief in Kuiye as master architect in the details of the myth; he created the structure of... Read more

by C J RhodesR3 Contributor *This first appeared on the C J Rhodes blog A January 24  Atlanta BlackStar article offered six reasons young black people are leaving the Church. Among the reasons given were socioeconomic advancements, educational attainment, and shifting views on sexual ethics. This piece has circulated highly on Facebook and has given cause for much dialog and debate about the state of the Black Church and black Millennials. Read by itself, one could be led to think... Read more

Earlier this week, feminist Gloria Steinem said that religion is the “biggest problem” facing feminism today. Steinem made this assertion in response to a town-hall style question she was asked during an interview with Jennifer Aniston at the MAKERS Conference. The MAKERS Conference was born of the PBS documentary, “MAKERS: Women Who Make America,” and was held to develop an “action plan to define the agenda for women in the 21st century.” Steinem was asked, “What do you think the... Read more

Led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Republicans are reprising the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal, as an odd reaction to Democratic charges they are waging a war on women. The conservative Washington Times sees it this way: The Kentucky Republican and likely 2016 presidential candidate is making a habit of ripping former President Bill Clinton, dubbing the 42nd president a “sexual predator” and suggesting that it is hypocritical of Democrats to cast the GOP as anti-women when they celebrate someone who preyed on women working under... Read more

2014 Annual Meeting Call for Papers Society for the Scientific Study of Religion October 31-November 2, 2014 JW Marriott, Indianapolis, Indiana Building Bridges The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion was founded in 1949 by scholars in religion and social science. Its purpose is to stimulate and communicate significant scientific research on religious institutions and religious experience. Scholars from all fields of study who are interested in the scientific exploration of religion are invited to join the Society. Membership... Read more

Having irritated atheists last time, I now want to turn to Christians. The vast majority of them, including the most highly regarded theologians, still resist Rousseau’s basic insight concerning religion and the state. It is this: the state needs common values that its citizens can agree on (what in The Social Contract he calls a “civil religion”). Christianity, in its traditional forms, cannot be this civil religion, as opinion is so divided over its doctrines, and because there are many... Read more

It’s taken decades for gay activists to achieve the most basic right that every minority deserves: equality under the law. In principle one might say that the battle has been won, even if some states are dragging their heels and some groups mount fierce resistance. Thirty years ago it took mass protests to push for major funding of AIDS research, and the overturning of antiquated, prejudiced sodomy laws wasn’t a sure thing when the Supreme Court took up the issue... Read more