Religion is among the most personal—and divisive—topics out there. What we believe (or why we don’t) and how we express our faith (or lack thereof) are questions everyone considers at some point, and part of growing up is figuring out the answers for yourself. Read on for readers’ thoughts on God and spirituality, and share your own in the comments. The Believer“I come from a very religious Methodist community, and believing in God is one of the ways I find... Read more

What one factor accounts for the indifference so many Americans harbor toward the church? Forced to pick  just “one factor” among many, The Guy says fading cultural respect — for committed Christians, for Christian churches, and for Christianity. Begin with some hard data. As Religion Q and A analyzed last October 19, the collective membership of America’s moderate to liberal “Mainline” Protestant denominations has gradually fallen by a third since the mid-1960s, an unprecedented slide. These churches were once at the... Read more

The two most controversial, apparently contradictory Super Bowl ads—Bob Dylan’s protectionist, “American Import” Chrysler ad and Coca-Cola’s multilingual rendition of “America the Beautiful”—show the breadth of American civil religion. As religion scholars have long observed, it belongs to the nature of religious language to self-destruct. An infinite God who chooses one people or takes flesh in one man; an eternal moment that includes all time; a Way that is the source of all action but does nothing itself: all these... Read more

When the writer and academic Richard Hoggart founded the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham University in 1964, he invited Stuart Hall, who has died aged 82, to join him as its first research fellow. Four years later Hall became acting director and, in 1972, director. Cultural studies was then a minority pursuit: half a century on it is everywhere, generating a wealth of significant work even if, in its institutionalised form, it can include intellectual positions that Hall could... Read more

Rev. Wallace Cunningham currently serves as an associate minister at Greater Faith Baptist Church and assistant to the pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church. In addition, he holds a Bachelor degree in English with a concentration in Professional and Technical Writing and a Master of Arts in Teaching with a concentration in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, both from the University of Memphis. He is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Memphis Theological Seminary where he serves as secretary for the Student Senate and as a Netters’... Read more

To the “culture war” opponents of American evangelicalism, the movement presents itself, reassuringly, as a towering monolith—if, that is, monoliths can come in the shape of a cross. The anti-clerical left has rehearsed a long and familiar litany of evangelical perfidy: they’re theocrats, anti-intellectual propagandists, political power brokers and fear-driven purveyors of superstitious folly. Such caricatures may hold water in extreme and absurdly shallow cases, such as Michele Bachmann or Pat Robertson. But ascribing this blunt, authoritarian set of motives... Read more

Something is brewing among American Protestants, and it has a decidedly hoppy flavor.For much of the last century in the United States, Protestant Christianity’s relationship with beer was cold or even hostile at times. Protestant organizations such as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League led the campaign to make alcohol illegal.Even after Prohibition ended, many evangelicals defined themselves by their abstention from alcohol, called “the beloved enemy” by televangelist Jack Van Impe. Drinking was, and in many cases... Read more

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Please, everyone have a seat. Giving all praise and honor to God, who brought us here this morning.  Thank you so much for our two outstanding co-chairs, Louie and Jan.  And I have to say, I would have enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the two of these folks getting this breakfast organized this morning.  (Laughter.)  But there does seem to be that sibling thing a little bit, Louie.  (Laughter.)  They love each other, but they’ve got... Read more

All too often, abortion debates focus almost exclusively on the potential life growing inside a pregnant woman, rather than on the woman herself. It sometimes seems that a woman, upon becoming pregnant, ceases to be a full and complex human being. Instead, the fertilized egg, zygote or embryo in her uterus is valued more highly than her actual life. This happened recently in Texas, where a brain-dead pregnant woman was put on life support for weeks against her own wishes and those... Read more

Religious Right notables from 30 years ago have passed from the scene, and the Religious Left largely has failed to command a wide audience. So, many American Christians find themselves without guidance to address social issues and public policy matters, the director of a Washington, D.C.-based Christian think-tank told a Baylor University audience. “We are left with a situation where many Christians have no clear direction in terms of a helpful social and political witness for their faith,” Mark Tooley... Read more