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The Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech introduced many Americans to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. While those of us in Spokane are already familiar with our congresswoman, little is known about her alma mater, Pensacola Christian College.  A brief introduction to PCC might help illuminate some of the formative ideas that have shaped the faith and religious views of this rising star within the GOP. Study of the Bible is a major concern at PCC, and... Read more

On November 2, 2013, Theodore Wafer shot Renisha McBride in the face as she sought assistance after being in a car accident. The shooting of an unarmed black teenager has similarities to the Trayvon Martin murder by George Zimmerman. Here at R3, we will collect some of the editorials and opinion pieces that examine the shooting of McBride. If you have a piece you would like for us to include, please send it to us at [email protected]. To see past “Readers,”... Read more

It’s a scourge as old as the ages, yet sexual violence against women and children is fresh in the headlines as President Obama launches an initiative to address sexual assaults on college campuses, while the military tries to fix its own problem and newly released documents shed galling light on the Catholic Church’s pattern of abuse and coverup in the Chicago diocese. As the priests’ crimes remind us, religious institutions, at their worst, have often proved complicit and sometimes out-and-out guilty... Read more

A few weeks ago I attended consultation on, among other things, the future of graduate theological education. Robert Saler, Director of the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs, presented 15 “Thesis for Discussion” on the topic. Indeed, Saler elicited some great discussion at the conference and still has me thinking. Here’s how:  1.  I am increasingly convinced that the church needs innovative leaders that are fully conversant with culture. Or, as Saler put it, “Future ‘missionaries’ in the North American context will need to... Read more

In the last month, many Westerners watched in horror as Uganda, and then Nigeria, enacted laws that are brutally repressive to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The fate of a bill passed by the Ugandan parliament remains uncertain after President Yoweri Museveni refused to sign it, but news reports from Nigeria indicate that there have been mass arrests of gay men following President Goodluck Jonathan’s signing of the National Assembly’s anti-gay bill. World leaders, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban... Read more

I suppose I can be accused of being biased on the Super Bowl. I live in Seattle. I’m rooting for the Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl. So be it. I have, however, tried to think about this grand national pastime and wonder, on occasion, should I participate in it? Shouldn’t the violence, so typical of an NFL game, be a kind of rebuke to my enjoyment of this game? More to the point, why is an NFL football game... Read more

Everyone agrees: President Obama had a tough 2013. With his approval ratings falling, many Americans think it unlikely that the president will do much of significance for the remainder of his term. Second terms can be disheartening, especially when partisan gridlock blocks meaningful change. But despite his inability to implement important policies this past year, President Obama has already accomplished something that future historians may well consider one of his greatest achievements. In his second term, President Obama is helping... Read more

While President Obama gave a nod to religious leaders on the economy, immigration and gun violence in his fifth State of the Union on Tuesday (Jan. 28), his speech nonetheless included little mention of faith. And then there was Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the No. 4 leader in the House Republican leadership, who delivered the GOP response. Her speech was more overtly religious and hinted at a term that has faded from Republican rhetoric in recent years: compassionate conservatism.... Read more

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