“Isn’t it blasphemy to invent a religion?” my student asked with concern. Every semester, in the comparative religion class I teach at a local community college, I ask my students to divide into groups and create a religion from whole cloth. “All religions were invented at some point,” I offered, reminding him that while Jesus may have assigned Peter to be the rock upon which the church would be built, it was up to everyone else to determine the details.... Read more

[View the story “State of the Union Tweet Chat #R3SOTU” on Storify] Read more

In my relentless pursuit of scaring off as many readers as possible this year, I’m blogging today about contraception. I try not to put too much pressure on myself to speak up as the token “Christian feminist” on issues like these, but after reading multiple blog posts and articles this week from Christian men about women and contraception, I decided to add my two cents as a pro-life woman of faith who supports affordable access to birth control for women.... Read more

It was sexy. It felt a little voyeuristic, like we should all look away. But no one could tear their eyes off the hot display of marital lust happening onstage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards. Beyoncé sat with her back to the audience, straddling a chair when the beat to “Drunk in Love” — the first single off her unpromoted, unexpected albumBeyoncé — began to pulse. She purred her way through the beginning of the song, singing lyrics like, “You got me... Read more

If you’ve been involved with traditional Christian culture long enough, at some point you’ve heard the term “biblical.” This word is used as an adjective, a descriptor of sorts. The point of labeling something as biblical is to let you know that it’s of good Christian quality. No skim milk Christianity over here! It’s the good stuff, chock full of biblical vitamins and minerals from the solid rock that is Christ. (See what I did there?) In this context, labeling... Read more

Join Rhetoric Race and Religion as we live tweet during the State of the Union Address on Tuesday January 28th starting at 9:00pmEST. Join in the discussion by using the hashtag #r3sotu  Follow us on twitter at @examinereligion Read more

The Forgotten Prophet: Bishop Henry McNeal Turner and the African American Prophetic Tradition, by Andre E. Johnson, is a study of the prophetic rhetoric of 19th century African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Henry McNeal Turner. By locating Turner within the African American prophetic tradition, Johnson examines how Bishop Turner adopted a prophetic persona.  Book discussion hosted by KineticsLive.com at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in Baltimore Read more

by Andre E. JohnsonR3 Editor Read the series hereWhen I returned home, I finally returned the call of our Executive Secretary of RCA Janie Fritz. From the outset, she apologized profusely about the way my assailant treated me and demonstrated concern about my feelings. She also apologized for the group and wondered aloud why no one said anything at the time the assault happened. However, after hearing my story for the first time, her indignation rose even higher. Again, she... Read more

The rise of polarized politics in Washington is a direct result of profound changes that have taken place in American society and culture over several decades. These changes include a dramatic increase in racial and ethnic diversity and a deepening divide over religion and moral values. As a result of these societal and cultural shifts, the electoral coalitions supporting the two major parties have become increasingly distinctive. Democratic and Republican voters today are far more divided by race, religious beliefs,... Read more

A high school teacher of mine used to entertain his classes by rattling off lists of oxymorons: pretty ugly, jumbo shrimp, constant variable. Sometimes he would take the opportunity to editorialize a little: military intelligence, airplane food, liberal religion. Everybody would smirk and the class would go on. The joke, of course, was that liberal religion couldn’t really exist because liberals are not religious and religious people are definitely not liberal. As if everybody knows there’s an inverse correlation between... Read more