After “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson made crude and controversial statements to GQ Magazine regarding homosexuality and race and was subsequently (and temporarily) suspended from A&E;, it was disheartening to see so many evangelicals publicly defend him. On TV, Facebook, magazines and newspapers, Christians rallied to “stand with Phil,” sometimes hailing him as a sort of unofficial spokesperson for evangelical Christianity with little regard to the message this might send to the black people and gay people who were the... Read more

In Jesus’ lifetime he was not so distinct from other Jews, except perhaps for his charismatic qualities. He was a Jew within a spectrum of Judaism. The Pharisees and the other rabbis had not only to cope with dissident Jews, but also with their Roman environment. Jesus was not their only or even major problem. The separation of the Christians from the Jews, what seems fairly sharp now, was of course not so clear then. While modern Christians might like... Read more

We don’t have to look very deeply to recognize the divisiveness generated by religions throughout the world. Apart from those with an interfaith perspective — truth exists in many forms — people often insist that their beliefs and practices are the only ones sanctioned by God. But do their religious convictions open their hearts and deepen their wisdom or disconnect them from life, love and each other? Growing up Catholic, I appreciate the sense of the sacred that was imparted... Read more

Much ink, film, and many ones and zeros have been spilled on the topic of how to be happy lately. Science has given us some clues, often subdividing “happiness” into smaller parts: the importance of relationships and social connection, the positive effects of optimism. This sort of research gets a lot of attention when it comes out, as unhappy or even just vaguely dissatisfied people clamor for a fix. Maybe if we can unravel all the threads of happiness’s snarled tapestry and see how they fit... Read more

Religion and American Exceptionalism is an edited volume which collects a set of insightful articles from a special issue published by The Review of Faith & International Affairs (Summer 2012). In these articles, scholars and academic pundits discuss and elaborate on the concept of American exceptionalism – that is, a story aboutthe American way of life and a narrative which illustrates who Americans are and where Americans come from. In this book, in addition to tracing the history and discursive origins of American exceptionalism, the authors also... Read more

Twitter was abuzz after the editors of LoveInshallah.com posted a “Hot Muslim Men of 2014” calendar to BuzzFeed, sharing “their picks for the hot American men they most want to see on a pin-up calendar for the new year.” Some slammed the calendar for allegedly objectifying Muslim men, while others applauded it as a creative way of drawing attention to accomplished and talented American Muslims. Calendar creator Ayesha Mattu and editor of the forthcoming book Salaam, Love: American Muslim Men on Love, Sex & Intimacy joined HuffPost Live... Read more

As the White House continues dealing with well-publicized problems with the HealthCare.gov website, there’s at least one big question related to the Affordable Care Act that’s outside the president’s control: Can employers with religious objections be compelled to provide access to contraception coverage for their workers? Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has granted a temporary injunction while she considers a challenge to the contraception requirement by a group of nuns called the Little Sisters of the Poor. The Catholic organization... Read more

There is hardly a more controversial political battle in America today than that around the role of government. The ideological sides have lined up, and the arguments rage about the size of government: how big, how small should it be? Some famously have said government should be shrunk so small that it “could be drowned in a bathtub.”  But I want to suggest that what size the government should be is the wrong question. A more useful discussion would be... Read more

Besides being a highly respected professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and the author of several involved volumes such as the Humanities Press publication In the Shadow of Powers: Dantѐs Bellegarde in Haitian Social Thought, Dr. Patrick Bellegarde-Smith has yet another mark to distinguish him. He is the grandson of noted intellectual, author, diplomat, Haitian militant Dantes Bellegarde and the grand nephew of Argentine Bellegarde, one of Haiti’s most influential educators of the nineteenth century. Bellegarde-Smith is a sought-after lecturer... Read more

by Sonja N. WoodsR3 Contributor The biblical figure Joseph was the seventh son of Jacob, and thus, a progenitor of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Because he was known to be the favorite of Jacob/Israel who gifted his son with a fancy coat in validation, Joseph was set up and sold out by his jealous brothers who “conspired against him to slay him.” But God “sets up,” too. He put Joseph in a position whereby he was empowered... Read more