An extensive new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details the religious affiliation of the American public and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid. More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in... Read more

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by Joseph BostonR3 Contributor *Parts of this first appeared in the Joseph Boston blog The greatest principle of all is that nobody, male or female, should be without a leader. Nor should the mind of anybody be habituated to letting him do anything at all on his own initiative; neither out of zeal, nor even playfully. But in war and in the midst of peace—to his leader he shall direct his eye and follow him faithfully. And even in the... Read more

The New York Times recently reported on a new study by economists from Harvard and UC Berkeley on income mobility across the country. The research team found stark differences by geographical region, with the odds of moving to a different income bracket being lowest in the southeast and higher in major metropolitan areas. They identified four broad factors in areas that contribute to income mobility: mixed-income neighborhoods, two-parent households, better schools, and higher rates of civic engagement, “including membership in religious and community... Read more

At 32, I barely qualify as a millennial. I wrote my first essay with a pen and paper, but by the time I graduated from college, I owned a cell phone and used Google as a verb. I still remember the home phone numbers of my old high school friends, but don’t ask me to recite my husband’s without checking my contacts first. I own mix tapes that include selections from Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but I’ve never planned a trip without... Read more

by Tony Peterson R3 Contributor * This first appeared in TDad’s Purr and Roar “What do you think this incident has revealed about us?” a friend asked me over coffee a few days after the George Zimmerman verdict. His question referred not only to the incident, the trial, and the verdict, but also to the reactions to it all. My initial answer to him was the general pontificating that comes natural to me. Upon further reflection, I sought out those who... Read more

by Noel Hutchinson R3 Contributor On July 19th, President Barack Obama shared with the nation a historical speech focused around the death of Trayvon Martin, and the aftermath of the George Zimmerman verdict. There has been a range of responses to what was said, but many were positive. What was most important, in my opinion, was the focus of what was said.  It gave a perspective of a people long dismissed in a good portion of the public’s discourse, and... Read more

Is there an American Radical Tradition in the United States? That is, was there a continuous thread of American leftist ideas which have been passed on through generations through political parties and important individuals? What evidence would you need to convince you that there is?In his recent book, Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition, Dan McKanan takes this relative continuity of an American radical tradition as fact. He uses it to argue that this “American radical tradition” is yet... Read more

For decades the dominant story of postwar American religious history has been the triumph of evangelical Christians. Beginning in the 1940s, the story goes, a rising tide of evangelicals began asserting their power and identity, ultimately routing their more liberal mainline Protestant counterparts in the pews, on the offering plate and at the ballot box. But now a growing cadre of historians of religion are reconsidering the legacy of those faded establishment Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians, tracing their enduring influence... Read more

Dr. O’Shan D. Gadsden is a young scholar and clinician who brings a psycho-racial-cultural-spiritual perspective to the field of applied psychology and to his work as both a researcher and insight-oriented practitioner.  Dr. Gadsden earned a B.P.S. in Professional Studies from Metropolitan College of New York City (2003); a MA in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University of New York City (2005); and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Howard University (2012). Dr. Gadsden completed his Pre-Doctoral training at the University of Delaware’s... Read more