By Earle Fisher R3 Contributor I was asked to construct a response that addresses the Boston Marathon Bombing and also the recent Tennessee state legislature approving a bill that would allow six Shelby County suburbs to establish their own school districts.  On the surface it seems that those two things are as distant as the 1300 plus marathon miles that separate Binghampton (in Memphis) and Boston (in Massachusetts).  But theoretically I am seeing a seam that is threaded between the... Read more

by Daniel White HodgeR3 Contributor Hip Hop is a voice. Anyone with half a Hip Hop brain both comprehends this and overstands this as a crucial part of what “Hip Hop is.” One of the working definitions I have used in regards to Hip Hop is this one: Hip Hop is an urban sub-culture that seeks to express a life-style, attitude, and/or urban individuality. Hip Hop at its core—not the commercialization and commodity it has become in certain respects— rejects... Read more

In 1988, I had a friend who worked in a religious bookstore. She explained that the owner gave her instructions regarding a book called “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could be in 1988.” “Sell as many copies as you can by the end of December,” the owner ordered. “In 1989, no one is going to buy this book.” Often the first assignment I give to my students when I teach Revelation, except when I teach it for Ph.D. students, is... Read more

Adding to the mounting research on religiously unaffiliated Americans (i.e. “nones”), the Barna Group examined 15 measures of non-religiosity and drew some interesting conclusions. “We wanted to expand the scope of secularization beyond what people call themselves,” said president David Kinnaman in Barna’sannouncement of its findings. “Faith-oriented self-descriptions are fine, but they are really only skin-deep in terms of understanding faith. In addition to identity, we also wanted to account for two other critical aspects of faith: belief as well as... Read more

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Christian rapper Shai Linne has a tough-to-swallow message for some of America’s most well-known preachers — and he’s packaged it into a viral song that has captured the attention of believers across America. Entitled, “Fal$e Teacher$,” the tune is sure to draw the ire of the pastors it targets — as well as their congregants and followers. From Joel Osteen to TD Jakes, Shai Linne is anything but careful about naming names, as he explicitly outlines each individual he believes is... Read more

I’ve always loved journalism. Born and raised in this industry, a newsroom has been my only professional home. But all is not well in our house. As most people know, the business model that sustained news organizations for the better part of a century has collapsed. Profitability, it turns out, depended not just on paid advertising but also on the near-monopolies that made those ads so lucrative. That symbiotic bond was breached, thanks to the democratizing advent of the Internet. In... Read more

With his simplicity and his frugality, which are neither a studied pose nor the product of a media strategy, Pope Francis has already sent in the first days of his pontificate an important signal of change. His rejection of the “flagship” of the Vatican fleet of automobiles, his reduction of the security detail that had ended up confining the pope, his decision not to move into the “papal” appartment but to remain in more modest living quarters, and his intention to... Read more

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by Eric BrownR3 ContributorReflecting on the past week and reading a reader called Pragmatism, my favorite subject, while listening to Big K. R. I. T. has me in outlet mode. I feel I’m called to live in North Nashville. I don’t use that word lightly, and am not a big fan of spiritualized language. Using such terms never feels concrete in an existential life, but that is my reality right now. Not sure who cares about North Nashville outside the black... Read more