The first Hindu elected to the House of Representatives, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, will take the oath of office in a few weeks – and she has chosen to place her hand on the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text of her tradition. Meanwhile, the woman she replaces in Congress, Mazie Hirono, will be sworn in as the first Buddhist elected to the U.S. Senate. Welcome to the new religious America. Religious diversity, of course, has long been part of the American... Read more

On “The Daily Show” recently, Jon Stewart grilled Mike Huckabee about a TV ad in which Huckabee urged voters to support “biblical values” at the voting box. When Huckabee said that he supported the “biblical model of marriage,” Stewart shot back that “the biblical model of marriage is polygamy.” And there’s a big problem, Stewart went on, with reducing “biblical values” to one or two social issues such as abortion and gay marriage, while ignoring issues such as poverty and immigration reform. It... Read more

by Ebony Utley  R3 Contributor According to Anthony Pinn, God has outlived God’s usefulness. Imagine a forced retirement party. The CEO of the universe has made a few missteps—misrepresented his enterprise, mismanaged his employees. God’s questionable decision-making forced what was once a private operation to go public. Middle management is handwringing. They know they haven’t represented God as well as they could have. They foresee a hostile takeover but fear there is nothing they can do. Because the majority stockholder is now an African... Read more

“How Does Religion Influence Politics” is enlightening in some aspects. From now on, I will keep an open mind when listening to the ideas of  religious politicians or even  religious people that vocalize their political opinions. Certainly, not all religious folks in politics are nonsensical. There are some good apples within the bunch.   Sure I think that there are a great deal of religious crazies out there. There are people who want to blanket their ideas on the entire country, regardless... Read more

R3 Contributor Celucien L. Joseph has published a new book, “Race, Religion, and The Haitian Revolution.” The book explores the intersections of history, race, religion, decolonization, and revolutionary freedom leading to the founding of the postcolonial state, the Caribbean nation of Haiti, in 1804. Particular attention is given to the place of religion in this freedom story. The book not only examines the multiple legacies and the problem of Enlightenment modernity, imperial colonialism, Western racism and hegemony, but also studies... Read more

In the aftermath of President Obama’s electoral romp over Mitt Romney, the media and pundits have paid much attention to the demographics that propelled him to victory, especially women, Hispanics and young voters. But there’s one more group that played an underappreciated yet crucial role in his reelection, and which only now is starting to get the recognition it deserves. A growing segment of American society – up to 20%, according to recent surveys, and higher than that in younger generations — is... Read more

by Crystal St. Marie LewisR3 ContributorAuthor Bryan Berghoef recently wrote about a “shift in Christianity” on his blog. He’s calling the shift “a new convergence” and describes the characteristics of the convergence with this quote by Brian McLaren: “A new coalition is already happening, as existing organizations and emerging networks discover one    another and realize they have independently reached common conclusions… Where and how will this coalition happen? It’s already happening through a variety of sources, as existing organizations and... Read more

Editor: Andre E. Johnson We here at Rhetoric Race and Religion wish all of you a very blessed holiday season. Ebony Utley Armondo Collins Sean Connable Giovanni “Blame Girl” Neal Earle Fisher Gee Joyner Brian Foulks Weldon McWilliams, IV Kia Granberry  Joy Warren Kimberly Peeler-Ringer Cona Marshall Crystal St. Marie Lewis Rashad Grove Celucien Joseph Laura Polk Peter Gathje Darlene Kelley Reggie White Robyn Henderson-Espinoza  Edward Blum Sharon Lauricella Carol Howard Merritt Samuel Kyereme Stacy Dandridge Ifeoma Ofulue Elizabeth F.... Read more

by Peter GathjeR3 ContributorTo reflect on the slaughter of students and teachers at Sandy Hook and the murder of Officer Lang here in Memphis is to enter into lamentation, a deep questioning of the evil present in human life and of God’s apparent absence and inaction. Where is God when children and teachers are brutally murdered by a disturbed gunman? Where is God when a mother of four has her life snuffed out by a street thug? And the question... Read more

God in the flesh, Christ incarnate; we use these words as if we had the slightest clue what they might mean. But even when I look in a mirror, I am never fully sure of what I see. But this image of a baby, so now, yet so far away, what we might call a crisis pregnancy, in a tiny town, isolated and shared, still baffles us as it draws us in. The incarnation is a Christmas treat – an enigma... Read more