By Andre E. Johnson, author of The Forgotten Prophet: Bishop Henry McNeal Turner and the African American Prophetic TraditionIn my previous post, I shared with you the story of a woman who attended and graduated from Henry McNeal Turner High School but did not know the man for which officials named the school. This of course was a story I heard before because many people have not heard of Bishop Turner—and if they heard of him, they only know little... Read more

Do you want me to tell you who to vote for on November 6? Sorry. I’m not going to do it. After 20 years of service in the same church, I share a level of mutual respect and trust with members of my congregation calling on my opinion as a regular part of conversation. However, there are some questions that I will not answer, endorsements of candidates among them. My refusal to endorse a candidate is not because of my... Read more

Robert P. George yesterday wrote about the phone calls allegedly made by the group Catholics for Obama to ask voters questions like “How can you vote for a Mormon who does not believe in Jesus Christ?” The Obama campaign denies the charges, according to an editor’s note in the U.S. News article to which Dr. George had linked. If the calls were in fact made, they would disgust me because they misrepresented Mormon teaching, and because the callers would likely... Read more

March 22-23, 2013 Tallahassee, Florida  This conference will address the evolving relationship between religion and law throughout American history. Dr. Winnifred Sullivan, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University and distinguished scholar of religion and law, will deliver the keynote address. Professors, attorneys, independent scholars, and graduate students who are interested in the academic study of religion and law are encouraged to submit proposals for individual papers and panels. Scholars from all academic disciplines are encouraged to... Read more

It turns out that God rarely merits a mention in presidential debates. There’s often plenty of God-talk on the campaign trail and at party conventions, but not when the candidates talk with each other. As far as I could glean, the only mention of God in tonight’s debate was by Mitt Romney toward the end: The role of government — look behind us: the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence… we are endowed by our Creator with our rights —... Read more

Conservative evangelical leaders hope that 1,500 pastors will take part in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” on October 7 and tell their congregants that they must vote against President Obama and other “unbiblical” candidates. Today, publisher Steven Strang, anti-gay activist Rev. Jim Garlow, and too-radical-for-John-McCain pastor John Hagee participated in a conference call designed to either shame or inspire more pastors to take part. One context for the Pulpit Freedom Sunday project, which has been growing over the past decade, is the... Read more

On Pulpit Freedom Sunday, (October 7) organizers say that 1500 pastors will defy the IRS and tell their parishioners to vote against president Obama. In light of this, we thought we would share the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Guide to the 2012 IRS Rule on Political Activity by Religious Organizations.During every election cycle, many religious congregations find themselves wondering what role, if any, they can play in the political process. Can a minister, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy endorse a... Read more

If Mitt Romney wins the Nov. 6 election, would he become our most religious president? It’s an odd question, but one that has come up in recent days after writer Nicholas Lemann said as much in a profile of Romney that ran in the New Yorker magazine. “If elected,” Lemann wrote, “Romney, scion of an old, distinguished Mormon family (his ancestors had a direct connection to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young), would arguably be the most actively religious president in... Read more

In August, Representative Joe Walsh spoke to constituents at a town hall meeting in Elk Grove, Illinois, about radical Islam, noting, “It’s in Addison. It’s in Elgin. It’s here.” Walsh, a Republican congressman whose district includes many of Chicago’s northern suburbs, called for “godly men and women in the Senate, in the Congress … [to] stand in the face of the danger of Islam in America without political correctness.” The next Muslim attack against America, he warned, “will make 9/11... Read more

For Mormons, America is a very special place indeed. It’s central to the story of their faith; it was home to the Garden of Eden and will be the site of the Second Coming of Jesus. The notion of American exceptionalism is of course not a new idea. Two centuries before Joseph Smith had the visions that led to the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Puritan leader John Winthrop delivered a sermon entitled “A... Read more