For many observers, religion is an emblematic feature of American politics. It is seen as a unique and confounding manifestation of American exceptionalism, in which religious fervor co-exists with an industrialized, “modern” democracy and an explicitly secular state. The course of the presidential race thus far might be viewed as yet another instance of America’s particular obsession with religion. Yet this campaign, for all its familiar tropes, both departs from the historical American norm and remind us that the US... Read more

Check out R3 Contributors Earle Fisher and Gee Joyner as they host a brand new radio program, The Pastor and Professor on WRUGRadio.Com. The show promises an eclectic mix of both historical and contemporary issues examined through a critical lens grounded in a prophetic wit that only Earle and Gee can bring. Check out the promo below and tune in on September 6th for the Pastor and Professor. Read more

SDSU history professor and R3 contributor Edward J. Blum is receiving much attention regarding his soon-to-be released book that chronicles the evolution of religious figures’ appearances in relation to different races, religions and ages. Blum’s “The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America” covers what happens when the Christian incarnation of Jesus collides with the American body obsession. “Anyone can create their own representation of Jesus,” Blum said. “In this book, I discuss... Read more

“God created human beings in God’s image…male and female God created them.” (Genesis: 1:27) According to the Bible, women are created fully equal in the divine image and thus fully, and equally, human. You’d never know that from reading the Republican platform, especially in regard to the anti-abortion language that asserts the “sanctity and dignity of human life.” That section affirms that the “unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed” and calls for a... Read more

Tonight Mia Love takes the stage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. This speech, delivered during the much-coveted primetime television coverage, will be the biggest moment in the young political career of Love, a Republican congressional candidate from Utah’s Fourth District. It will also serve as the introduction for most Americans to the woman whom many prominent Republicans, including the GOP presidential ticket itself, expect to be a leading voice in Congress for years to come. Love might be... Read more

Recently, I wrote an article in Fair Observer, ‘Through the Eyes of Yusuf,’ where I offered an alternative lens to view and understand the meaning of ‘Muslim’ as a religious category, through an exegesis of the story of Yusuf (Joseph) in the Qur’an. In the piece I briefly touched on the political implications of the Prophetic tradition within Islamic theology. But I want to elaborate more here. As much as the term ‘Muslim’ exists as a socio-political category, it is... Read more

In the latest episode of “Moyers & Company,” Bill Moyers talks to Sister Simone Campbell of the Catholic policy and lobbying group NETWORK, and Robert Royal, founder and president of the Faith and Reason Institute, about economic inequality in this country and Paul Ryan’s budget blueprint. Campbell and other nuns made headlines in the weeks before Ryan was selected to be Mitt Romney’s running mate for protesting the Wisconsin congressman’s budget plan, which had just been passed by the Republican-controlled... Read more

On Thursday night, Mitt Romney will step out at the Republican National Convention to accept the nomination as the presidential candidate. The question, ahead of this important moment, is not whether but how he will talk about religion. Certain theistic tropes are often part of political rhetoric: for example, Romney will almost certainly evoke some form of God-ordained American exceptionalism, whether general or via a biblical metaphor (such as America as a “city set on a hill”). This kind of... Read more

When Sikivu Hutchinson of Black Skeptics posted my blog on July 27, 2012, I was pleasantly surprised by the many supportive comments and feedback. With the exception of a few “holy rollers” who told me that they were going to pray for me, my blog “There is No Wipe-Out Story,” was widely accepted. However, as I reviewed the comments, I found a very interesting thing at work in the comments section from nonbelievers or atheists: many wanted to know “more”... Read more

Doing a feminist rhetorical reading of news coverage of Ava Kay Jones, the Voodoo priestess at New Orleans Saints football games? Conducting a media study of Hindu women film directors and producers? Got a discourse analysis of online fans invoking the name of God in True Blood femslash? Submit a book chapter for a proposed edited collection situated at the intersection of media, women, and religion. You are invited to reach this crossroads by any combination of paths. A variety... Read more