Saddleback Church’s evangelical mega-pastor Rick Warren has announced that he’ll be holding another presidential forum, just as he famously did in 2008 with Barack Obama and John McCain. While nothing is confirmed yet, it is tentatively scheduled for the end of August and will supposedly work “to promote social civility so that people with major disagreements (can) talk without beating each other up.” However, neither President Obama nor Republican challenger Mitt Romney should be fooled, this is an exercise in... Read more

Edward J. Blum (University of Kentucky, 2003) is a historian of race and religion in the United States. He is the author (with Paul Harvey) of The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America (2012), W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet (2007), and Reforging the White Republic: Race, Religion, and American Nationalism, 1865-1898 (2005). He is also the co-editor (with Paul Harvey) of The Columbia Guide to Religion in American History (2012),... Read more

by Sharon Lauricella and Samuel KyeremeR3 Contributors*A extended version of this post is in press with the Journal of Religion and Society.“God give new beginnings, you can start right now” — T.I., A Better Day, 2008Like those who listen to it, rap music, together with Motown, blues, and music brought to North America from West Africa, embodies both the sacred and the secular in surprising and meaningful ways. In rap music, and also in other traditionally Black music genres, the... Read more

Sammy Kyereme is a lover of music, people and positive vibrations. He plays five instruments with the piano stealing his heart at the moment. His playlist includes rap, r&b;, and reggae (he’s recently developed a case of Marley fever). Sammy is currently working on a project analyzing rap artist J.Cole’s popular discourse on unwanted pregnancy and the impact of Bob Marley’s Smile Jamaica Concert in 1976 on Jamaican and global culture. Sammy’s plan is to change the world with his... Read more

Sharon Lauricella was recently awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Communication at University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, ON, Canada. She holds a doctoral degree from Cambridge University in England, and studied in Boston, MA and Edinburgh, Scotland. Sharon has published on rap and religion, spiritual communication, and food communication. The recipient of several teaching awards, Sharon also studies and practices using technology in education. She lives in Canada with her two under-12 Katy Perry fans... Read more

Religion is important for American politics because religion is important for Americans.1 Yet, there are factors in American political life that amplify the role of religion in a way that is not seen in other developed countries. For a developed country, the U.S. is extraordinarily high on religion. Thus 65 percent of Americans say that religion is important in their daily lives compared to just 17 percent of Swedes, 19 percent of Danes, and 24 percent of Japanese.2 Why America... Read more

A federal judge’s ruling Wednesday cleared the way for a controversial mosque in Tennessee to open in time for the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. County officials must conduct a final building inspection at the mosque in Murfreesboro, near Nashville, U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell said in a temporary restraining order. The order will allow the mosque to complete the inspection process so it can use its building in time for the religious holiday of Ramadan,... Read more

I was born in 1987. Looking back over my childhood, I can proudly say that I was a “church kid.” Every Sunday morning and Wednesday night, I was there with my family for service, Sunday school, and Bible Study. Even during my high school and college, I took my faith seriously and participated in church activities even when people questioned why. I grew up and befriended other “church kids”; however, in later years some tend to distance themselves farther away... Read more

“Let me make this very clear,” Mitt Romney declared in a speech he gave at the Citadel in 2011. “As President of the United States, I will devote myself to an American Century. And I will never, ever apologize for America.” Indeed, and that is a serious problem. I am not naïve enough to imagine that for a presidential candidate humility will ever be a trait to trumpet. The specter of Jimmy Carter still looms over those who aspire to... Read more

n this strange moment in which people still wonder what a Mormon president will do to the country, we have Mitt Romney’s political history, campaign conduct, and avowed policy to scrutinize. All of these things together tell us quite plainly that no matter who wins in November, we aren’t about to elect a Mormon president. We are about to elect another politician. The anxiety that the Christian right and the liberal left and everyone in between has felt about the... Read more