by Rev. C. Weldon GaddyHuffington Post Apparently, attempts are underway to open a new front in the supposed “war on religion” in my home state of Louisiana as it takes center stage in the presidential primary season. Truth be told, from what I have seen lately, those claiming there is a war on religion are the ones most guilty of waging that assault. With sadness and disbelief, last weekend I watched as Greenwell Springs Baptist Church pastor Dennis Terry introduced... Read more

In a career spanning some 20 years and eight previous books, Alain de Botton has made a name for himself in the land of high-end self-help — in print, television documentaries and with his School of Life — by harvesting what he deems useful from great thinkers’ ideas and applying them to everyday life. In his “Consolations of Philosophy,” the Swiss-born, British-educated philosopher cited one of his heroes, the 16th-century essayist Montaigne, for teaching him that “what matters in a... Read more

Tyler Perry is an African-American media phenomenon producing, directing, writing, and acting in gospel musical stage plays and movies. He hit the American national scene in 2005 when the film adaptation of his gospel play Diary of a Mad Black Woman debuted in movie theaters. The purpose of this paper is to examine Tyler Perry’s play Madea’s Family Reunion, which traveled around the country in 2002-2003, to describe the intersections of and relationships between African-American popular culture, religion, and rhetoric.... Read more

We already have common ethical ground. Every religion embraces a form of the Golden Rule and the supreme importance of charity, compassion and human improvement. Let’s work from there. When Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” he replied, “First, you shall love the Lord your God; and second, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” “In everything,” he said, “do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up... Read more

A new survey finds signs of public uneasiness with the mixing of religion and politics. The number of people who say there has been too much religious talk by political leaders stands at an all-time high since the Pew Research Center began asking the question more than a decade ago. And most Americans continue to say that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of politics. Nearly four-in-ten Americans (38%) now say there has been too much expression... Read more

from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Research From the perspective of the nation’s professional prison chaplains, America’s state penitentiaries are a bustle of religious activity. More than seven-in-ten (73%) state prison chaplains say that efforts by inmates to proselytize or convert other inmates are either very common (31%) or somewhat common (43%). About three-quarters of the chaplains say that a lot (26%) or some (51%) religious switching occurs among inmates in the prisons where they work. Many... Read more

by Frank Johnson I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. We hear these “so called” declarations of faith from one end of America life to another. Our political candidates “declare” their belief in God while using it to pass legislation that fits with their beliefs system despite the First Amendment’s ban on congress making laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. However, we see a form... Read more

By Kimberly Peeler-RingerRhetoric Race and Religion Contributor Trayvon Martin has now become part of the national discourse on race relations in the 21st century. As more and more facts about the circumstances of his death are slowly unraveled, we are encouraged at every turn not to forget his name. His death is particularly distressing because even in these early stages of investigation, it appears nothing he did warranted deadly force. And there is another name that we should not forget... Read more

The Rhetoric Race and Religion book club will convene on April 9, 2012 at 6:00pm at the Caritas Village located at 2509 Harvard in Memphis, Tennessee. For those not able to make it in person, we will conduct a live tweet chat starting at 7:15pm (CST) using #R3bookclub #thenewjimcrow. Lani Guinier, professor of Law at Harvard Law School says that “Michelle Alexander’s brave and bold new book paints a haunting picture in which dreary felon garb, post-prison joblessness, and loss of voting rights now... Read more

By Christopher HouseChristopher House will serve as a visiting professor at Memphis Theological Seminary this summer in he Rhetoric Race and Religion Institute teaching a course on the Black Church and HIV/AIDS**This article first appeared in the March 2012 issue of the Memphis Theological Seminary JournalIntroductionOver the past three years, I travelled to and conducted research —including ethnographic participant observation and oral history interviewing through in-depth questioning—in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Washington, D.C., area. I sought to understand how religious leaders of... Read more