After months of urging from other Baptists around the country, the Rev. Fred Luter told his African-American congregation that he will seek to become the first black man to lead the predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention.Several Baptist leaders said Luter becomes the prohibitive favorite for the post, to be filled in a potentially historic election at the Southern Baptists’ annual meeting here in June.SBC Today, a Baptist-focused news website, carried the announcement on Wednesday. Youth pastor Fred “Chip” Luter III... Read more

In response to the request of several people wanting an explanation (religious, biblical or otherwise) on the video of the coronation of Bishop Eddie Long, we here at Rhetoric Race and Religion will collect responses and place them on our blog. If there are responses you find, please share them with us. Thanks Confronting the Royal Ideology of Pastoral Authority, Sharing the Gospel Message According to Judges On Wednesday, Professor Anthea Butler responded to Bishop Eddie Long’s enthronement. Please read... Read more

by Elise M. EdwardsFeminism and Religion Does freedom of religion include the right to impose your religious views on your employees? Should freedom of religion exempt you from financially contributing to a medical benefit for your employees that you consider sinful? According to an Associated Baptist Press article, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, “called a new rule [by the Obama Administration] requiring insurance plans to cover birth control — including those paid... Read more

By Eric Marrapodi and Brianna Keilar, CNN After years of bridge building with the Catholic Church, the Obama administration may have damaged some of the good will it built up with the nation’s 70 million Catholics, which could have steep consequences at the polls in November. Some rank and file Catholics are beginning to express the same frustrations as clergy about a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services policy requiring all employers, including religious ones, to pay for... Read more

Here Rachel Maddow questions what is a faithful faith and how one gets to be known as faithful while others are not http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640 Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Read more

In response to the request of several people wanting an explanation (religious, biblical or otherwise) on the video of the coronation of Bishop Eddie Long, we here at Rhetoric Race and Religion will collect responses and place them on our blog. If there are responses you find, please share them with us. Thanks By Christian Boone and Shelia M. PooleThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution A ceremony held Sunday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in which Bishop Eddie Long was wrapped in... Read more

As the 2012 presidential election approaches, the partisan affiliations of the electorate have shifted significantly since 2008. In surveys conducted in 2011 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 34% of registered voters described themselves as Democrats, down four points compared with 2008 (38%). Over the same period, the percentage of voters describing themselves as Republicans has held steady at 28%, while the total saying they are politically independent or have no partisan preference has risen... Read more

Christianity is often the focus of popular culture, whether it is through the blood and gore of The Passion of the Christ, the satire of South Park and Family Guy, or exposés of Jesus Camp or Religulous. The Christian community tends to respond by either ignoring popular culture or critiquing it moralistically through discussion about popular culture, rather than reflecting on our inescapable existence within it. Even those Christian perspectives that emphasize cultural transformation have a dearth of positive engagement... Read more

Howard RhodesReligion and Ethics Should the American people harness their admiration for the military to revitalize the virtues of democratic engagement? Can we harness this admiration without undermining our ability to keep our militaristic overconfidence in check, especially in the face of increasing economic and military competition from China and beyond? President Obama’s State of the Union address frames his understanding of the challenges and opportunities we face with the suggestion that emulating the virtues of America’s armed forces would... Read more

In promoting our goal of examining the nexus between rhetoric, race and religion, we will partner with the mission group of Caritas Village to start the Rhetoric, Race and Religion book club devoted to the study of how rhetoric (language) shapes and constructs both race and religion. We will meet at 6:00pm on the first Monday of the month starting March 5, 2012 at the Caritas Village located at 2509 Harvard in Memphis, Tennessee. For those not able to make it in... Read more