Reminders of turmoil still mark the streets of Ferguson. Memorials left at the site where an unarmed African American teenager was shot last summer by a white police officer. Buildings burned or vandalized during the sometimes violent protests that followed both the shooting and a Grand Jury’s decision not to indict the officer involved. Barricades surrounding the Ferguson police department. But as this traumatized city prepares for the national Martin Luther King holiday, there are also signs of hope. Several... Read more

Despite a long, slow decline in religious participation among Americans, do not expect Christian conservatives to light a candle rather than curse the darkness when it comes to politics. At least two likely contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, are calling for nothing short of a religious revival. “We have tried everything else,” Jindal recently told a group of Christian and Jewish leaders in Iowa, “and now it is time... Read more

Happy John Chilembwe Day! Today (January 15, 2015) is national John Chilembwe Day in Malawi. A national hero since its genesis as a nation in 1964, Chilembwe is celebrated as an early anti-colonial figure who opposed mistreatment of African workers on European-owned plantations and the lack of social, political, and economic promotion of Africans. On January 23, 1915, Chilembwe, an American trained Baptist minister and educator, led what was to be an unsuccessful uprising against the colonial rulers of Nyasaland... Read more

Martin Luther King Jr. is ubiquitous. A federal holiday, a monument and a plethora of schools and streets bearing his name have cemented his presence on the cultural landscape of the United States. Liberals and conservatives alike appropriate King’s language to adorn their political wardrobes and buttress their ideological constructions. While the popular rendering of King is one of a civil rights leader who now enjoys widespread acceptability in American public discourse, his radical politics and his rough-edged critique of... Read more

In 2013, over six thousand men – and only men – gather in Hamilton, Ontario for the ‘Act Like Men’ conference. They’ve come to learn how to be real Christian men. To reclaim a sense of biblical masculinity. To be told that, to be strong, they must not act like women. After all, the conference speakers preach, when God wants something done, He calls a man to do it. I say preach because these speakers are the leaders of some... Read more

by Miles Mullin, II R3 Contributor   Last year, Crossway announced the publication of David Wells’ God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients Our World, promoting this new book as “a remedy for evangelicalism’s superficial theology.” Merits of the book aside–and I am sure there are many–claiming a remedy for evangelicalism’s superficial theology demonstrates both unflagging optimism, and, more importantly, a misunderstanding of the nature of contemporary evangelicalism. In reality, a superficial theology is endemic to evangelicalism.... Read more

They are forgotten, shunned, hushed up. Their stories are covered up, and their testimonies are disbelieved. Sexual assault survivors are often forgotten women. Silencing survivors and offering unflagging support of accused rapists are textbook elements of rape culture. Today, Phylicia Rashad provides Exhibit A. Phylicia Rashad is a Tony Award-winning actor with a distinguished stage and screen career. This month, she is receiving the Theatrical Arts Award at the BET Honors. She is most well-known for her role on the... Read more

Another horrendous act of terrorism has taken place and people like myself who are on media speed-dial under “Celebrity Muslims” are thrust in the spotlight to angrily condemn, disavow, and explain—again—how these barbaric acts are in no way related to Islam. For me, religion—no matter which one—is ultimately about people wanting to live humble, moral lives that create a harmonious community and promote tolerance and friendship with those outside the religious community. Any religious rules should be in service of... Read more

I recently read/pillaged an article by Linell Cady which calls for a re-evaluation of the role and methods of public theology in light of our post-secular context (brill.com/ijpt). The term “public theology” appears to have been coined by Martin Marty. It was a liberal Christian response to a growing religio-political fundamentalism. Of course, religio-political fundamentalism (i.e. the religious right) was itself responding to secularization. So, in a way, public theology attempted to be a better, more “right” kind of response.... Read more

Austin Lee Campbell thinks a lot about dying. No, Campbell doesn’t plan to shuffle off his mortal coil any time soon. A hospital chaplain, Campbell is on emergency call to comfort grieving families and to pray at the bedsides of dying patients as they succumb to terminal illnesses. A PhD candidate in religion, Campbell believes dying in hospitals is hard, not just because mortality can be tough to face; medical institutions use language that makes dying a win or lose... Read more