Issue 16.1 of the journal Political Theology is devoted to theology, plurality and society. Below guest editor, Dr. Peter Scott, introduces the issue. Must a religiously plural society fall apart? How does theology process plurality? This special issue of Political Theology addresses the issue of plurality from a variety of theological perspectives. It began life as an attempt to respond to an earlier special issue of the journal, which assessed critically the political and theological phenomenon of Red Toryism. In... Read more

When the new, 114th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 6, 2015, Republicans will control both chambers of the legislative body for the first time since the 109th Congress (2005-2006). Yet, despite the sea change in party control, there is relatively little change in the overall religious makeup of Congress, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. More than nine-in-ten members of the House and Senate (92%) are Christian, and about 57% are Protestant, roughly the same... Read more

As we take some much needed time off, we here at Rhetoric Race and Religion wish all of you a very blessed holiday season. In the meantime, please enjoy some of the writing from our contributors.  We are looking for new contributors in 2015!  We are interested in any topics that examine the intersection of rhetoric race and religion. Interested in contributing? It’s real easy, you just let us know and start submitting.First, there is no necessary number of posts... Read more

They wave their Bibles at passersby, screaming their condemnations of homosexuals. They fall on their knees, worshipping at the base of granite monuments to the Ten Commandments while demanding prayer in school. They appeal to God to save America from their political opponents, mostly Democrats. They gather in football stadiums by the thousands to pray for the country’s salvation. They are God’s frauds, cafeteria Christians who pick and choose which Bible verses they heed with less care than they exercise... Read more

I am a single, saved, 40-something woman who is waiting until marriage to have sex. And yes, I think about having sex at least a hundred times throughout the day. According to most mainstream media, being divorced and in my forties leaves me with a very slim chance of finding someone to spend my life with in holy matrimony. Though I try very hard not to take to heart most things I hear or read from the media, it is... Read more

I had a very interesting conversation with a good friend recently. My friend is a lifelong Catholic who has attracted more recently to evangelical faiths of the “personal savior” variety. I mentioned to him Thomas Merton, who he had never heard of, much to both my surprise and his. My friend is more on the fundamentalist spectrum of things, which is okay – unlike many progressive Christians, I don’t think fundamentalism is completely out of bounds. I told my friend... Read more

[View the story “#JamesConeWasRight: An #AnaBlacktivist Chat” on Storify] Read more

In his wide-ranging interview with Dusty Hoesly, Wade Clark Roof both re-emphasizes the importance of the baby boomer generation and suggests some ways to think beyond it. In the second half of the interview, in particular, he offers two different narratives for understanding the boomers, their uniqueness, and their place in the history of American religion. Looking at each in turn, this short essay uses recent scholarship to build on Roof’s observations and point to some facets of the current... Read more

African American pastors are less likely than white pastors to believe that the gospel mandates racial reconciliation, but more likely to be actively involved in reconciliation efforts, according to a new LifeWay Research survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors. More than three-quarters of white pastors (77%) strongly agree that racial reconciliation is a gospel mandate, while only two-thirds of African American pastors (64%) say the same. Meanwhile, more than half of African American pastors (53%) strongly agree that their church... Read more

[This is the second half of an article adapted from a paper delivered at the 2014 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 24th Nov. 2014. See Pt. I here.] The Christian right generational shift So what do the findings I have shared indicate for the future of the Christian right? They demonstrate despite the Republicans recent 2014-midterm results, that millennial Christians are more ambivalent about politics than their parents. According to Pew Research, millennial turnout in 2014 was down 6... Read more