by Bernardo A. ZapataSpecial to R3Carol Miles reads Tyler Perry’s movie Good Deeds through the glasses of the familiar biblical text of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)[1]. Even though in this movie Perry does not make reference to specific religious themes, the author still tries to find the Christian moral in the story, perhaps influenced by the popular perception that most of Perry’s work has at least a subtly embedded religious tone. One of the movie’s narratives goes around the... Read more

As we discuss curriculum revision at my own seminary, I’ve found myself thinking anew about what it means to be part of a seminary faculty. Watching events embroil other seminary faculties in troubling conflict, that question has gained considerable urgency. The question may seem abstract, but an answer might go some way toward answering the questions about the mission of today’s seminaries. The answer also has the potential for answering questions about the relationship between seminary boards, their administrative leaders,... Read more

“Your husband will want sex way more than you do,” advises Elizabeth of the blog Warrior Wives in a post called “Wifey Sex Confessions.” God just made him to think about sex more than you. … Never demean this about him. Never laugh at him or make fun of him. Accept it as a difference.”  Accept it as a difference. It may sound like so much cliched marital advice, but this is a much-discussed idea about sexuality in the evangelical Christian... Read more

by Tony Peterson R3ContributorThis talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Are we in a post-racial society? Do we want to be? R3 Contributor Anthony (Tony) Peterson, an African American, draws from current research and from conversations with his Anglo American grandchildren to address truths about race in 21st century America.                              Read more

by Tony PetersonR3 Contributor “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Thomas Jefferson penned those words in 1776, and for the rest of his life he wondered whether that equality applied to “the black man” as it did “the white man” and “the Indian.” According to brilliant historian Winthrop Jordan, author of White Man’s Burden, Jefferson, our third U.S. President, struggled with the differences among the races. Specifically, he wrote to the Marquis de... Read more

Welcome to this week’s ALL TOGETHER, the podcast dedicated to exploring how religious ideas and spiritual practice inform and shape our personal lives, our communities and our world. The show is hosted by Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, the Executive Editor of HuffPost Religion. This weeks All Together investigates The Faith Factor In The 2014 Midterm Elections. What a difference two years can make. In 2012, President Obama won every faith group in America aside from White Christians. The looks to... Read more

Last night’s results show that pollster Robert Jones was far, far too optimistic about the impact of declining numbers of white evangelicals on Senate races in the South. In an October 17 Atlantic piece, Jones identified five races–Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and North Carolina–in which those demographic changes could help either keep Senate seats in Democratic hands, or tip Republican-held seats to the Democrats. 2014, Jones wrote, “may be the year that the underlying demographic trends finally exert enough force... Read more

When I played high school football, we knelt down before every contest. The coach asked God and the Lord Jesus Christ to help us play a fair game, not do significant bodily harm to the opposition and not to sustain serious injury ourselves. The coach asked that we might win the game if we were deserving. Then we said a prayer: usually it was the “Our Father.” Football, it seemed, was a Christian game.Things haven’t changed all that much, at... Read more

If passed, a measure being considered for Mississippi’s 2016 ballots would make Christianity the state religion, English the official language, and, according to its creators, preserve the state’s Confederate heritage. That’s not all — the measure aims to ‘restrict or define’ Mississippi’s heritage in a number of areas: state flag and nickname, and even university mascots. It’s currently officially defined as ‘Initiative 46,’ but proponents of the plan call it the ‘Heritage Initiative.’ If the petition garners enough response, it... Read more

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