Following on from my previous two blogs posts (here and here), in this post I would like to consider briefly the idea of ‘public theology’ which is increasingly becoming of a term of art and of endearment. The idea has been considered and somewhat popularised by noted Christian theologians such as Max Stackhouse and Jürgen Moltmann. Stackhouse calls ‘public theology’ specifically ‘public’ because: ‘[first,] that which we as Christians believe we have to offer the world for its salvation is not esoteric,... Read more

Hip hop has served as  active voice against oppression  ever since it’s conception in the 1970s in the United States. Covering topics ranging from class, gender, race, institutionalization, injustice, and oppression, hip hop provides numerous examples of how music can inspire people on the subject of social change and political revolutions (Ogbar (2009), Chang(2005), Forman and Neal (2011)).The development and root of revolution can be created as a reaction against the lessening of being. Being, in this sense, can be... Read more

It’s refreshing to finally hear women talking about female masturbation. Given the social stigma around the topic, it can be difficult just to bring it up. Unfortunately, too often the conversation doesn’t overcome the unhelpful stereotypes about the female sex drive…or lack thereof. Time and time again, Christian leaders explain that women masturbate because they want to “fill a void” or have “attachment issues.” These emotional generalizations fail to get at the real problem. When men talk about masturbation (or at... Read more

For the past 16 years, the U.S.-affiliated and Kampala, Uganda-based Makerere University Walter Reed Project has conducted research on HIV vaccines and public health issues in the East African country. Earlier this month, Ugandan officials raided the project, detaining and interrogating a staff member, reportedly because of the project’s assistance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people. According to the project’s website, “the operations of the program are temporarily suspended to ensure the safety of staff and the... Read more

The closest I ever come to any kind of bad touching is when I am twelve, on a retreat weekend to prepare for my Confirmation into the Catholic Church. It is a set of circumstances so cliché that my overwhelming urge now is to roll my eyes and never think about it again except occasionally, and when I do remember it is with dull surprise, as though I am hearing a story about someone else. Nothing really happens in it,... Read more

The Christian Crusade has hit the multiplex in force this Spring. No sooner did Darren Aronofsky’s brooding, complex, environmental cautionary Noah see dry land, than three new, more conventional religion based movies stormed the box offices: God Is Not Dead, Son of God, and Heaven is Real. Unfortunately, Godsploitation movies generally require a leap of faith that hardly leads to redemption. For a fleeting moment, God Is Not Dead seems like an earnest attempt to place religious faith in modern life. But the credits have barely... Read more

by Peter Gathje R3 Contributor A guest this morning asked me how long I had known him.  I said that I’d known him ever since he started coming to Manna House.  “But how long is that?  How long has Manna House been open?” “It will be nine years this fall.” We talked a bit about how he happened to come to Manna House.  Another guest had told him, “You need to check this place out.”  So he did. This got... Read more

by Verdell WrightR3 Contributor *First Published at No Shame Movement There’s something peculiar about being a black man while navigating Christian purity culture. Purity culture teaches that God smiles on people who abstain from what are believed to be sexual sins. I’ve decided to discuss purity culture from the angle of being black, (formerly) evangelical, and male. Including the cultural differences that race presents makes purity culture different enough in black communities to be worth discussing. In the evangelical world,... Read more

I don’t really know how to start this post but I certainly feel the need to write it. Yesterday I learned that one of my best friends since the age of 13 passed away. He was one of those people who was just good. Better. And he never got a fair shot in life. He had been ill for quite some time, so while his passing is not a surprise, the sadness is the same. It’s a similar sadness to... Read more

The recent debate sparked by Aaron Hughes’ response to Omid Safi’s article on the state of Islamic studies in North America has again prompted discussion of emic-etic tension, of whether scholars of religion are ‘critics’ or ‘caretakers’ (to use Russell McCutcheon’s terms). In the articles and in the comments section questions about the impact of September 11 on Islamic studies were raised, as well as contentious labelling of those undertaking the quest for the historical Muhammad as ‘Islamophobe’, ‘racist’, or ‘colonial invader’. ‘Carl’, commenting... Read more