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When God and Gender Mix: New Book Examines the Southern Holiness Movement

By Colin Chapell

…l Holiness Theology and Gender in the South Colin B. Chapell University of Alabama Press September 2016 What’s the most important take-home message for readers? Theology and belief matter to how people view not only the world around them, but how adherents view their own identity. I know that this may sound simple, but we so often forget this. Indeed, I would enlarge that statement to say that the values people hold dearest change how they underst…

Why Anti-Gay Bullying is a Theological Issue

By Cody J. Sanders

…en a young person completes suicide in the aftermath of daily torment and harassment. After this, I sat in stunned silence in front of my computer screen as news stories continued to appear about the suicides of 13-year-old Asher Brown, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, 13-year-old Seth Walsh, and 19-year-old Raymond Chase. Today, it is very clear to me that profound sadness and stunned silence is no longer a suitable, appropriate, or adequate response….

More Than Big Hair and Money: Jim, Tammy Faye and the Media “Holy Wars” of the 80s

By John Wigger

…ical Empire? I was fascinated by how fast PTL grew and how quickly it fell apart. What I really wanted to know was how PTL’s rise and fall were connected. How does deep religious devotion become so entwined with money, sex, and celebrity on a Hollywood scale? A short synopsis might help: Jim and Tammy started the PTL network with half a dozen employees in a former furniture store in 1974. By 1986 PTL had annual revenues of $129 million, 2500 emplo…

The Only Common Denominator of American Conservatism is Anti-Blackness

By Yannick Marshall

…undamentally post-racist country, the racists “are just a few idiots,” not a number tallied in the millions. In “conservatism,” the intellectual legacy of the Confederacy has been normalized and an entire population of Negrophobes is absorbed into society and allowed space to push their anti-Black agenda everywhere from the Senate floor to bank cubicles. It’s been said that politics is the continuation of war by other means. After the surrender at…

How the Study of Evangelicalism Has Blinded Us to the Problems in Evangelical Culture

By Christopher D. Cantwell

…From the moment 2016 exit polls revealed that 81% of self-described “born again” Christians voted for the former reality TV star, a veritable cottage industry of editorials, hot takes, and academic research took shape that aimed to account for this supposedly astonishing fact. Setting aside attempts to “downplay and complicate” evangelical support, journalists found that nostalgia for an imagined pre-Civil Rights America drew many evangelicals to…

Modern Vampires: Your Neighbors and Spouses

By Joseph Laycock

…arned of a massive survey being conducted by the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (AVA). Their project was relevant to the sociology of knowledge: instead of defining their identity group through a creed or a manifesto, here was a community defining itself through data. I began doing ethnographic research with the AVA, which led to a paper I presented at the American Academy of Religion. I frankly did not expect to be taken seriously simply because I was…

Welcome to the Shari’ah Conspiracy Theory Industry

By Sarah Posner

…d former CIA director James Woolsey; the American Enterprise Institute’s Ayaan Hirsi Ali; and the National Review’s Andrew McCarthy—a leading proponent of the conspiracy theory that shari’ah poses a threat to America and that the left, and President Obama in particular, are part of a fifth column that promote, or at the very least, enable it. (Both McCarthy and Woolsey are also affiliated with the FDOD.) Gaffney’s efforts have proven to be quite l…

UPDATED: Religion Has Been Framed; Covering the Aga Khan’s Visit

By Hussein Rashid

…ral people have written to me to note that CNN did do a short piece on the Aga Khan’s visit, as did some of the cable news channels. Apologies for missing this; however, my basic point remains unchallenged. In a largely positive piece on religion a section is inserted stating that some Muslims don’t consider the Isma’ilis Muslim, putting the discussion in the frame of conflict once more. Even with Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States last we…

New Reports Reveal Global Persecution of Nonbelievers

By Austin Dacey

“How do I know who the true God is?” Alber Saber Ayad’s question was answered by the Egyptian government last week when the 27-year-old computer science student was convicted for “contempt of religion” in Cairo. Saber was taken into custody on September 13 by the police after an enraged mob stormed his house, beating him and threatening his mother, a Coptic Christian. Saber was rumored to be circulating the Innocence of Muslims film trailer on hi…

Americans Say Religion is “Losing Influence”

By Diane Winston

…in sharp decline was the 1960s. Political protests along with cultural upheavals left many wondering about the future of traditional institutions. But during the Reagan years, and especially following 9/11, the significance of religion—its association with social stability, community cohesion, and traditional values—raised appreciation for its influence. The upshot? The perception of increased religious influence on American society is just a cata…