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Eddie Long Case Should Mark the End of Black Church Homophobia

By Anthea Butler

…. Finally, my friend Benjamin Anastas, who wrote a prescient article about Atlanta and prosperity for Harper’s magazine perhaps has the best observation so far about the scandal: “whatever happens with Eddie Long, Creflo Dollar will probably get some of his members.” Sigh. As much as I would like to think otherwise, Ben, you’re probably right. UPDATE, 9/23/10: Long has cancelled both his radio appearance on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, as well as…

Liberal Intolerance, Or, an Occasion for Public Theology

By Byron Williams

Earlier this summer, a short item in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution told the story of Dr. Jamal-Dominique Hopkins, a scholar recently dismissed from his teaching position at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta. The story was that this was the result of Hopkins’ adherence to so-called “biblical orthodoxy,” which differed from the mainstream culture of the seminary. At the heart of the case of Dr. Hopkins, who is an evange…

Does Barack need the Black Church?

By Jonathan L. Walton

…bout Bill Clinton being “every bit as black as Barack Obama,” based on the numbers of black women Clinton has bedded; and Rev. Al Sharpton has remained uncharacteristically quiet—aside from repeated accusations that Senator Obama does not have the civil rights track record that Sharpton has claimed for himself. Yet these men share something more than hesitancy toward Senator Obama. They each exemplify the widespread view that the black church is t…

Georgia Gov Vetoes Right-To-Discriminate Bill

By Elizabeth Reiner Platt

…iscriminatory, and unconstitutional. Two of Georgia’s three biggest cities—Atlanta and Savannah—both have municipal ordinances banning some forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and others may follow suit. Atlanta’s ordinance is particularly broad, banning LGBT and marital status discrimination in housing, public accommodations, and private employment. HB 757 would have allowed religious organizations, individual…

Don’t Blame Religion for Boston Bombings

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…age; the 2010 Times Square bombing attempt by Faisal Shahzad; and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic park bombing by Eric Robert Rudolph, to name a few. Some of these were committed by Christians, some by Muslims, and some by those with no particular religious affiliation at all. In almost all cases, though, these have been instances where lonely, alienated individuals have raged against a society that they thought had abandoned them. These lone wolf events…

Rev. Ella Pearson Mitchell (1917-2008)

By Jonathan L. Walton

…and professor of homiletics at Interdenominational Theological Seminary in Atlanta and the D.Min program at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. Sure, she introduced us to Those Preaching Women. But she, along with her partner Henry, also introduced the world to the aural vivacity and theological sophistication of the black spoken word tradition that extends back to the West African griot. And, more importantly, she helped to open the mind…

Is Eddie Long Preparing For a Confession?

By Anthea Butler

…ened. The woman who ran the hospice, Agnes Rathlagame, had been flown into Atlanta from Johannesburg for the service. It was not clear if this was planned or not, but it certainly seemed to enhance the stature of Bishop Long’s and New Birth’s generosity. To round out the early card, Bernice King announced the offering, adept at inviting the visitors to contribute so they could “prosper” as well. All of that, however, was the preliminary to the Mai…

3 Takeaways from #Easter2015

By Michael Schulson

…tover. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a megachurch in the suburbs of Atlanta, pushed #IAmResurrection, with the hashtag scrawled, in enormous, blood red font across the top of church’s Easter-themed webpage: Christian Faith Center, in Seattle, used #RememberFriday and #CelebrateSunday, while Hillsong, the Australian-turned-global megachurch musical phenomenon, ran an entire branded campaign around #crossequalslove. Other churches used Easter…

Have White Evangelicals Finally Lost Control of the Narrative?

By Chrissy Stroop

…viral discussion of purity culture, racism, and misogyny that followed the Atlanta spa murders. Never-Trump conservative pundit David French made a dubious and unconvincing attempt to dissociate purity culture from Christian “orthodoxy” on sexuality and gender, as if the balls and rings and pledges themselves are the only real problem, rather than the underlying theology that gives rise to such creepy and obsessive practices, not to mention the pr…

Anti-Gay Tour Organizer Comes Out for Gay Marriage, Renounces Hate

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…is blog: Ironically, one of the last tour stops added to the itinerary was Atlanta and I bring this site up because it was in Atlanta that I can remember that I questioned what I was doing for the first time. The NOM showing in the heart of the Bible-belt was dismal and the hundreds of counter-protesters who showed up were nothing short of inspiring. Even though I had been confronted by the counter-protesters throughout the marriage tour, the lesb…