Religion Dispatches
…about my alma mater Morehouse College over the weekend. Gayle White of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported on institutional efforts to secure the aesthetic image of a “Morehouse Man.” Recently inaugurated Morehouse President Robert Franklin, a nationally renowned Christian social ethicist, now requires all incoming freshmen own and wear blazers with the Morehouse insignia, and has prohibited sagging jeans, flip flops and the wearing of h…
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…me a long time and I hope that my regret for the long journey is clearly communicated in the book. I am sorry it took me so long to put it all together. It’s like being in a movie where someone is trying to crack a safe and there’s six numbers and you have to get all six numbers right for the safe to open. I think that’s what’s happened for me. Finally, all six numbers came up and I was able to open the safe and I could see this in a new way. Tha…
Read MoreAndrew Adler, the editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times, published a bizzare column suggesting that Mossad might have to assassinate President Obama in order to keep Israel safe from Iran, might never have made it beyond the small readership of that regional paper had the Guardian UK not picked it up. When this fantasy went global a great uproar arose, much of it hypocritical. American Jewish organizations were quick to condemn the article and dista…
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…rica. Benjamin Elijah Mays, a preeminent president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, was not only a noted scholar with a dissertation on the sociology of the Black Church, but also a well-known preacher whose Christian ethic publicly informed his role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Towering above all when it comes to notoriety and influence was Martin Luther King, who occupied a large part of the American public and “space of opinion” w…
Read More…the same bill that cast abortion as “black genocide,” helping fuel a 2010 Atlanta billboard campaign depicting African American children as an “endangered species.” And, coincidentally one day after Rose released the video, the House Majority called for a vote on PRENDA Republican leaders have scheduled a vote on H.R. 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), under a suspension of House rules, which will require a two-thirds majority vot…
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…ity in Maryland, and Bishop Eddie Long from New Birth Missionary Church in Atlanta, who has preached against homosexuality, but was sued in 2010 by several men in his congregation who alleged sexual abuse. Some lesser-known names on the list include Christopher Yuan, a young “ex-gay” man who tours the country preaching that even though sexual orientation is not chosen, the only acceptable way for gays to live is in celibacy, along with Wheaton Col…
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…oor by talking about my experiences among the homeless and drug addicts in Atlanta than by railing about letting “justice roll down like mighty waters.” People will listen to a concrete story and absorb its message much more quickly than an abstract argument. The goal is to find powerful stories that prompt people to understand the world in a different way. It’s really hard to do. Remember, though, this is a conversation! Be prepared to listen to…
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…ition of Apostolic Leaders (USCAL), which is part of ICAL. Nevertheless, a number of notable figures who signed the Statement on Prophetic Standards are missing from the NAR & Christian Nationalism statement—further indication of a rift. These include Apostles Abby Abildness, Negiel Bigpond, James W. Goll, and Steven Strang, along with Prophets Stacey Campbell, and Kris Vallotton, to name a few.* The new statement opens with an explanation for its…
Read More…tive ignores the changing culture and the reality that a not-insignificant number of Democratic voters aren’t affiliated with any particular faith. It’s as if it were 1954, and liberals were smarting over getting flanked by Ike on the In God We Trust issue. There’s a reason Schlitz Gusto is a niche brew, people. Tastes change, and so do politics. There are subtler issues as well. As I said above, the hook here isn’t bad. When I lived in this distr…
Read MoreWhen I was a reporter for an Atlanta radio station back in the 1990s, there were several other reporters on staff who happened to also be lesbians. One of them came in upset after attending a political rally where a state level candidate had spewed anti-gay rhetoric. She told me there was no way she could objectively write the story. I told her it was simple. She would report the facts and let the candidate speak for himself. She produced a factu…
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