Religion Dispatches
…mericans consider statements from banks to be “not at all believable.” The number is even higher for mortgage companies. Last month, Patrick Rodgers of Philadelphia “foreclosed” on a local Wells Fargo branch. In an act of legal jiujitsu, Rodgers was able to prove that Wells Fargo exhibited a pattern of failing to communicate with its clients and was awarded $1000. When the bank didn’t pay, he arranged for a sheriff’s levy to sell the bank’s assets…
Read More
…tripped of his boxing license for three years. He lit the torch at the ’96 Atlanta Olympics and made Bill Clinton cry. He was a gifted pugilist, a brilliant interviewee, sharp-tongued, and a rapper who rapped before rap was even named. The Fresh Prince played him in a movie. He’s from Kentucky, which is a red state, which gives him playing power in the American heartland. He’s so awesome he trademarked G.O.A.T.—The Greatest of All Time. The Bad:…
Read More
…able list of memoirs that have the author’s face on the cover. Between the Atlanta-based photographer Anne Simone and cover designer Brad Norr, I felt confident that they could put together something appropriate and poignant. The photo on the cover was caught between posed pictures when I got cold and wrapped my scarf around me as we moved from one location to another. Anne said, “Don’t move!” And there we had it. I like the color scheme, and I th…
Read More…athering of protesters holding “Bishop Long must go” signs in front of his Atlanta megachurch. According to the blog PimpPreachers.com, a group of protesters were “Occupying New Birth” and demanding that Long leave the church he has pastored since 1997. At its peak, New Birth boasted 25,000 members, a figure that sank as Long was accused of sexual abuse and assault by young male congregants last year, claims Long settled in secret in May. The Occ…
Read MoreBaptists in America may never be the same. For one shining moment in Atlanta, at a three-day gathering termed a “celebration,” Baptists were called to repent of their long history of racism and sexism and affirm a New Baptist Covenant. Never before in the 400-year history of the Baptist denomination have black Baptists and white Baptists met with equal participation on the platform and equal numbers in the audience; never before in history have B…
Read More…Turning the Tide. Stanley is pastor of megachurch First Baptist Church of Atlanta and one-time Southern Baptist Convention president whose broadcasts through his In Touch ministry are seen and heard on radio and television across the country. Stanley, although widely known, is not without controversy: after years of marital trouble, his wife divorced him in 2000. Despite longstanding SBC denunciation of divorce, Stanley remained as pastor of his…
Read More…preachers leading churches including mega—church leader Charles Stanley in Atlanta. Certainly, divorce is a necessary option for couples. Often it’s the best thing for a couple trapped in a loveless or abusive relationship. People change, circumstances change, and often it’s best for two people to part ways. Even religious institutions, over the years, have come to understand this and don’t tend to vigorously condemn people for the decision. Many…
Read More
…noted over the past few weeks—at least since his “mega-tantrum” during an Atlanta rally, as The Bulwark’s A.B. Stoddard put it—Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been behaving erratically. Indeed, although his campaign is reportedly grateful that it’s confined to Truth Social, that hasn’t stopped publications like the New Republic and Rolling Stone (among others) from labeling his latest posting spree “fascist,” as well as “vulgar…
Read More…vanity license plates. Keep an eye out for my new “RELGNGUY” plate in the Atlanta area. In South Carolina, a mosque was defaced with bacon. A 9/11 responder is suing the developers behind the Park51 project claiming compensation for “psychological terrorism.” He wants $350 million as compensation. The Washington Post decided not to run a comic from the popular Non Sequitur comic strip entitled “Where’s Muhammad?” The single-frame comic was a paro…
Read More
…rvative Bible Belt regions in the South. African American strongholds like Atlanta have seen a new black “re-migration” driven by the ripple effect of high unemployment, foreclosures, and gentrification in northern urban black communities. According to the Family Equality Council, LGBT families are more racially and ethnically diverse than families headed by married heterosexual couples. Of same-sex couples with children, 41% are people of color,…
Read More