“There is a significant difference between the eighteenth century and the present. The white Christian nationalists who supported the American Revolution were tainted by their racism and their refusal to extend political rights to women, but they defended the principle of democracy, even if it was only partially fulfilled as a positive good," said HDS Professor Catherine Brekus. "Today, however, white Christian nationalists are so convinced they have been called to uphold the nation’s special covenant with God that they have been willing to dismantle the legacy of the American Revolution, including the separation of church and state, to preserve their political dominance. Many are no longer committed to the core principles of democracy. White Christian nationalists believe they must protect the nation, which they see as sacred, from the government, which they argue has become corrupt.”
At the time of his death in 2020, Dr. Charles H. Long was called “a preeminent figure in the study of the history of religions, including American and Black Religions.” Long was a past president of the American Academy of Religion, and faculty member at the University of Chicago, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Syracuse University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1999, he published Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion, a criticism of several major approaches to the study of religion in the United States.... Read more about Exploring the ‘(Re)Imagination of Matter’ and Charles H. Long
‘Tis this season of peace and goodwill, of traditions, both familial, and religious, and to some, it’s the time of year to freak out about the so called “War on Christmas.”... Read more about When Boston Banned Christmas
“Putting the Bible or placing American history within the Bible, or suggesting the U.S. is a source of revelation, is seen by many evangelicals as a kind of heresy,” said HDS Professor Catherine Brekus.
Who was arrested for trying to secure the vote for women? What percentage of the world's Hindu population is women? Who escaped slavery then became involved in moral reform and abolitionist work?
In honor of Women's History Month, test your knowledge of some religious aspects of how women have shaped world history. (Originally published in 2018)... Read more about Quiz: Women's History and Religion
Starting July 16, the U.S. Department of State will host its 3-day Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. The event “brings together leaders from around the world to discuss the challenges facing religious freedom, identify means to address religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, and promote greater respect and preservation of religious liberty for all.” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Vice President Michael Pence, and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi are all expected to speak.
Two hundred years ago, on May 5, 1819, Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing spoke at a Baltimore church and delivered what would be described nearly two centuries later as probably the most important Unitarian sermon ever preached anywhere.... Read more about Newly Digitized: The Papers of William Ellery Channing
Kimberly Blockett was a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin when her thesis director, Nellie McKay, encouraged her to read a spiritual narrative from 1846 written by Zilpha Elaw, a free black woman who travelled up and down the East Coast of the U.S., even into slave states like Virginia, as an itinerant preacher from the early 1820s through 1840.... Read more about HDS Researcher Uncovers a Long-lost Rebellious Evangelicalism
