This forum essay offers reflections on the theme of the 2021 annual meeting of the Religious Education Association--"Gender, Sexuality, and Wholeness: Religious Education for Confrontation and Healing." Pondering the melancholy of violence inflicted upon racialized, sexualized, and queer bodies in the United States, the author invites…

In "Democratic Foundations of Spiritually Responsive Pedagogy," Lingley worried that talk of spirituality is taboo in U.S. public school classrooms. Lingley pointed out that the dominant narrative demands silence on the topic. She wanted to make the case for spiritually responsive pedagogy as vital to an inclusive democracy. I begin this…

This essay considers how a male evangelical Christian in a first-year writing (FYW) course at a state university negotiates his identity in his academic writing for a non-Christian audience. It focuses on how "Austin" casuistically stretches a biblical text to accommodate his audience's pluralistic perspective. Austin's writing thus provides a…

In this article, the author argues that honors study flourishes most when rooted in a strong community, a community of learners (both students and faculty members) from different disciplines and levels of experience, who sustain a broad and ongoing conversation with one another. To him, it is the "heart" of honors study, whatever other goals a…

Religious practice dramatically decreases in college and students' positions on hot-button religious/cultural questions move appreciably to the left. There's no doubt that college students are on a quest for meaning. In this article, the author reports on new data that reveals unequivocally the decline of religious practice among college students.…

Today many people experience more frustration and confusion about many moral issues and norms than their ancestors. Traditional values and norms do not seem to serve Christian adults in today's situation. Christians are therefore challenged to develop Christian moral norms and values relevant to contemporary society and culture. In this article,…

This paper explores how feelings of self-hatred in African Americans are perpetuated through media and the standard physical and ideological manifestations of Christianity. The notion that skin that is closer to white and hair that is closer to white are both more desirable attributes is a dominant theme underlying the African American experience.…

Suggestions put forth in this paper on coping with violence in the classroom are based on the ethical teaching found in the Sermon on the Mount, personal experiences, and from various teachers, philosophers, and advocates of nonviolent behavior. Chapter headings for the major sections include: (1) Our culture reflects what it values--violence is a…