The Black Church(?)

by Matt Sutton

There has been a lot of debate recently among academics about the “black church.” First Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., buried it on the Huffington Post. Then, Religion Dispatches asked some prominent scholars to respond to Glaude. Some dumped more dirt on the grave, others claimed that the church had never died, and others still asserted that it had never existed in the first place. In the midst of the forum Ed Blum inadvertently provoked a firestorm. Now he turns his attention away from the bizarre-o world of the academy to take on a bigger churcher—Barack Obama. See his excellent piece in the Washington Post here. Nice work Ed!

Rick Warren meets the Jonas Brothers

by Matt Sutton

There were a lot of things (in addition to spilling seed) that infuriated my fundamentalist friends during the interwar era. These included: Christians (and not) who desecrated the Sabbath by attending movies; ministers who lured visitors to church with unholy amusements; and churches that commercialized religion. What would they think of this: Rick Warren (of “I am Bono’s friend and we will save the world together” fame) has just abandoned my U2-loving generation for the younger set. This year the Jonas Brothers will be playing Saddleback Church’s Easter service at Angel Stadium. What could be more (un)holy than that?

FYI, Angel Stadium is in Anaheim (Orange County); not in any way, shape, or form Los Angeles for you baseball fans duped by the Angels’ brass.

Randall: I presume you will be there reporting for us on the Jonas Brothers? And Ed, remember it is just a short drive from San Diego to the OC. You should be there too to keep Randall from crashing the stage.

Things I Wish Were True

by Matt Sutton

1) I found the following over the weekend on the internet (so it must be true): In the 1930s Huey Long impregnated Aimee Semple McPherson and the fetus was preserved cryogenically for thirty-some years until it was implanted in a surrogate. The result was Sarah Palin. Too bad I missed this scoop when I was working on my book.

2) That Focus on the Family was irrelevant. Instead they pulled off what has to be the most sophisticated anti-abortion ad ever—by not making it about abortion. I was amazed when I actually saw the Tebow Superbowl ad. That Focus successfully got the talking heads and bloggers discussing and debating a ministy’s right to run an anti-abortion ad for months before the ad aired got the abortion issue back into the nation consciousness. Then, to actually see the ad and realize that it wasn’t even about abortion… Focus deserves a lot of credit for playing me and a whole lot of other people for suckers. You can see the ad here.

3) That the Denver Broncos were still coached by Mike Shanahan and quarter-backed by Jay Cutler. Oh yeah, and that they won the Superbowl.