The 16th Street Baptist Church sits in the middle of downtown Birmingham, Alabama. During the heart of the Civil Rights movement, when Birmingham was known across the nation as “Bombingham,” march...Read More
When Valentine’s Day rolls around each year, why do you celebrate? I was sitting in class the other day and I glanced over at a fellow student’s daily planner. She was looking at the follo...Read More
I spent the last two weeks in a land named holy by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, seeking peace, understanding, wholeness. My travels took me through countless narratives, religious expressions, po...Read More
“A woman is acquired [in marriage] in three ways…by money, by document, or by intercourse.” This is how the first mishnah in the tractate Kiddushin begins. In just this sentence alone we gain a ...Read More
I attended the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. I was amazed by the preponderance of sacred fashion statements (the hats!), the number of New Age practitioners from ...Read More
I had never planned on falling in love with a Jewish girl. I actually didn’t really restrict myself to any particular religious tradition when considering whom to date. ...Read More
In Walled States, Waning Sovereignty Wendy Brown explores the contemporary phenomenon of wall-building by nations around the globe. Brown links the desire to erect border walls to what she perceives...Read More
The Freudian take on religion, that it is all about sex, or more precisely all about repressed sexual urges, is hardly new. Nevertheless, it was somewhat startling when renowned sociologist of relig...Read More
I recently received an email from the fine editorial staff at State of Formation informing me that I am officially a lapsed contributor and my posting account might be deleted. This is very true. I ha...Read More