Many people recall the flap caused when then Governor George W. Bush spoke at Bob Jones University during the South Carolina primary in 2000. The media latched on to the school’s no interracial dating policy as a remnant of racism in the South. Bush’s willingness to speak at a school with such an intolerant policy was a stain on his candidacy.

Shortly after the controversy hit the airwaves, the president of BJU announced the repeal of the no interracial dating policy on Larry King Live. Prior to the media firestorm, Bob Jones University had defended its no interracial dating policy with some wacky hermeneutics predating the Civil War. Essentially, they said the Bible condemned mixed marriage as an abomination. The repeal of the policy in 2000 after the bad…

Phil Vischer is a member of my church and a friend. Back in 1990 he created VeggieTales and Big Idea Productions. The compelling story behind the rise and demise of Phil’s veggie empire it recounted in his book, Me, Myself, and Bob. In his post-Big Idea years, Phil has been quietly working with a small team, including another good friend who is also responsible for creating my blog–Tim Johnson, on a new project for kids.

Phil created Jellyfish Labs to be his creative outlet, and a few weeks ago they launched the beta version of a new online network for children called Jelly Telly. The site features games and TV shows for kids that, like VeggieTales, contain redemptive spiritual lessons. But Phil’s new project differs from VeggieTales in a number of…

The exit polls has been analyzed and the evidence is clear. Evangelicals may have tipped it in for Bush in 2004, but Obama made significant gains among them in 2008. Now being called “Obamagelicals,” they are a sign that the Religious Right is eroding and a more moderate Christian voting block is emerging–one that neither party has in its pocket.The Obama campaign made a strong push to appeal to religious voters, and not just Christians. Obama made gains among Jews as well when compared to Kerry in 2004. From The New York Times:

Mr. Obama doubled his support among young white evangelicals (those ages 18 to 29) compared with Mr. Kerry. The increase was almost the same for white evangelicals ages 30 to 44. “There is definitely a generational…

Chapter 3 of my upcoming book, The Divine Commodity, explores the connection between religion and branding. In the chapter I quote Douglas Atkins, author of The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers, who says, “Brands are the new religion…They supply our modern metaphysics, imbuing the world with significance…. Brands function as complete meaning systems.”

Now there is more research that shows some brands do in fact have the same impact on the brain as religion. Martin Lindstrom is the author of Buyology. He says:

“Apple is (as we’ve proven using neuroscience)…a religion. Not only that–it is a religion based on its communities. Without its core communities, Apple would die–it is already facing strong pressure as the brand simply is becoming too broad (losing) its magic. What’s holding it…

The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, has written a new book advocating the use of pop music in churches to help explain the Bible to a generation of irreligious people. The book, Finding Faith, has been supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams who called it “profound and challenging.” In it, Bishop Baines explains how music from artists like The Beatles and U2 helped him articulate and express his faith.

Transmitting popular music into the church isn’t new. It’s widely known that Martin Luther used the melodies of popular pub tunes for a number of his hymns, and the Wesleys used folk tunes during their revivals in England. But what are we to make of contemporary secular pop music? Does it have religious value?

Leadership journal columnist, Rich…

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!

I’ve been meaning to write a post about The Dark Knight for weeks, but between family vacations and working on the fall issue of Leadership, I’ve been swamped. I’m a big fan of superhero movies, and this summer I’ve seen a bunch—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and the latest installment of Christopher Nolan’s fantastic Batman series, The Dark Knight. My companion to most of these comic book movies is a psychiatrist from my church who has a penchant for professional wrestling and shares my follicle failings. (I highly recommend watching fantasy movies with a psychiatrist—it’s more fun than applying Freudian dream analysis to nursery…

From ABC News:

Worship has a new look now that the Bible, God and church have become commodities. From the Bible Bar to Holy bottled water, to quench your spiritual hunger and thrust, some marketers are selling religious merchandise in the hopes of spreading their faith.

Religion banks big bucks with consumer items.But this 21st century way of approaching the relationship between God and man is not what some are used to. The thought that consumers can buy a bobblehead Jesus to act as a co-pilot, or attend Florida’s Holy Land theme park when they’re looking to blend faith and vacation, troubles critics.

“Turning everything religious into a little plastic toy can cheapen religion, trivialize it,” said Beliefnet.com editor in chief, Steve Waldman. “The other danger is that people will think…