A Colonized Christmas Story

December 11, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

In the colonized land of Judea, poor marginalized shepherds abided in the field, watching over flocks belonging to others.  When suddenly, a messenger of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of God shone forth.  They were filled with great fear.  But the messenger…

I’m a Southern Baptist, Roman Catholic – Child of Elegguá – Deal with It

October 31, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Latino/a religious scholars speak often of hybridity to describe the mestizaje, the mixture of our cultures, our identities, our different social locations, and yet, the hybridity of our spirituality remains taboo. Hispanic liberationists argue for orthopraxis trumping orthodoxy; however, whichever clique one runs with enforces acceptance or rejection of other…

Being Brown While Black Lives Matter

August 29, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Yes – black lives matter. But for centuries they haven’t. Killing black folk was considered sport, as documented by early twentieth century souvenir postcards of lynchings, where good Christians looked into the camera as that “strange fruit” swung from the trees behind them. The police,…

Plagiarizing the Poor

August 15, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

A few years ago, I shared a not-yet-completed manuscript with my class of doctoral students in an effort to receive feedback on some concepts I was developing surrounding the theme of indecent ethics. When I eventually presented those theories at a conference, I discovered that…

Can Cubans be Latin@s

June 13, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Fake news correspondent Al Madrigal, of The Daily Show, recently pondered if presidential candidates Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) were really Latinos. While discussing immigration, Jon Stewart began the exchange by asking Al Madrigal if he was excited about the first two serious Hispanic candidates, Cruz…

Why Same Gender Marriages are as Biblical as Heterosexual Marriages

June 6, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Nonsensical quips like “it’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve” reveals the simplistic and mistaken application of Scripture to the understanding of marriage. Claiming that the biblical traditional marriage is only between one man and one woman signifies an unsophisticated comprehension of the Bible, its…

The Persistent Racism Of Theological Schools – Part II

May 23, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Your theological school might be racist if . . . . . . you hear white colleagues tell their white PhD students that they shouldn’t bother trying to apply for a tenure-track position because of the discrimination that exists against white men in the academy….

The Persistent Racism of Theological Schools

May 16, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Academic departments of religion lack faculty of color not because they have difficulty finding any; but simply, they lack the will to hire any. If you are considering attending a theological school that does not have core professors (as oppose to adjuncts) who are from…

Bible Pop Quiz

April 25, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

No one reads or interprets the Bible literally – regardless as to what they profess. To do so is simplistic, if not dangerous. All of us read our bias, our theology, and our social location into the text. There is no such thing as an objective reading;…

Why Does God Need a Penis?

March 28, 2015 by Miguel De La Torre

Close your eyes and imagine what God looks like. More than likely, you pictured in your mind a male body. Maybe the image is something similar to Michelangelo’s renowned mural The Creation of Adam (1512) in the Sistine Chapel, in which God is illustrated as an…