Video

Beating Up Baptists

Excerpt from Chapter 3 of The Sword of the Lord. Baptists were an oppressed and disreputable religious community in American before the Revolution. They were attacked, beaten, jailed, and ostracized for the offense of creating their own churches outside the established Church of England. Baptists therefore, led the drive to enshrine the separation of church and state in the new United States Constitution.

Moral Politics: Interview by Valerie Tarico

Valerie Tarico, who conducted this interview in early May, is host for Moral Politics, produced by Bill Alford for SCAN-TV. Himes is author of The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family. Andrew Himes: "My core motivation for researching and writing the book was to understand the roots of fundamentalism -- and how my own life fit into that story.

Radio, Televison, Print, and Web Interviews

Real Change News

February 2011 - PDF

Doug Pagitt Radio - May 15, 2011

John Hall and Kathy Emmons on WordFM - May 18, 2011 interview

15-minute interview

How Fannie Lou Hamer Changed My Life

Excerpt from Chapter 5 of The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family.

When I was 14, in the summer of 1964, I lived with my family in Millington, Tennessee, just north of Memphis.

Bob Jones University and Racial Reconciliation

Excerpt from Chapter 27 of "The Sword of the Lord" by Andrew Himes. -- In the 21^st century, it‚Äôs almost impossible for people in the South or anywhere else to maintain ideas about race, religion, or politics that we inherited without questioning in the 19^th or 20^th centuries.

Video from the Book Launch at Town Hall on May 15

Joining Andrew Himes: Pastor Pat Wright and The Total Experience Gospel Choir, Rev. Rich Lang, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church, Rev. Catherine Foote, pastor of University Congregational UCC, Rev. Alphonso H. Meadows, Jr., pastor of Ebenezer AME Zion, Rev. Samuel B. McKinney, pastor emeritus of Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

A Thirteen Year Old Moral Failure

Excerpt from The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family.

A Black Man Walked into a Church

Excerpt from The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family.

The Funeral of John R. Rice (and My Dinner with Jerry Falwell)

‚ÄúTHE SWORD OF THE LORD‚Ä¶and of John R. Rice.‚Äù‚Äîfrom the masthead of John R. Rice‚Äôs newspaper, which began publication in 1935. The following is an excerpt from Andrew Himes' book, The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family.

So Little Time

My granddad was a prolific gospel songwriter, producing scores of songs and publishing them in two volumes of revival songs. He never took a piano lesson, but composed by sitting at the big black grand piano in the living room and plunking out a simple melody and harmony with two fingers. Often his baritone voice would be accompanied by the silken yowls of his collie, Flicka.

The Sword of the Lord