At the time of writing, Great Britain is mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It seems like a good time to take stock of family connections across the pond. Specifically, the origins of the name and the family in England. Most Ratliff histories…
Author Archive for admin
Books, Film, Scholarship, zFeatured
Lost in the Woods
by admin •
by Walter Ratliff In the summer of 1996, a 6,000-acre wildfire scorched the Gila wilderness in southwest New Mexico. It was my first summer working in television news. Seven months beforehand, I had landed a job with the KOAT-TV, Albuquerque’s…
Books, Press, zFeatured
Wheaton Magazine’s “Truth-Telling and Inquiry” Q&A
by admin •
Wheaton, the alumni magazine for Wheaton College, recently posted an article about its former students working in the field of journalism. Wheaton is an evangelical liberal arts college and graduate school in the suburbs of Chicago. I completed a master’s degree…
Books, Scholarship, zFeatured
New Book! Between Faith and Power: Religious Freedom as Dynamic Engagement
by admin •
My new book is out! I think you’ll find it lively, readable and compelling. In part one of the book, I take a “drive through history” with the major figures who helped define religious liberty as a human right. The second…
Film
A Sermon Containing Reflections on the Solar Eclipse
by admin •
Which Appeared on June 16, 1806 Delivered on the Lord’s Day Following By Joseph Lathrop, D. D. Pastor of the first Church in West-Springfield (Mass) AMOS 8:9 – It shall come to pass in that day; saith the Lord,…
zFeatured
Happy Birthday KLYT-FM!
by admin •
September 20, 2016 marks 40 years since KLYT-FM in Albuquerque, NM went on the air. It’s the station where I got my start in broadcasting, and it’s been an important part of the lives of its listeners for four decades.…
Scholarship
Religion and Modern Public Life
by admin •
Here is a recent essay that deals with my research and its place in the broader conversation about the role of religion in public life. It’s a bit of an update on my doctoral work at Georgetown as I move…
Scholarship
Coptic Evangelicals in Post-Revolution Egypt
by admin •
Prior to the Egyptian military’s coup d’état in July 2013, Coptic Evangelicals were faced with rising hostilities directed at the country’s ancient Christian community. This took place amid widespread unrest and a shattered economy. The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS)…
Scholarship
Shakespeare’s Birthday, Ideas About Salvation in Hamlet
by admin •
On William Shakepeare’s 450th birthday, it’s worth taking stock of the depth of the Bard’s writing that has sustained his work through the centuries. Hamlet in particular emerges as a perennial favorite and perhaps the most popular of his plays. Themes about the…
Press
Book, Documentary Mentioned in Siberia Mennonites Article
by admin •
A recent Journal of Mennonite Studies article offers a wide ranging discussion about the Mennonite experience in the far-flung edges of the Russian Empire up through the Soviet era. In the article, Royden Loewen and Paul Toews survey the century-long debate about the Mennonite…
