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Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Tennessee Legislature Considers Alabama Copycat Immigration Bill
Tennessee Republican lawmakers have filed some 30 anti-immigration bills during the current legislative session, according to the Tennessean. "It'll always be the case that we're trying to make sure that Tennessee is...
Two Movies Share Compelling Truths About War
On back-to-back Fridays, Cheryl and I took in a couple of movies: first "WarHorse" and then "RedTails." Both are war movies, though they focus on different wars. Both are moving and well-made movies. Both have famous...
To tithe, or not to tithe?
Today's paper points to a historic low in tithing among Americans, which should come as no surprise to anyone who plays a role in trying to balance church budgets these days. Programs are being cut, mission offerings...
Study Says U.S. Muslims Don’t Want Shariah Either
(RNS) North American Muslims are more than satisfied with the secular legal system and do not want a set of parallel courts for Islamic law, according to a new study of U.S. and Canadian Muslims by a Washington-based...
Is the Mormon Church’s Racial History a Problem for Mitt Romney?
(RNS) Marvin Perkins says God led him to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- but friends advised otherwise. "Mormons, they're prejudiced against blacks," Perkins recalls being told. Until 1978, the LDS...
On Eve of Darwin’s Birthday, States Take Steps to Limit Evolution
(RNS) On the eve of the 203rd anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday, lawmakers in at least four states are taking steps to hinder the teaching of evolution in public schools, while other bills would do the same...
Why More Congregations Need to Choose Humility
Among the critical questions every minister and staff needs to ask as we begin a new year is this one: Which parking spot will you choose? Clearly, this question needs to be put in its proper context. My father was the...
In Troubling Times, We Can Learn from Gandalf
At a critical point in "The Lord of the Rings," Frodo, the Hobbit whose burden it was to carry the Ring toward its destruction – the destruction that would save Middle Earth – has grown weary and disheartened. He's...
Will British Baptists Continue to Embrace Change?
Editor's note: This column is another of several EthicsDaily.com will carry from an initiative from Great Britain called "Beyond400.net – Baptists Imagining Life After 400 Years." The first Baptist church in Britain...
Catholics Rally Against Obama Contraception Mandate
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) From Maine to Arizona to southern Louisiana, Catholic churches across the country echoed with scorn for a new federal rule requiring faith-based employers to include birth control and other...
Woman Charged with Embezzling $1 million from NY Archdiocese
NEW YORK (RNS) A 67-year-old woman with a criminal record for theft has been charged with siphoning $1 million in donations while working in a finance office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, church...
In Cleveland, a Battle over Unwanted Churches
CLEVELAND (RNS) The Euclid Avenue Church of God and the former Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration sit empty on this city's former Millionaires' Row, remnants of a heyday when mansions marched east from downtown....
Missouri Faith Leaders Take On Predatory Lenders
Usury is defined as the practice of charging excessive, unreasonably high and often illegal interest rates on loans. Originally, when charging interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant...
How the Bible Can Bring Order Out of Economic Chaos
Mention the word "creation" and we are likely to find ourselves in a discussion of evolution and some version of intelligent design, due to the persistence of the pseudo-conflict between science and religion. Such...
Eight Ways for British Baptists to Face the Future
Editor's note: This column is the first of several EthicsDaily.com will carry from an initiative from Great Britain called "Beyond400.net – Baptists Imagining Life After 400 Years." A nearly $1.6 million black hole is...
Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims Blast Rick Santorum on Equality Comment
(RNS) Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus are accusing Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum of bigotry and ignorance after he said that "equality" is solely a Judeo-Christian concept. "Where do you think the concept...
Court Says Student’s Faith May Have Led to Expulsion
(RNS) A counseling student who declined to advise a gay client might have been expelled from her university because of her faith, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday (Jan. 27). Citing her evangelical Christian...
Americans Intrigued but Wary Still of Mormon Beliefs
(RNS) When Mormons call themselves "a peculiar people," they mean it in the biblical sense -- set aside by God, chosen. But many Americans call them peculiar in Webster's way -- strange, odd. Now Mormons, followers of...
Why Gingrich Wants You to Fear Saul Alinsky
In his jubilant victory speech in South Carolina on Jan. 21, Newt Gingrich made three references to Saul Alinsky. Many who heard Gingrich's speech no doubt knew who Alinsky was, but perhaps some people wondered, "Who...
GOP Rancor Over Immigration Overshadows Party’s Moderate Voices
With the Republican presidential campaign locked in a slugfest between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney over immigration, more reasoned Republican voices are struggling to get an audience. During the Republican debate...
Debunking the Bootstrap Myth
No cultural myth needs to be demythologized – exposed as fraudulent – more than the "myth of the bootstrap." The myth appears in the claim, "I pulled myself up by my bootstraps." It is the myth of the self-made man,...