Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
The brook of life
I don't often wax poetic, but some beautiful fall days and a chance to walk in the woods inspired me to put some words together in a non-narrative fashion, a sort of paean to the life God gives, one way among many of...
Atheists Launch Campaign to Get Unbelievers to Come Out
(RNS) The young man in the video pulls in close to his computer camera with the trappings of a typical college dorm room—a loft bed and the clutter of cast-off clothes—piled behind him. Alex Fiorentini isn’t talking...
Photographer Captures Muslims’ Self-portraits
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) Artist Todd Drake has aimed his camera lens at truck drivers, Alzheimer’s patients and employees of an exotic nightclub. But he’s trying to build interfaith bridges by asking Muslims to turn the lens...
Angry Churches Pull Money from Big Banks
(RNS) A small but growing number of religious communities across the country are removing their money from Wall Street banks to protest what they see as unfair mortgage foreclosures and unwillingness to lend to small...
3 Steps the 99 Percent Need To Do But Won’t
While sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading the newspaper recently, a mustachioed Frenchman sitting next to me started up a conversation. In the interest of space and clarity, I'm skipping my part of...
Making Sure Our Gratitude Has the Right Attitude
Gratitude is surely among the precious few, truly renewable energy sources available to the human creature. The hearts of both giver and receiver grow larger in the process. Saying thanks, especially beyond the demands...
Will the Faith Community Answer This Prayer?
The Lord's Prayer is a familiar Scripture passage and also one that most Christians memorize. Many churches include this model prayer frequently in their liturgies. As is often the case, familiarity breeds – well,...
Confessions of a mall walker
By John Pierce [Note: A visit to Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall last Friday was a good break between long periods of sitting in meetings. Entering Macy’s, I encountered an aggressive cologne gunner. That...
Pope Benedict XVI Calls for Reconciliation in Africa
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI ended his second papal trip to Africa on Sunday (Nov. 20) with a call for “reconciliation, justice and peace” in a troubled continent that he nonetheless called a “land of hope.”...
Change Comes to Bob Jones University
GREENVILLE, S.C. (RNS) When Bob Jones III recently questioned whether President Obama is a Christian, it was a reminder not only that the fundamentalist leader is controversial but also how little the political world...
Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law Retires from Prominent Post
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Nine years after the clerical sex abuse scandal forced his resignation as archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard F. Law has stepped down from his controversial post as head of a prominent basilica in...
“Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why It Matters”
It goes without saying that N.T. Wright, recently called the J.K. Rowling of the evangelical world, is a prolific writer. The author of more than 30 books by one count, Wright cranks out multi-hundred page volumes like...
Faith or Fear: What Shapes Your Immigration View?
This past June, Alabama's governor signed into law the toughest stance on immigration in the United States. This law continues to be debated among the citizens of that state while the U.S. Justice Department has stated...
Listening “ A Gift We Don’t Use Often Enough
Editor's note: The National Day of Listening was started by StoryCorps in 2008. Click here for more about the day, and here for a feature on StoryCorps. The day after Thanksgiving is not only Black Friday, it is also...
Pastors as “agents of the state”
Pullen Baptist Church in Raleigh has taken the rare action of voting to prohibit the pastor from acting as an agent of the state in legalizing marriages until the state grants the same opportunity for legal marriage to...
Panel: Stand Up to Unjust Immigration Laws
As part of New Baptist Covenant II, the Oklahoma City satellite location hosted an ecumenical panel Friday to discuss immigration. With the EthicsDaily.com documentary "GospelWithoutBorders" as a backdrop, panelists...
Crystal Cathedral is Cautionary Tale for Pastors
(RNS) The cash-strapped Crystal Cathedral’s pending transformation from a Protestant megachurch to a Roman Catholic cathedral should teach pastors not to spend millions on ornate buildings, a megachurch scholar says. A...
Students Do Interfaith Through Universal Language of Music
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) Say the word “interfaith” and the next word to roll off the tongue is probably “dialogue.” It’s hard to think of one without the other. But college students know there are other ways to communicate,...
Pope Benedict XVI Begins Second Trip to Africa
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI opened his second papal trip to Africa on Friday (Nov. 18) with a warning against economic development through unbridled capitalism. Arriving in the West African country of Benin,...
New Baptist Covenant II Confronts Plight of Prisoners, Children and Impoverished
Luke 4:18-19 continued to be the focus on the second day of the New Baptist Covenant II, and former President Jimmy Carter addressed the crowd in Atlanta and at satellite locations across the country with his...
Will Churches Really Help Those Without Hope?
This Thanksgiving season, I'm especially grateful to have many things that cause me to be thankful and have hope. I'm also painfully aware that there are many around me who don't seem to find many things that give...