Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Poll: Obama Seen as Smartest, Most Honest Candidate
WASHINGTON (RNS) Americans consider President Obama to be the smartest and most honest presidential candidate against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, according to a new poll, but...
Why Many Ministers Must Put Grief on Hold
I sat in the congregation for a friend's funeral and felt the weight of grief. I most certainly felt grief related to the loss of my friend, yet there was more. In the pew, I experienced cascading mental images of...
CBF’s Future: What Path Will They Choose?
With the announced retirement not only of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's executive coordinator, Daniel Vestal, but also longtime leader Terry Hamrick (who has at least three different titles on the website) and...
Alabama’s White Southern Baptists Replay Segregationist History
Are white Baptist clergy in Alabama doing today on immigration what their predecessors did in the days of segregation – hiding behind the law to keep from taking a moral stand for a just society? Or do they really...
Silently into the night
Word is trickling out -- slowly, because he wanted no fanfare -- that B. Elmo Scoggin died in his sleep sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Scoggin, who would have turned 96 this month, was Professor...
Williams Visits Zimbabwe Amid Church-state Standoff
HARARE, Zimbabwe (RNS/ENInews) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will visit Zimbabwe in a show of support for Anglicans who are under siege from a renegade ex-bishop who plans to snub the leader of the worldwide...
Bishops Warn that Church Teaching is Nonpartisan
(RNS) With the 2012 campaign gearing up before an angry and divided electorate, U.S. Catholic bishops on Tuesday (Oct. 4) reminded Catholic voters that they can’t cherry-pick from church teachings to justify their own...
Was Christopher Columbus on a Religious Crusade?
(RNS) Two recent books argue that explorers Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama were more like Christian crusaders than greedy mercenaries or curious adventurers. Other historians, however, remain skeptical. The...
“Machine Gun Preacher” “ An Evangelical Rambo?
Preachers, pastors, priests, rabbis and imams number in the hundreds of thousands in the United States. They minister at the borders between what gets tabbed "sacred" and "secular" realms, and as such cannot go...
Poll: Americans Want Political Compromise
Americans favor compromise from their elected leaders in Washington, D.C., according to a new Gallup poll. "A majority of Americans say it's more important that political leaders in Washington compromise in order to...
British Baptists Encouraged to Invite Others to Church
Baptist congregations in Great Britain are increasingly open to the possibility of inviting someone to church, thanks to their participation in an initiative offered by the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB). In a...
Religious liberty — and its wise use
By John Pierce My freshman daughter sent a text yesterday as she was making her way across the expansive University of Georgia campus. The Gideons were everywhere, she said, handing out copies of the New Testament....
As Network Turns 50, Robertson Bows Out of Politics
(RNS) Marking the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of his Christian Broadcasting Network, Pat Robertson said he will no longer make political endorsements. “When I was in charge of the Christian Coalition I was...
New Calif. Law Prohibits Circumcision Bans
(RNS) Jews, Muslims and their allies cheered Sunday (Oct. 2) as California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill prohibiting all local bans on circumcision, making it illegal for local authorities to restrict the medical or...
Atheists Say Cancer Volunteering Thwarted
(RNS) The American Cancer Society has rejected an atheist group’s bid to field a national team to raise money for cancer research, and organizers suspect it’s because of the volunteers’ godless beliefs. Todd Stiefel,...
British Chaplains: Universities Serve Common Good
The series of catastrophes that has already pummeled the world's economies, and which is not over yet by any means, has focused the minds of our policy-makers in a wonderful way. We would all agree that this is...
One Woman’s Quest for Affordable Education in Chile
Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of Camila Vallejo. Now I am fascinated by this charismatic student leader in Chile who has been shaking the political establishment in her country. She is spearheading a...
Immigration Documentary Featured in Alabama TV News Segment
A new documentary on faith and immigration is getting attention in the state with the newest and toughest immigration laws. "Gospel Without Borders," produced by EthicsDaily.com, was profiled Sunday night in a segment...
Spider guy?
I've been keeping tabs on a new member of the neighborhood, a large black and yellow garden spider who hangs her web between a holly bush and the post holding our community doggy-doo can. The spider's bright colors...
Self-Appointed God-Protectors Hinder God’s Work
The Gospels are replete with stories of Jesus' many encounters with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, and not all of them were pleasant. Jesus and these religious leaders debated and argued on just about every...
New Orleans Pastor on Restaurant Quest Can’t Live by Bread Alone
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Minister Ray Cannata’s mission is almost complete. Four years ago he set out to eat at every restaurant in New Orleans. By mid-September, he’d already checked 719 eateries off his list and only had 10...