Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Faith Leaders Criticize Obama’s Immigration Speech, Call for Comprehensive Reform
Faith leaders were sharply critical to diplomatic in their responses to President Barack Obama's El Paso speech that had been billed as a major address on comprehensive immigration reform. Obama's 12-minute speech...
Conflicting clergy credentials
By John Pierce When news that terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden had been found and killed by well-trained Navy SEALs, members of Christian Bible Fellowship Church in Newville, Penn., were particularly proud that...
What Mystery Are You Trying to Solve?
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga., on May 8, 2011. Luke 24:13-35 How well do you bury dreams? Not very well, if you are like most people. This was what these...
Besides All This
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on May 8, 2011. Psalm 116:12-19; Luke 24:13-35 Are you familiar with the concept of the elevator...
What a Mother Goes Through
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on May 8, 2011. Luke 2:14-51 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, ¨ and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’*...
Two-thirds of Americans Say Bin Laden’s in Hell
(RNS) While Americans have debated whether Osama bin Laden’s body belongs at the bottom of the Arabian Sea, most agree on the final destination of his soul: in hell. A new poll released Wednesday (May 11) reports that...
Abuse Victims Oppose Pick for House Chaplain
WASHINGTON (RNS) The nation’s leading advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse is opposing an Oregon Jesuit’s bid to serve as House chaplain, saying he failed to follow up on alleged abuse 25 years ago. The...
Even After Win, Gay Clergy likely to Remain Limited
(RNS) Gay and lesbian advocates celebrated a landmark victory on Tuesday (May 10) when the Presbyterian Church (USA) entered the expanding ranks of Christian denominations that allow openly gay, partnered clergy. The...
Three Survival Rules for the Global Neighborhood
In the Twitter world, he's known as "ReallyVirtual," an appropriate designation for Sohaib Athar, the Pakistani whose "real time" reporting of the assassination of Osama bin Laden has given him notoriety he'd probably...
Sri Lanka: A Tale of Crimes and Evasions
With anti-government protests raging all over the Middle East, and even in the peaceful Maldive Islands, the large pro-government May Day rallies on the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka, must have been viewed with some...
Justice or Vengeance: Which Do You Choose?
How can you talk about restorative justice to people who just want blood? We must value human life as a Christian people. We must value human life without a "but" or an "if." The minute we start to think people are too...
Routine matters
Do you like routines? I don't like the thought of being a slave to the same old same old, but there is something comforting about knowing what will happen and when it will happen. Sunday comes around week after week,...
Chaplains Say Navy Wedding Policy Confuses a Fraught Debate
WASHINGTON (RNS) A recent Navy memo that would permit military chaplains to officiate at same-sex marriage ceremonies upon repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy is creating tension amid an already...
Finding God in Unexpected and Marvel-ous Places
(RNS) “Thor,” a thoroughly entertaining and surprisingly funny thrill ride of a movie, is the kind of cinematic legend where the only word that truly seems to fit is “epic.” Director Kenneth Branagh, best known for...
Muslims Battle to Be Official Voice of U.S. Islam
(RNS) As president of the Phoenix-based American Islamic Forum for Democracy, an eight-year-old group that twins conservative and Islamic values, Zuhdi Jasser is no fan of the more visible Council on American-Islamic...
Obama Touts Immigration Reform; States Seek Own Remedies
Billed as a major policy speech on immigration, President Barack Obama told an audience in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday that his administration had beefed up border security and gone beyond what Republicans said they...
On What Kind of Foundation Do We Build Our Ethics?
It has been over a week now since the 10-year chapter in the much longer story of our human struggle ended with the killing of Osama bin Laden. First reactions of cheering and celebration were soon met by reminders...
Asking Questions: The Task of a Christian Peacemaker
The question I raised last week – why do people like Osama bin Laden hate the United States so much? – has generated considerable response, mostly outside of my congregation, but also some from within as well as within...
Jewish Newspaper Erases Clinton from Photo
(RNS) An ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspaper in Brooklyn deleted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton from aWhite House photograph of top officials monitoring the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The Yiddish-language...
Jesuit to Become Chaplain of the House
(RNS) A Jesuit will be sworn in as the 60th chaplain of the House of Representatives on May 25, when he will become the first member of his order and second consecutive Catholic priest to serve the House. As chaplain,...
After Seminary, Lost Boy Headed Back to Sudan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) It has been more than two decades since Deng Alier fled war in his homeland. Now, armed with a master’s degree in educational ministry, the former “Lost Boy” is ready to find his way back to...