Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Muslims and Supporters Protest Congressional Hearings
NEW YORK (RNS) When Anam Chaudhry, 17, sang the national anthem to several hundred protesters in Times Square on Sunday afternoon, she wore a Muslim headscarf, and around her shoulders, another garment: the American...
White House Praises Muslims Ahead of Hearing
WASHINGTON (RNS) Days ahead of a controversial congressional hearing on Islamic extremism, the Obama administration is highlighting the role Muslim Americans play in combating radicalism in their communities. “I am...
Christchurch Cathedral Search Reveals No Quake Victims
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (RNS/ENInews) A complete search of an Anglican cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand turned up no bodies buried in the rubble, despite widespread reports that 20 to 22 people had been trapped...
Realizing You’re Not the Center of the Universe
I once had a visit from a man who told me his wife was leaving him, but he didn't know why. I didn't know why either. He was good-looking, successful, a regular churchgoer who appeared to be devoted to his wife and...
Rousing Stories, Horrific Revelations from Libya
The horrific events unfolding in Libya have gripped the world. And they are horrific, at least as much as they are inspirational. One cannot help but admire the courage of people who are prepared to face down a...
Oklahoma Democrat Tries to Call GOP’s Bluff
Oklahoma Democratic state Sen. Tom Adelson, like many of the rest of us, is tired of Republicans running against the state income tax. Oklahoma has both one of the lowest tax rates and some of the most underfunded...
Be careful what you read
In the space of a few days, I ran across several stories that have to do with reading: things that others don't want you to read, are afraid for you to read, or just don't want to have their name on it when you...
Bhutanese Protest Tobacco Charge Against Buddhist Monk
NEW DELHI (RNS) Protesters in Bhutan are denouncing the three-year prison sentence of a Buddhist monk charged with violating the small kingdom’s anti-tobacco law. The 23-year-old monk, Sonam Tshering, was the first...
Pakistani Churches Mourn Assassinated Christian Minister
BANGALORE, India (RNS/ENInews) Christian schools across Pakistan shut down on Thursday (March 3) for a three-day protest of the assassination of the country’s Minister for Religious Minorities. The call for the action...
House Republicans Plan to Defend DOMA
WASHINGTON (RNS) House Speaker John Boehner said on Friday (March 4) that he and fellow lawmakers will defend the Defense of Marriage Act after the Obama administration dropped its support for the law last month. “The...
Developing Leaders Who Will Change the World
My clumsy discernment of times when God wants me to pay attention is often characterized by flashes of insight that then fuel my preaching, teaching or conversation for weeks, months or even longer. One conviction has...
Budget-Cutting Politicians “ God’s Lenten Helpers?
Politicians, who call for cuts in virtually every line of national and state budgets, are politically and economically understandable. When you've got the opportunity to build on the public's fear as a weapon to...
U.S. Immigration Policy Threatens to Split Baptist Pastor’s Family
Driving at night out of a predominantly low-income Hispanic neighborhood in Siler City, N.C., we were stopped at a police checkpoint. I asked one of the five Chatham County sheriffs what the problem was. He asked for...
Adventist Wins Fight not to Join Union
TORONTO (RNS) A labor relations board in Canada has granted an Adventist worker the right to not join a union because of her religious beliefs, raising questions about whether religion should trump labor laws. The...
Israel Won’t Renew Permit for Jerusalem Bishop
JERUSALEM (RNS/ENInews) Israel has declined to renew a residency permit for Anglican Bishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem, according to the leader of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Center (ICC). The action took place several...
Evangelicals Push Back on Proposed Budget Cuts
(RNS) Balancing the federal budget at the expense of the poor would be un-Christian, evangelical leaders warned Congress on Thursday (March 3) as they work to reject proposed spending cuts to domestic and foreign aid....
State Legislators, Business Leaders at Odds Over Anti-Immigration Measures
State legislators are battling over immigration from Arizona to South Carolina. In some cases, business leaders are opposing anti-immigration bills. In Arizona, state Sen. Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) introduced three new...
What Would Jesus Cut From Federal Budget?
It's amazing what you can find in the Bible when you actually read it. In the third chapter of Joel, we find these words: "Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears." But then, about a century...
Bored with Church? Try Turning It Into a Game
The church that plays together stays together. Games accomplish several important tasks that people in communities need in order to stay connected and to grow, according to new research on cooperative play. Author...
Flesh and Blood Security
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, Nc., on February 20, 2011. Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; I Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 Like many of you, I grew up in a Baptist church. And I’m...
Away From Me, Satan
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on February 27, 2011. Matthew 4:1-11 Morning Prayer: On this day, our Father, we confess how very much we need you. We have told others this...