Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
The Child “ God’s Unlikely Source of Redemption
Children signal the true state of reality. Healthy, happy children reveal civil arrangements that provide services to those who have no choice in the matter; starving, abandoned children give evidence that the ecology...
Looking at Christmas Through a Different Lens
Looking at the world through the lens of Bethlehem's manger can make every birth a Christmas, and every life an incarnation. Several years ago, a student responded to a class discussion of the birth accounts in Matthew...
Joseph’s Quiet Embrace of Holiness
The notion of holiness as perfection is not a helpful understanding of holiness. In our journey in following Jesus, simply "not behaving badly" is a misunderstanding of the mission of God. We often point to a verse in...
Christmas stories
I ran across a few stories this week that aren't especially about Christmas, but caught my eye nonetheless. An e-mail from David George, who heads the WMU Foundation, announced that someone has donated half of a house...
Vatican Says No Change to Teaching on Condoms, Prostitutes
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI’s recent comments about condoms do not mark a change in “Catholic moral teaching” or “pastoral practice” on AIDS prevention or contraception, the Vatican said Tuesday (Dec. 21). The...
Creationism Holds Steady at Four in 10 Americans, Gallup Says
(RNS) Four in 10 Americans believe that God created humans in something like their present form within the last 10,000 years, according to a new Gallup Poll. While that percentage represents a slight dip from 2008,...
Poll Finds Family, not Jesus’ Birth, at Heart of Christmas
(RNS) While nearly all Americans celebrate Christmas, most focus more on family than religious traditions, a new survey shows. Out of a list of 14 things people do at Christmas, the most common activity—at 89...
Living the Good Life on the Backs of the Poor
Christmas is here once again. The season for forced jollity at office parties and, of course, the end-of-the-year bank bonuses. Five American banking giants have stashed away $90 billion for their prize employees. The...
Unraveling the Popularity of the Obnoxious OMG
Is there a more obnoxious bit of shorthand on your screen than OMG? I doubt it. OMG, shorthand for Oh My God, is used billions of times every day in the most inane ways. Someone tries a new flavor of coffee? "OMG, it...
Joseph: A Man of Character Who Stood by Mary, Jesus
Kurt Vonnegut said once, "People don't come to church for preachments, … (they come) to daydream about God." In the season of Advent, our dreams shift to the Promised One who entered the world the same way every other...
Tidings of comfort
By John Pierce During this time that brings so much joy to so many, it is important to remember that there are those for whom all is not merry and bright. Suffering in many forms does not take a holiday — or even a...
Muslims Allege Inappropriate Questions by Security Agents
(RNS) American Muslims reentering the United States from abroad are alleging U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents inquired about their religious beliefs and practices—questions they say violate their...
Pope Links Sex Abuse to Vices
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI deplored the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and linked it to other vices, including child pornography, sexual tourism and drug abuse, which he said were all promoted...
Muslim Leaders Probe Problem of Disaffected Youths
LOS ANGELES (RNS) Muslim leaders are admitting disaffected Muslim youth such as the alleged Oregon bomber arrested last month are ripe for online recruitment by extremists. “Why do we in Muslim communities not have...
African-American Faith Groups Join Forces
What if the leaders of nine major black denominations came together to work for the betterment of their collective churches and the African-American community? What if their 50,000 congregations ramped up advocacy...
American Baptist Delegation Visits Middle East
A small group of American Baptist leaders spent almost two weeks touring the Middle East, engaged in interfaith dialogue with Muslims and encouraging Arab Christians. "The visit was an excellent learning experience,"...
What Happened to the Wise Men’s Gold?
Christmas is about the manger of mystery, the pilgrimage of astronomers, the curiosity of shepherds, the joyful angels, the paranoid ruler, the surefooted faithfulness of Mary and Joseph, God's decisiveness. We all...
Touching base
Good morning, Blog. Have a good weekend? Not bad. Yourself? Terrific. Hey, I haven't thought to ask yet: how do you like the new digs on BT's renovated website? You're right, Mr. Sensitive. You haven't asked. Nor did...
Five Reflections from Muslim-Baptist Mission Trip
I have been reflecting on experiences during the joint Baptist-Muslim mosquito net distribution in Tanzania. Here are some of my thoughts. First, I was impressed with the mutual respect that people of different faiths...
What The WikiLeaks Saga Says About Us
The saga of WikiLeaks continues to intrigue. It is not so much what is revealed, though no doubt various intelligence agencies around the world have teams on standby to trawl through the latest list of people and...
Divine Love Empowers Us to Stand Up for Vulnerable
Willa Cather's Christmas story, "The Burglar's Christmas," portrays a young man named William, who had moved away from his family back east and is now in Chicago. Impoverished, he breaks into a house on Christmas Eve...