Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Study: Faith May Help Black Women Keep Fit
(RNS) Adding faith to the exercise regimen of African-American women may prompt them to be more fit, a UCLA study shows. Researchers studying black women from three Los Angeles churches who participated in faith-based...
The Problem with Government as a Customer Service
The GOP candidate for governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, who has no government experience but comes to the campaign from the corporate sector, speaks of "customer-service government." Several candidates with no...
How the Rescue in Chile Reflects Our Humanity
Unless you were trapped in a hole somewhere, you know that the eyes of the world were riveted on an obscure copper mine in Chile last week, as miners were rescued from what seemed likely to be their underground grave....
British Baptists Urged to Seek Fairness Over Equality
Fairness is one thing, equality quite another. Prime Minister David Cameron has talked about fairness, describing it as "giving people what they deserve – and what people deserve depends on how they behave." This...
Surprised by Joy
When the skeptic-turned-believer C. S. Lewis wrote an autobiographical account of his early years, he called it Surprised by Joy. One of the central points Lewis made was that joy is not automatic. It is not something...
Welcomed wisdom
In a column distributed by Religion News Service, writer Cathleen Falsani marked her 40 years of life with 40 points of wisdom she has learned along the way. I like both the content and the idea of such reflection. Too...
Read the directions
Earlier this week, I spent quite a few hours refinishing an oak table and chairs that some kind friends had given me. I sanded everything carefully and kept a vacuum cleaner at hand to keep the dust down. When applying...
American Shariah? That’s News to Muslims
(RNS) Oklahoma state Rep. Rex Duncan expects his “Save Our State” referendum to keep Islamic law out of state courts to pass easily on Nov. 2. He’s less certain a similar measure could pass in Michigan. The reason?...
European Bishops Establish Christian Rights Watchdog
WARSAW (RNS/ENInews) Roman Catholic bishops from across Europe have set up an organization to defend the rights of Christians and monitor prejudice across the continent. “Our first task will be to provide people around...
Canadian Court Says Judges Will Decide on Veiled Witnesses
TORONTO (RNS) Ontario’s highest court has ruled that female witnesses may testify in court while wearing a face-covering burqa or niqab, but such decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis by the presiding judge....
Are the Affluent Being Treated Unjustly?
The wrong people got the right point. The Wall Street Journal reported that major U.S. "securities and investment-service firms" are ready to break the record a second year in a row for pay – compensation and benefits...
The Real Tragedy of State-Sanctioned Gambling
Gambling is going to play a huge role in Alabama's political campaign this year – that is glaringly obvious. We have already seen high-profile arrests stemming from alleged vote-buying in connection with a previous...
“Secretariat”
If you venture to the theater to see "Secretariat," I am sure most of you will love it. Walt Disney Studios has made several of these sports-themed movies that are very popular and generate a large box office. Diane...
Good reasons for not being a Christian
Bad songs and political ads have me hitting the scan button on my car radio quite often. Yesterday that exercise led to my discovery of some good reasons to reject Christianity. Jay Sekulow was hosting his talk show on...
Polish Catholic Leaders Defend Right not to Hire Gays
WARSAW (RNS/ENInews) Polish Catholic leaders have defended the right of Catholic schools not to hire gay or lesbian teachers after human rights groups called for a government minister who supports the policy to resign....
Survey: Jewish Disapproval of Obama Rising
(RNS) President Obama’s approval rating among U.S. Jews has dropped in the past year, while opinions of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have improved, according to a new survey released by the American Jewish...
Stem Cell Agency Apologizes for Blasphemous Poem
(RNS) The California agency that distributes public funds for stem cell research has apologized for honoring a poem that appropriated language from the sacrament of Holy Communion. The California Institute for...
How to Succeed in Ministry? Ask Your Orthodontist
Images for ministry are really important. They frame the way we think about our jobs. My seminary education provided several images for ministry: shepherd (find the lost one), prophet (tell it like it is and they will...
Four Ways Christians Relate to Society
What is the role of the church in society? What does it mean for Christians to be in the world but not of the world? How do we remain faithful to our Christian confession and identity but also engage the culture around...
Cleaning Up Public Language Is a Social Justice Issue
Our culture needs its collective mouth washed out with soap. The N-word, the F-bomb, the GD-punctuation, the misuse of Jesus' name, the misappropriation of the word "Christ" as an exclamation point, the BS-expletive...
Secondhand speech
I often watch videos while working out at home, and was recently drawn back to "Secondhand Lions," one of the few movies that I've enjoyed watching multiple times.The heart of the movie is found in a speech that Hub...