Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Richard Land’s Apology Was Not an Apology
Richard Land has apologized for referring to Senator Charles Schumer as the "schmuck from New York."Well, maybe not. During a visit to Criswell College at the end of January, Land, president of the Southern Baptist...
Southern Baptist Leaders Release Environmental Statement
Nearly 50 Southern Baptists leaders are issuing a declaration today urging Southern Baptists to take care of the environment and fight climate change. The Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative released...
Letter to New Baptist Covenant’s Next-Step Planners, Meeting Wednesday
Climate change's impact on church ministries and missions must be a top drawer issue for the North American Baptist leaders, who will meet at the Carter Center on Wednesday to discuss next steps for the New Baptist...
Proofreading and Lent
Once a month, our small editorial staff enjoys a weekend of proofreading. I dropped off a well-marked draft of the April edition of Baptists Today at managing editor Jackie Riley's house moments ago. Contributing...
BWA hit by falling dollar
I've said a lot about various activities associated with the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Executive Committee meeting in Honolulu this week, but little about the meeting itself. So what did they do? Here's a synopsis...
Emphasis Opens Doors for Baptist Women to Preach
"I'm here today because nobody calls me 'chicken,'" guest preacher Michelle McClendon said in a sermon Feb. 3 at Second Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas. One of 70 women filling Baptist pulpits for the second annual...
Jimmy Carter Appeals for Release of Imprisoned Baptist Pastor in Azerbaijan
Unless a 21st century Moses comes down from Stone Mountain with a new commandment about global warming, don't expect the majority of Southern Baptist clergy to tackle the issue of human-induced climate change....
Timidity on Global Warming Comes from Lack of Special Revelation
Unless a 21st century Moses comes down from Stone Mountain with a new commandment about global warming, don't expect the majority of Southern Baptist clergy to tackle the issue of human-induced climate change....
For foodies only
For those folks who wonder why it took me awhile to mention food this week, it's not because I didn't enjoy it. I ate some interesting things, but few that were quite weird enough to inspire a picture.The Sunday night...
Bro. Smith’s ‘true gospel’
Jim Smith, editor of The Florida Baptist Witness and an unbridled advocate of all things fundamentalist, has amazing gifts beyond the rest of us in this narrow field of Christian journalism. He can even see into the...
Extreme Religious Endorsements
Sen. Barack Obama recently received an endorsement from a controversial religious leader who promotes hate toward certain groups. Ironically, Sen. John McCain was endorsed by another religious leader who also promotes...
SBC Leader Pleads Ignorance in Use of Jewish Slur
Southern Baptist Convention leader Richard Land claims he didn't know he was using a word that some consider crude or obscene when he called Sen. Charles Schumer a "schmuck." "I apologize for my ignorance of that...
Judge Rules Against Missouri Baptist Convention in Lawsuit Against Conference Center
A judge ruled Tuesday that the Missouri Baptist Convention didn't include enough protections when it incorporated Windermere Baptist Conference Center as a separate non-profit entity in 2000 to prevent Windermere from...
I kinohi hana ke Akua
The Hawaiian language has the shortest alphabet in the world: just seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, and w) and five vowels (a, e, i, o, u). The preponderance of liquid sounds gives it an almost ethereal quality that...
Study Says 1 in 100 Americans Behind Bars
For the first time, more than one in every 100 Americans is behind bars, disproportionally affecting people of color and the young and competing for tax dollars with needed government programs like education. Those are...
The Ethics of Waterboarding
On Feb. 22, the Justice Department revealed that an internal ethics review conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the CIA's use of waterboarding. This forced suffocation and inhalation...
Reaction Mixed to SBC Leader Calling Jewish Senator a ‘Schmuck’
Should a Southern Baptist Convention leader resign for using a Yiddish slur against a Jewish senator, or is it "much ado about not much?" That's the range of reaction to Monday's EthicsDaily.com story quoting Ethics...
The press and church problems
Making judgment calls is as important to editors as it is to sports officials. Some times we get it right; sometimes we don't.One area that requires good judgment, and often restraint, has to do with news coverage of...
Holy hula
Hawaiians are passionate about preserving remnants, at least, of their culture, and few things are more important than the hula. For Hawaiian Baptists, the ancient dance is more than a cultural memory, however: the...
Poverty and Justice Bible ‘Megaphones’ God’s Concern for the Poor
A British Bible society is launching the first-ever study Bible highlighting more than 2,000 verses that emphasize God's concern about injustice and the poor. According to a press release, the idea for The Poverty and...
White House Religious Liaison Steps Down Over Plagiarism Charge
President Bush's liaison to the Religious Right resigned Friday after admitting that he plagiarized articles he wrote for his hometown newspaper.Tim Goeglein, special assistant to the president and deputy director of...