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Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Convicted Child Molester Longtime Pastor of Southern Baptist Churches
In 1999 in Calvert County, Maryland, a student had to change her plans to deliver her high school graduation prayer after a fellow student objected, with backing from the ACLU and the state attorney general's office....
The Power of a Pardon
The recent death of Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States, has given us an opportunity to reflect on his presidency and on the circumstances that brought him to office in the first place. Ford was...
‘Thr3e’
It bothers me, and it should bother you too, that out of all the movies that could have been made with a couple million dollars, "Thr3e" was chosen. This alleged psychological thriller, adapted from a novel by Ted...
Finding Another Road
The month of Advent anticipations and the 12 days of Christmas celebrations have come and gone. The Advent wreath is in storage and the Christmas tree has been recycled. Now comes the important and hard work of making...
Say ‘No’ Now and Loud to Human Sacrifice
President Bush has reportedly decided to tell the nation next week that winning in Iraq means a massive troop surge and sacrifice. The term "surge" means sending upwards of 30,000 more American military personnel to...
Poll: 1 in 4 Expect Second Coming in ’07
One in four Americans anticipates the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in 2007, according to an Associated Press/AOL news poll. According to an AP report, 25 percent of those surveyed about what they think 2007 holds for...
Southern Baptist Publisher Shifts Homeschool Emphasis
Failing to become a major player in a growing market, LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention quietly dissolved its homeschool division last year. Last January LifeWay's trade book division,...
Jesus Versus Redemptive Violence
A newspaper article last year stated that a minister told Sen. John McCain that unless he supported a presidential proposal allowing torture, McCain would not receive the evangelical vote in his pursuit to become...
Memphis Radio Station Features Critic of Bellevue Pastor
A nationwide Christian talk-radio network targeted listeners in Memphis, Tenn., last week with a discussion of pastoral leadership, amid controversy surrounding Pastor Steve Gaines at the community's prominent Bellevue...
How Many Deaths in Iraq Before U.S. Churches Say Enough?
How many more American troops and Iraqi civilians must die before America's churches speak a prophetic word to President Bush that violence only begets more violence and more violence is not an acceptable path forward?...
Moral Ambiguities and Guantanamo
Thinking about the moral ambiguities associated with the activities at Guantanamo, we usually concentrate on how prisoners are treated or the legal procedures employed for processing prisoners. More often than not, our...
Justice and Mercy
Last week three young friends, former college students with bright hopes for the future, stood in federal court in Birmingham, Ala., to plead guilty to setting a series of church fires last February. They were told to...
Remembering When All America Went To War
The United States is not at war. Our Armed Forces and their families and friends are at war. If all Americans had been included in the ill-conceived invasion of Iraq there would be possibly a meatless Tuesday, sugar...
Converting U.S. Christians to Christianity Is Key to Iraq, Not Evangelizing Iraqis
Converting Muslims to Christianity is not the key to stability in Iraq, converting American Christians to Christianity is. Before Christmas, the blogosphere drew attention to a Republican congressman who said that...
2006 Tumultuous Year for Baptists, Banner Year for BCE
Scandal, war and power shifts in both secular and Baptist politics dominated EthicsDaily.com news coverage in 2006. The Baptist Center for Ethics, meanwhile, celebrated its 15th anniversary with major emphases...
Hopes And Prayers For The New Year
The New Year has become a time for us to gather up our hopes and prayers for the coming year and express them in resolutions. The idea of "New" seems to lay out the prospect for something different, something better. I...
God and Country
"Beside the rivers of the Potomac we sat and wept at the memory of our homeland, leaving our conga drums by the palm trees…. 'Sing,' they said, "some Mambo." How can we sing our rumba in a pagan land? Mi patria, if I...
White Christmas
For the last month Bing Crosby, the quintessential crooner, has been treating us to "White Christmas" almost everywhere we turned. We heard him in grocery stores, shopping centers, elevators, and even when we were put...
Jimmy Carter Says Religious, Political Pressures Stifle Debate on Israel/Palestine Issues
Support for Israel from conservative Christians and a powerful pro-Israel lobby prevent America from having the kind of honest debate about Israel and the occupied territories that exists in other countries, former...
Jesus Was a Refugee
Jesus was a refugee. That's all I can think about this Christmas. Last Sunday at church was the Christmas extravaganza, shepherds and angels and wise men and Mary and Joseph and a baby who didn't cry (which is, in...
What Kind Of Europe And Which Values Do Churches Promote?
As members of a minority church strongly involved in the struggle for human dignity, freedom of conscience, justice and peace, Baptists in Italy read the European Union's constitution treaty with a strong...