Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
War Remains the Decisive Human Failure
The statement, "War remains the decisive human failure," was written by John Kenneth Galbraith in his last book, "The Economics of Innocent Fraud," and quoted by his son, Peter W. Galbraith in his book "The End of...
Finding Common Ground With Catholics, Southern Baptist Leaders Question Contraception
An unofficial dialogue between conservative Catholics and evangelicals has issued a new paper outlining consensus on building a "culture of life." In addition to the usual fare of opposing abortion, assisted suicide...
A Letter to Tony Perkins
Dear Tony, I am so excited to hear that you found liberty this past Sunday. I went to church to worship God, since it was the holy Sabbath day, so I missed this much more important event of yours. What a wonderful...
Fighting Global Poverty Goes Beyond Relief, Experts Say
There's an immediate satisfaction in knowing you've helped a poor person in a crisis, said a Baptist ethicist, but nobody can do that every day. "That's why I think development is even more exciting than relief," said...
‘Thank You for Smoking’
New to DVD is "Thank You for Smoking," a satirical story about Big Tobacco's primary spokesman and how he peddles cigarettes to the American people. "Smoking," directed by Jason Reitman (son of legendary director Ivan...
No Political Party Has a Corner on Morality
Beginning with President Ronald Reagan, Republicans sought a moral high road, courting the Christian vote to eventually claim both the House and the Senate. The sexual indiscretions of President Clinton seemed to...
Nashville Rally Motivates ‘Values Voters’
Speakers including Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said Monday that scandals in Washington should not suppress "values voters" from going to the polls Nov. 7. "Yes, what Mark Foley did was wrong, but it is...
Former SBC Missionary Speaks Out for Victims of Clergy Sex Abuse
In 1995 Dee Ann Miller wrote a column for "Baptists Today" offering 16 concrete suggestions about how Baptists could better cope with problems of sexual abuse and misconduct by ministers. Eleven years later, she says,...
Communities of Faith Must Speak
We have reached a critical and increasingly tragic crossroads in the war with Iraq. We know now that there was no real justification for launching the war in the first place. Iraq did not have weapons of mass...
Christian Nationalism Growing
A few weeks ago I happened to be watching C-Span on the old television set and Michelle Goldberg was talking in a church about her book, "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism." She gave insights from her...
Former Senator Decries in Interview Use of ‘Wedge Issues’ by Christian Right
The use of "wedge issues" by the Christian right to create a politics of polarization may win elections but does nothing to solve the nation's problems, says former U.S. Senator John Danforth. Danforth, an ordained...
‘One Night With the King’
The Book of Esther has many elements making it an obvious target for Hollywood producers: beautiful women, political intrigue, powerful secrets and a shrewd comeuppance for the villain. Given all this, it's especially...
Tell-All Book Claims Religious Right Duped by Republicans
The former deputy director of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives says in a new book the office was essentially a tax-payer funded political campaign for Republicans, and the White House...
Lessons from the Amish
Their names are Naomi Rose Ebersol, Marian Fisher, Mary Liz Miller, Lena Miller, and Anna Mae Stolzfus. They were the Amish girls, ages ranging from 7 to 13, who were recently murdered by Charles Carl Roberts in Nickel...
Texas Pastor Honored for Support of Public Schools
A Houston school district recently honored a Baptist pastor in large part for his support of a pastoral letter supporting public education issued this spring by the Baptist Center for Ethics. Cypress-Fairbanks...
Churches Invited to ‘Stand Up’ for Poverty
People in more than 100 countries will take part this Sunday in an effort to set an official Guinness World Record by symbolically standing up against poverty. The challenge, initiated by the United Nations, will draw...
The Bible in Wilson County
Terry Redmon is an activist trying to persuade the school board Wilson County, Tennessee, to implement a "Bible elective" course to help students understand the Book's impact on world history. At face value this would...
Evidence Demands a Verdict, Necessitates Moral Critique
Did the Tennessee Republican Party intentionally darken a picture of Democratic Senate nominee Harold Ford, an African-American, in a fund-raising letter? Three versions of the same photograph of Ford, who is a...
Clergy Sex-Abuse Activist Awaits Response from SBC
Two weeks have passed since Christa Brown and two other survivors of clergy sex abuse hand-delivered a letter to Southern Baptist Convention headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., asking leaders to set up an independent...
‘Maquilapolis: City of Factories’
The PBS documentary series "P.O.V." continues tonight with "Maquilapolis: City of Factories," which takes viewers inside the lives of factory workers along the U.S.-Mexico border. By giving cameras to workers Carmen...
God Intersects with First and Broadway
Thomas Merton, the famous author and monk, had a revelation of God at Fourth and Walnut in Louisville, so I shouldn't be surprised to have a similar experience a few blocks away. The afternoon sun beat down on the...