Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Five Years On, What Have We Learned?
It's a truism to say that everyone remembers where they were on September 11 five years ago. This editor was at a hospital chaplains' conference. The schedule collapsed along with the Twin Towers. We clustered around...
Melting Pot, Salad Bowl or Rainbow
Living in New York City five years ago during 9/11, my wife, Ana, and I were witness to the reality that is America. Ministering to diplomats and internationals at the United Nations, we were part of a community where...
Why Democrats Face a ‘God Problem;’ What They Must Do
Democrats face "a serious God problem," as a new Pew Research Center study kindly reported. Conducted in July, the survey found that only 26 percent of respondents identified the Democratic Party as "friendly" to...
Seminary Bites Back on Dispute Over Speaking in Tongues
The president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary took exception to a newspaper's reference to his decision to censor a chapel sermon that included a reference to speaking on tongues as a "rebuke" of a...
‘Little Miss Sunshine’
"Little Miss Sunshine" is a dysfunctional-family-on-a-road-trip movie. And there's more going on here than in the "National Lampoon's Vacation" movies. The story here is not about a vacation, but about trying to make a...
Baptist Bloggers Can Help Make Poverty History
The One Campaign is a celebrity-centered effort to get the United States to allocate an additional 1 percent of the federal budget to fighting global poverty and AIDS, approximately $25 billion. It has captured the...
Oregon Senator Says He’ll Fight to Keep State’s Assisted Suicide Law
WASHINGTON (RSN) Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has said he will try to block a federal bill that would override Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law. Wyden said Tuesday he has placed a hold on the Assisted Suicide...
‘Exodus’ Movement Profiled by AP
An Associated Press story last week profiled a movement among evangelical Christians to convince parents to withdraw their children from public schools. "The courts say no creationism, no prayer in public schools," the...
Former Baptist Foundation of Arizona Trustee Pleads Guilty
A sixth defendant in the Baptist Foundation of Arizona criminal trial pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges of fraudulent schemes and artifices. According to terms of a plea bargain proposed by prosecutors, former...
Our Responsible Response
We are overwhelmed by statistics. This year, 11 million children under the age of 5 will die from preventable diseases. Forty million people are HIV positive worldwide. Those living in extreme poverty, which means that...
Baptist Clergy Join Fight Against Global Poverty
The Baptist Center for Ethics has released a pastoral letter calling on Baptist clergy to support an international Christian campaign asking world leaders to keep their promises to reduce global poverty by half. The...
‘For the Living of These Days’
Kate Campbell's latest CD, For the Living of These Days, sets a rigorous standard for itself by opening with Woody Guthrie's "Jesus Christ." It is a challenge for a self-identified gospel album to maintain direct...
People in Pew Oppose Women Pastors, Seminary President Says
A Southern Baptist leader who criticized moderate Baptists for not walking their talk about women's ordination says a news story about the "stained-glass ceiling" that blocks women from advancing in larger liberal...
On Jesus And Keeping The Rules
For over two weeks now, Elvira Arellano, has taken shelter in a United Methodist Church in Chicago. Arellano sought sanctuary in the church when she learned that Federal officials planned to deport her back to Mexico....
Baptists ‘Overgrazing the Flock,’ Study Says
Add another notch to the Bible Belt. Religion can be good for your soul but bad for your waistline, especially if you're a southern Baptist, a recent study suggests. Studies have found obesity levels are highest in the...
Labor Day Study Says American Dream Fading for Workers
Workers feel the American Dream is slipping away, according to a Labor Day survey commissioned by unions. A slim majority of workers, 51 percent, still believe the American Dream is attainable, according to the...
Shine Faith’s Light on Work This Labor Day
Labor Day anchors the last long weekend of summer. Vacations are ending—at least for some. The number of youthful, well-heeled retirees these days makes travel and leisure activities more year-round than in previous...
‘Exit Strategy’ Resolutions Headed for Baptist State Conventions
Southern Baptist homeschool advocates are seeking to have resolutions calling for an "exit strategy" from public schools introduced at all 43 state and regional Baptist convention meetings this fall. In 2004...
’20/20′ Re-Airing Controversial Program Critical of Public Schools
Homeschool leaders commended ABC's decision to re-air "Stupid in America," a "20/20" special from January that teacher unions called yellow journalism, Friday night. The original report by ABC News correspondent John...
How Can We Serve the Working Poor?
Poverty's in the news again. I usually teach in a class on poverty and politics this time of year, but not this fall. It's one of my favorite classes, because it brings together a mix of students from all kinds of...
Breaking Down Walls
Paul's epistle to the Ephesians provides an excellent illustration of tearing down walls that separate according to power and privilege. Paul's epistle to the Ephesians provides an excellent illustration of tearing...