Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Lessons From the Storms
Altruism vs. egoism was a much-debated topic among ethicists, philosophers and social scientists some 40-plus years ago when I first began seriously studying ethics. The issue was whether ordinary people performing...
Cracking Down on Terror in Canberra
State premiers and chief ministers met the Australian Prime Minister on Sept. 27 and endorsed a raft of unprecedented anti-terrorism measures. In doing so they undermine fundamental human rights--rights we often take...
‘A History of Violence’
Sometimes a film presents a tremendous vision, but it comes wrapped in images that obstruct the vision for many. We see descriptions of "graphic violence" and "strong sexual content" and decide the movie isn't for us....
DeLay’s Woes Shift Spotlight to Baptist Congressman
When Congressman Tom DeLay was forced to step down as House Majority Leader following his indictment alleging involvement in a money-laundering scheme, he was replaced by fellow Southern Baptist Roy Blunt of Missouri....
When Racism Applies
Tennessee lawmaker Stacey Campfield, one of Knoxville's white state representatives, has shown, once again, that whites do not understand racism. Campfield, who last month compared the Black Legislative Caucus to the...
Baptist Foundation of Arizona Trial Continues
Week four of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona fraud trial begins Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. The state's first witness contradicted defense attorneys, who attempted to distance former BFA...
Baptist World Aid Responds to Earthquake in Pakistan
Baptist World Aid on Sunday sent 10 rescue specialists and two rescue dogs, plus equipment, to help with recovery efforts following Saturday's 7.6 Richter scale earthquake in Pakistan. Reuters reported on Wednesday a...
Gore Backs TV Network Using Viewer-Submitted News
American democracy is in danger as long as citizens get most of their information from television news, former presidential candidate Al Gore said in a speech promoting a new, non-traditional TV network that airs...
Columbus Day No Reason to Celebrate
Women were raped. Children were disemboweled. Men fell prey to the invaders' swords. Within a generation, the lives and cultures of the indigenous people of the Americas were forever changed. Avarice for gold and glory...
Is God Trying to Tell Us Something Through Hurricanes?
According to Religious Right leaders, hurricanes like Katrina are God's judgment against persecution of Christians (Henry Blackaby), abortion (Pat Robertson), homosexuality and a lot of other human failings. Or do they...
Program Aims to Expand Home-Schooling
An organization that supported last summer's Southern Baptist Convention resolution calling on churches to investigate homosexual influences in public schools on Thursday announced a "family-to-family" initiative to...
Ten Commandments Judge Running for Alabama Governor
Roy Moore, whose removal as Alabama's chief justice for defying a federal judge's order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state Supreme Court building made him a hero for conservatives, announced Monday he...
Franklin Graham Says Katrina May Spark Revival
Evangelist Franklin Graham said Monday that Hurricane Katrina could spark a revival in New Orleans, cleaning up its image as a city of sin. "There's been satanic worship. There's been sexual perversion," Graham said in...
Virtues and Vices
The dictionary defines "virtue" as having to do with moral excellence, righteousness and goodness. I bring this up because William Bennett, America's self-appointed guru of virtue demonstrated on his radio show last...
Mississippi Baptists Fail in Effort to Defeat Casino Bill
Mississippi lawmakers dealt a defeat to the state's Southern Baptists, voting Monday to allow floating casinos damaged by Hurricane Katrina to rebuild up to 800 feet inland. "We think it's a sad day in Mississippi when...
Dobson Endorses Miers for Court, Citing Confidential Information
Focus on the Family founder James Dobson told his radio audience Wednesday that he supports Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, but he isn't at liberty to say completely why. "It was leaked to the media that I've had...
Proposal Would Put Jesus Back into CBF Constitution
Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will consider a preamble to the CBF constitution restoring references to Jesus Christ and the Great Commission dropped from a purpose statement this summer. At its June...
Conservative Christians Support DeLay
Following the indictment of Congressman Tom DeLay on Sept. 26 for alleged illegal fundraising activities, several prominent conservative Christians quickly offered their support for DeLay. Many also attacked Travis...
Whites Commit More Crimes Than Blacks, FBI Says
Whether or not Bill Bennett's offhand comment that aborting black babies would reduce the crime rate was racist, it was wrong. "[Y]ou could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down,"...
Baptist Leader Urges Churches to Lead in Building a Multicultural UK
A British Baptist leader welcomed the UK government's announcement of a new "Commission on Integration" as "a good start" in moving toward a multicultural society, while challenging Baptist churches to do more to take...
Sharing Can Make a World of Difference
It is odd how much stuff we Americans throw away. There was a day when you could get your radio, TV set, toaster or roller skates repaired. If the soles of your shoes had holes, they could be resoled. Today we live in...