Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
School Days, School Days
Relieved. More than ready. Eager to have someone else occupy their children day in and day out. That's how many parents probably feel about the beginning of another school year. But despite an unusually long summer, I,...
BYU Bottoms List of Party Schools
Brigham Young University is the nation's most sober party school, according to a survey of 100,000 college students nationwide. The title of No. 1 party school typically garners the most attention in the Princeton...
‘Dust to Dust’ Burials Gain Ground
Most Americans will undergo a standardized funerary ritual: embalming to slow decomposition, placement in a sleek coffin, and burial in a manicured graveyard, marked by a slab of granite or marble. Cremation has been...
Time to break the code of silence on ministerial immorality
"What is all this business about child sex abuse by clergy going to do to the church," I was asked recently. The question begs an honest response. While the spotlight in recent months has been on priests of the...
Catholic Bishops Revise Movie Ratings
A new movie classification is forthcoming from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The conference's Office for Film and Broadcasting announced Aug. 6 that one of its movie classifications—"A-IV: adults,...
John Howard Yoder: Prophet of Pacifism and Priest of Patience
Just over 30 years ago John Howard Yoder published his stinging critique of the image of Jesus that had become widely accepted in the academy and the church. The Politics of Jesus is as relevant today as it was in...
When Hospitalized Notify Your Church
One responsibility of a pastor is to visit people when they are hospitalized. When people's lives are disrupted by loss of health, they need support and love. It's an opportunity for the minister to say on behalf of...
Americans Turn Away From TV News
TV news viewers are decreasing—despite significant events on domestic and international fronts. "American soldiers are dying in Iraq almost daily, questions are continuing to swirl around the Bush administration's case...
SBC Agency Silent on Ten Commandments Dispute
Media coverage of his legal battle to keep his Ten Commandments monument in his state's judicial building has propelled Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore into one of the nation's highest-profile Southern Baptists. Moore,...
Wrong Words
"I was provided with additional input that was radically different from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version," Colonel Oliver North said in his Iran-Contra testimony. "If you take out the killings,...
‘S.W.A.T.’
As the summer winds down, the opening of action movies is becoming less frequent, but there are still a few that hope to create box office magic. "S.W.A.T." could have been just one more film of explosions, car chases...
Computer Disposal Creates Dilemma
Chances are you are reading this column on a computer screen. But have you ever thought about what is inside your computer screen? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it's some pretty toxic stuff: lead,...
Conversation Without the ‘-isms’
Sometimes in private and sometimes with great fanfare, important religious leaders or teachers from various faiths gather for a formal time of inter-religious dialogue. These meetings are often important and sometimes...
American Soldiers Battle ‘Urban Legends’ About Their Gear
American soldiers wear X-ray vision sunglasses and air-conditioned clothing. At least that's the word in the Iraqi dessert, according to various news sources. "With those glasses, he can definitely see through women's...
“Freaky Friday”
Five years ago, Disney recycled a classic Haley Mills film from 1961, and the studio remade "The Parent Trap." Though many feared the worst, the new version of "Trap," starring Lindsay Lohan as twins, was charming,...
Tax reform and church-state separation
One of the most contentious political issues we face these days is trying to understand how we in the faith community can find legitimate and satisfying ways to publicly express our faith without crossing the line...
Family Ties Stronger in Religious Homes, Study Says
The old adage "the family that prays together stays together" is now supported by science. Researchers at the University of North Carolina say teenagers in religiously involved families tend to have stronger...
Turtle Ethics
The tortoise and the hare taught us that slow and steady wins the race, but Yertle the turtle's lesson runs deeper. This seemingly innocuous Dr. Seuss story first came to my attention when personally confronted by...
Truth and Consequences, Ministerially Speaking
John the Baptist, the New Testament tells us, had a penchant for saying what he thought; and what he thought was this: Herod the governor was violating the law of God by having his wife murdered and marrying her...
The Way of Discipleship
Last summer, I went with my 10-year-old to camp. He heard a short simple plan of salvation, and it started me thinking about the words and Scripture I use to do the same. The result is The Way of Discipleship. It's my...
Dropping Our Stones
As a pastor, I am sometimes questioned about this topic: What does the Bible say about homosexuality? What's a proper Christian response? Of course, homosexuality is just one of many sexual behaviors about which the...