Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Tune In to TV-Turnoff Network
"The average American spends four hours a day watching television. That adds up to more than one day every week, two months every year, and nine solid years by age 65, that Americans spend glued to the tube," according...
Church Receives Fines for Harboring Homeless
The cost of helping the homeless just got a little higher for a church that has allowed transients to set up tents in its parking lot. The city of Seattle is levying $75-a-day fines on Trinity United Methodist Church...
Author Questions Accuracy of ‘Left Behind’ Script
Adding to the copyright controversy surrounding the Christian end-time movie "Left Behind," an author from Fort Worth, Texas, has joined the discussion questioning the accuracy of the movie scenario, based on the...
Fewer Americans Support Environmental Protection, Study Shows
As the Earth Day celebration nears its 31st anniversary on April 22, environmental activists will have a difficult time urging Americans to immobilize their vehicles during the "car-free day" on April 19. Only 27...
Dying Live: An Experiment
"See a Person Dying Live On Your Computer," the Web promotion read. An estimated 20,000 people logged onto the Web site to see a man dying--live, as advertised--on March 27. What viewers saw was an image of magician...
Mississippi Baptist Convention Avoids Statement as Flag Referendum Nears
While opposing political camps are making last-minute plans to influence the outcome of the Mississippi state flag referendum on April 17, the Mississippi Baptist Convention has decided not to take a formal stand in...
Religious Progressives Form National Coalition
Facing the religious right's unprecedented political power, religious progressives formed a new organization last week called the Progressive Religious Partnership (PRP). The coalition's goal is to amplify the...
Religious Index Stable, Much Lower Than 50 Years Ago
The majority of Americans still believes in God or a "universal spirit," reflecting consistency in the country's religious beliefs, according to the latest Gallup Index of Leading Religious Indicators. With a...
King: Commercializing or Communicating?
Martin Luther King Jr. is center stage again, this time in a commercial for a communications network company. Alcatel Americas paid the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change an undisclosed sum for...
Christian Coalition Seeks President’s Veto on Campaign Finance Reform
The Christian Coalition of America is sending a petition to President George W. Bush urging him to veto the campaign finance reform bill, which has the potential to silence non-profit organizations in future election...
Parents Find Guiding Source for Rearing Children
In the past, whenever people have asked me for a helpful resource that might give them some guidance as parents, I have suggested a wide variety of books, videos, conferences, web sites, etc. These are not easy days to...
Columnist Calls Cloning Debate a “Huckster’s Parade”
"Scary and hilarious" were the words Glenn McGee, MSNBC columnist, used to describe last week's cloning debate before a congressional subcommittee. McGee's column, titled "The Huckster Parade," poked fun at Brigitte...
Cloning Debate Multiplies
From Catholic bishops to a UFO-related organization to dedicated scientists and concerned ethicists, the debate on cloning has many players. As a congressional subcommittee heard testimony this week on whether America...
Moral Arguments on Cloning
Ethics and science are at ground zero of human cloning. Earlier this year, an ethicist and scientist examined three moral arguments related to human cloning in a column on the MSNBC Web site. The ethicist is Glenn...
Welcome to the Raelian Revolution
Religious folk of nearly every stripe have something to say about cloning. The Raelian Movement is no exception. Founded by a Frenchman named Claude Vorilhon, the Raelian Movement is "the world's largest UFO related,...
Public’s Choice for Best Picture Differs from Movie Academy’s Selection
"Gladiator" won the Oscar for Best Picture on March 25, upsetting America's choice, as revealed by an earlier Gallup poll, for "Erin Brockovich." Thirty-two percent of Americans chose "Erin Brockovich" as best film of...
Americans Prefer Energy Conservation, Don’t See a Crisis Yet
Americans prefer conservation efforts to curb energy problems, rather than new policies favoring development, latest Gallup study shows. Thirty-one percent of Americans described the nation's energy situation as "very...
Valparaiso Project Launches Faith Practices Web Site
The Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith recently launched a Web site, Practicing Our Faith. The site complements the 1997 book Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching...
Fundamental vs. Fundamentalist
In this new century, we must distinguish between being fundamental and fundamentalist. "I am fundamental but I am not a fundamentalist," said James P. Boyce, the first president and founder of the Southern Baptist...
The Flicker of the Screen of Popularity
If we seek to present an effective Christian worldview, survival demands honesty about the source of our moral and truth claims. It demands diligence in testing their relevance beyond the flicker of the screen of...
Connecting With Roberta Gilbert: Part 2
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S NOTE: Roberta Gilbert, M.D., is a psychiatrist in private practice and author of Connecting with Our Children: Guiding Principles for Parents in a Troubled World (New York: John Wiley & Sons,...