WASHINGTON (ABP) — Legislators in Connecticut and Maryland have passed bills providing state protection for relationships between domestic partners, including same-sex relationships. On April 6, the Connecticut Senate voted 27-9 for a bill that would create civil unions — legal…
Virginia Baptists, Averett University agree to sever 145-year relationship
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Virginia Baptists have approved a joint statement developed with leaders of Averett University that will end their 145-year-old ties to the school. The Virginia Baptist Mission Board adopted the statement during its spring meeting April 6….
DeLay doesn’t back down on judges, though others call judiciary ‘fair’
WASHINGTON (ABP) — House Majority Leader Tom DeLay continued his rhetorical assault on the federal judiciary April 7, despite more temperate comments from his allies in the Senate. In a videotaped message to a group of conservative religious activists, DeLay…
Clinton calls for religious-freedom bill despite liberal groups’ objections
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) called for Americans to defend the principle of religious liberty at home and abroad April 7, with special emphasis on foreign policy and a controversial piece of domestic legislation. In a Capitol Hill…
Missouri judge puts second lawsuit against Baptist convention on hold
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A second lawsuit involving the Missouri Baptist Convention and five affiliated institutions has been put on hold pending the outcome of an appeal in an earlier, similar lawsuit. At a hearing on April 5, Cole…
Republican Senate aide admits to authoring Schiavo memo
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The mystery of the memo has been solved. The memorandum that said getting involved in the Terri Schiavo controversy was “a great political issue” for Republicans was authored by an aide to freshman Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.)….
Women’s basketball team wins national title for Baylor
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — Baylor University's Lady Bears basketball team won the university's first NCAA title in a major sport with a decisive 84-62 victory over the Michigan State Spartans April 5 in Indianapolis. The Baylor women's team finished the season…
Voters make Kansas 18th state with marriage amendment
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Kansas voters made that state the 18th in the nation to adopt a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage April 5. With all but one of the state's 210 precincts reporting April 6, voters had approved an amendment…
Southwestern elects former Muslim dean of new undergrad college
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Trustees of Southwestern Theological Seminary elected a controversial Muslim convert to Christianity as dean of the seminary's new undergraduate school, the College at Southwestern. Emir Caner, 34, was brought up to be a devout Sunni…