By Bob Allen Baptists in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia initiated a historic Christmas Day gathering of Muslims and Christians hailed as a model for interfaith relations in other countries. Muslim clerics from both Shia and Sunni traditions from…
Study says race perception gap widening
By Bob Allen Fifty years after Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech envisioned unity between blacks and whites, a new study finds a growing gap in racial attitudes and experiences in America. “We do not live in a…
Injunction granted in SBC health care case
By Bob Allen A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Dec. 20 prohibiting enforcement of the federal health care law known as Obamacare saying the Southern Baptist Convention’s insurance provider has legal standing to challenge mandatory coverage of contraceptives viewed…
Starr: Hobby Lobby case tests liberty
By Bob Allen Baylor University President Ken Starr identified the pending case involving Hobby Lobby over mandated contraception coverage in the Affordable Care Act as a crucial test for religious liberty at a recent international conference on Christianity and freedom….
Is ‘Duck Dynasty’ the next SBC cause?
By Bob Allen A year after targeting the Boy Scouts for dropping their ban on openly gay youth, Southern Baptists meeting June 10-11 in Baltimore may have found a new cause célèbre in a reality TV show star suspended by…
SBC leaders back ‘Duck Dynasty’ star
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention leaders termed “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson, suspended by A&E for controversial anti-gay statements in a magazine interview, the latest casualty in America’s culture war. “[T]he controversy over Duck Dynasty sends a clear signal…
Gushee to work with CBF on advocacy
By Bob Allen David Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University, begins a one-year term in January as theologian-in-residence for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. “My task will…
Smithwick out at Ky. Baptist home
By Bob Allen The president of a Baptist child care agency has resigned after a no-confidence vote in November by the Kentucky Baptist Convention for recommending that Sunrise Children’s Services drop its ban on hiring gays. No formal announcement was…
New job reopens ex-Muslim controversy
By Bob Allen The head of the Georgia Baptist Convention has added his blessing to the hiring of a college president accused in the past of faking an “ex-Muslim” testimony he used to rise to fame. “Dr. Ergun Caner is…