Diane Ravitch wants you to think about this scenario: Imagine your community with two or three fire departments with different resources and you have to choose which one to call when your house catches fire. Or imagine your community with…
Southwest Baptist University president resigns in struggle with Missouri Baptist Convention
Missouri Baptists continue to find themselves at the epicenter of the struggle between fundamentalism and non-fundamentalism that has dominated the Southern Baptist Convention publicly since 1979. The latest casualty is Eric Turner, who abruptly resigned as president of Southwest Baptist…
At 18,000 words, new survey report covers the waterfront on faith, culture and politics
If you just can’t get enough of surveys and polls during this election season, the research firm PRRI has good news for you: They’ve just completed an omnibus survey of the American electorate with more data than you can possibly…
Who are these ‘evangelicals’ pollsters keep talking about?
Why white evangelical Christians support President Donald Trump in such large numbers is not the most interesting question to ask, according to Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll. A more interesting question is to ask whether white evangelical Christians…
Being ‘pro-life’ means telling the truth about COVID-19
One of my neighbors put a new sign in the yard today that reads: “Vote Pro-Life.” I want to knock on the door and ask one question: “Do you mean you’re going to vote against abortion, or do you mean…
You might have missed this, but the Supreme Court just opened a new term
Lost amid a contentious presidential election, COVID-19 and Senate confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court justice, the high court opened its new term Oct. 6 by hearing oral arguments in a case about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Due to…
Who will America’s pastors vote for in presidential race?
If you’re wondering who those “undecided” voters are, it turns out a portion of them are pastors. New research by LifeWay Research found 53% of America’s Protestant pastors said they intend to vote for Donald Trump and 21% said they…
Baptist churches used as misleading ballot drop locations in California
At least two Baptist churches — and most likely others — have been used as controversial ballot collection sites organized by the California Republican Party and declared illegal by state elections officials. National Republican Congressional Committee Deputy Chair Ken Calvert…
Is missions giving ‘paying dues’? And what counts as ‘missions’ anyway?
Several years ago, in my previous life as a pastor, a well-meaning member of our Missions Committee looked at the church’s missions budget, noted the large sum of money we were sending to state and national denominational groups and declared…