Same-sex marriage has tied American society into a seemingly intractable knot. Advocates of one great value pull a thread that ultimately tightens and restricts another cherished principle. And vice-versa. Human rights vs. religious liberty.
God wants Christians for ‘officiating crew,’ Evans tells The Gathering
By Marv Knox Standing near the end zone of Baylor University’s McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, and comparing life to a football game, Dallas pastor Tony Evans insisted Christians must act as a divine “officiating crew” to interpret God’s rules…
The ‘next America’ demands change from churches
The headline for this column is misleading. The “next America” actually is the “now America.” To paraphrase the late cartoon character Pogo, “We have seen the future, and it is here.” And it means most Baptist congregations and their denomination…
We’ve got a lot of race work to do in America
By Marv Knox No matter what we think about a grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, can we acknowledge attitudes about race divide our nation? The grand jury’s Wilson/Brown decision…
‘Underside’ ministry may redeem Christianity’s reputation
By Marv Knox American culture has turned upside down. What an ironically invigorating development. Validation of cultural upside-downness arrived from unexpected quarters — the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s recent conference on homosexuality and the future of…
Houston subpoenas doubly disturbing
By Marv Knox Houston Mayor Annise Parker might be in the running for the next Nobel Peace Prize for accomplishing the seemingly impossible. Her honor’s administration inadvertently gathered fundamentalist and liberal Christians, Muslims and Jews, and even Baha’is and Baptists…
Ebola vigil becomes memorial for fallen Christian brother
By Marv Knox A prayer vigil for the first Ebola patient in the United States turned into a memorial service for the virus’ first U.S. victim hours after Eric Duncan died in Dallas Oct. 8. Wilshire Baptist Church planned the…
Frightful world, fearless living
By Marv Knox It’s ludicrous, all right. Preposterous, even. But make no mistake: Fear misappropriates logic and steals perspective. It robs people of the ability to think clearly. It replaces reason with panicky, overwrought delusion. Far too often, fear is…
You can do something about declining Christian influence
By Marv Knox More and more U.S. Christians — particularly evangelicals — think they’re losing influence and feel embattled. They also say they want politicians to help rectify the situation. But maybe they should try to win their culture wars…
The rise and fall and rise again of Joel Gregory
Imagine you’re a big-shot Hollywood producer, and you’re making a movie about the life of iconic Baptist preacher/pastor/professor Joel Gregory. You bet the film on casting character actor Paul Giamatti, who is 95 percent perfect to play Gregory. Giamatti mirrors…
Let’s do something about race in America
By Marv Knox The most delusional moment of my life occurred Nov. 4, 2008. For an hour or so after Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election, I believed the worst of America’s racism had subsided. America elected a black…
What are we going to do about all those children?
By Marv Knox The crisis on our southern border is complicated. Except when it’s not. Surely you know the story: Since last fall, 52,000 unaccompanied Latin American children have flooded the U.S. border with Mexico, most of them along the lower…