WACO, Texas (ABP) — A Baylor Lariat editorial critical of the Catholic Church’s newly revived practice of indulgences brought a strong rebuke from a prominent Catholic professor at the world’s largest Baptist university. The Feb. 27 editorial in Baylor’s student newspaper…
Mercer conference calls Christians to ‘creation care’
Left to Right: Meg Thomsen, program coordinator of Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, David Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer, and Judith Curry, Georgia Tech professor, listen during the plenary session of…
Christians, other torture opponents call for commission to investigate
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A coalition of religious leaders who oppose the United States’ use of torture in the fight against terrorism called March 3 for a “truth commission” to investigate government policy and allegations of inhumane actions against terrorism detainees…
Study: Churchgoers like porn, but don’t buy it on the Sabbath
BOSTON (ABP) — According to a new study, people who live in states with high church-attendance rates buy as much Internet pornography as their more secularized counterparts — but they are less likely to subscribe to an adult website on…
Senate scandal divides state Democrats over race
CHICAGO (ABP) — Calls for embattled Sen. Roland Burris to resign from the Senate are dividing his fellow Illinois Democrats along racial lines. Burris, the only black United States senator, is under fire for conflicting statements about his relationship with disgraced…
Faith-based leaders say budget is major shift in poverty policy
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama's first proposed budget signals a dramatic shift in prioritizing domestic poverty, centrist and liberal Christian leaders said in a teleconference with reporters March 2. Nonetheless, some expressed concerns that portions of the proposal did not…
Justices decline to upend decision barring N.J. coach from prayers
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A New Jersey high-school coach will not be able to participate in his football team’s prayers after the Supreme Court’s March 2 refusal to review a lower court’s decision. Opponents of government-sanctioned school prayers praised the justices’…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • John Snow, to Zoar Church, Deltaville, as pastor, effective March 1. • Gregory W. Wissinger, to Beaver Dam Church, Troy, as pastor, effective March 1. • Thomas S. Larson, to Fox Hill Road Church, Hampton, as pastor….
VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: Call it what God calls it
Recent issues of the Religious Herald have reported on abortion, homosexuals, evolution, Muslims, Obama and church/state walls and the controversies that surround them. Consider: Abortion: God calls it murder; we call it “choice.” Homosexuality: God calls it an abomination; we…
New Poverty Forum aims to keep focus on the poor
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A bipartisan group of 18 Christian leaders has developed a host of policy recommendations on poverty reduction that they hope will shape the actions of the Obama administration and Congress. The effort, co-chaired by evangelical activist Jim…
National Baptists to choose between two candidates for convention president
(RNS) — Henry J. Lyons, the former president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, who was imprisoned on charges of fraud a decade ago, is one of two candidates running to be the convention’s next president this September. The other…
Anti-gay pastor told not to come to United Kingdom
LONDON (RNS) — Britain has barred an American anti-gay Christian preacher and his daughter from entering the country, to stop them from spreading what the government described as “extremism and hatred.” Fred Phelps, who has gained notoriety in the United…