WASHINGTON (RNS) — Top leaders from several faiths have asked Congress to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all U.S.-held detainees, including those held at secret overseas prisons. A letter signed by 25 senior faith leaders…
FAITH DIGEST
Disputed dinner fails to deliver dialogue. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dined with 300 religious and political leaders in New York, but the controversial event offered far less dialogue than advertised. Ahmadinejad delivered a 45-minute address that cut short any possibility…
N.Y. Baptist group says to defrock pastor facing child-porn charge
(763 words) OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. (ABP) — A statewide fellowship of independent Baptist churches in New York is recommending defrocking one of its pastors arrested on child-pornography charges. Leaders of First Baptist Church in the Upstate New York town of Oswegatchie…
SBU administrator named as Oklahoma Baptist president
SHAWNEE, Okla. (ABP) — David Whitlock, 46, an administrator at Southwest Baptist University, has been named Oklahoma Baptist University's 15th president, OBU trustees announced Oct. 10. "Having been born and raised in Oklahoma, Dr. Whitlock will fit us well," Alton…
Connecticut latest jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage
HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — The Connecticut Supreme Court Oct. 10 made that state the latest in the union to offer full marriage rights to same-sex couples. The state’s justices ruled 4-3 that the equal-protection and due-process provisions of the Connecticut…
Study: Younger evangelicals less conservative than elders
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A large study of religious Americans suggests that white evangelicals' views on gay rights may be shifting, rapidly, to the left. The survey, which includes one of the largest samples of younger voters' political and religious views…
Little framed in moral terms during presidential debate
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Economic woes and national security dominated a second presidential debate that offered little new information for undecided voters, including those looking for a values-based hook on which to hang their presidential choice. Democratic candidate Barack Obama…
Book says Southern Baptist women stronger than confession suggests
CORVALLIS, Ore. (ABP) — While professing to believe the Bible teaches them to submit to their husbands, Southern Baptist women tend to function as equal partners when it comes to most decision-making in the home, according to a new book…
Support for ‘two-state’ solution troubles some Palin backers
(ABP) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s answer during her Oct. 2 vice-presidential debate expressing support for a “two-state” solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is drawing criticism from some of her strongest supporters — pro-Israel conservative Christians. “A two-state solution is…
CBF partners recall 9/11 with community service
ATLANTA (ABP) — Young adults at Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va., got their hands dirty for missions at a seamen’s center. Teens at Metro Baptist Church in New York City learned the value of feeding the homeless, talking…
Men’s recovery home possible through CBF grant in Illinois
ATLANTA (ABP) — Men with chemical dependency in Waukegan, Ill., now have a home to help them recover and build new lives — thanks to a local church and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. First Baptist Church in Waukegan and CBF…
Challenge to ban on church politics may not excite Americans, polls say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — While just 33 churches signed up to participate in a conservative Christian group’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” Sept. 28, planners viewed it as a success. That is, organizers said, because its stated purpose was not to inject politics…