ST. LOUIS, Mo. (ABP) — Voters hoping to know more about the vice-presidential candidates’ faith-influenced views on contentious policy issues probably learned little from the Oct. 2 debate between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin. Only one question posed…
Young evangelicals differ from elders on gays, similar on abortion rights
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new poll says white evangelicals under 30 are just as opposed to abortion as their older counterparts, but more liberal in their views on same-sex marriage or civil unions for gays. The survey, conducted for the…
Human Rights & Wrongs: Not all coercion is torture, ethicist says
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (ABP) — Debate over the morality of coercive force would be served better if everyone involved quit using the word “torture” altogether, said Daniel Heimbach, professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. “The problem here…
Human Rights & Wrongs: Torture has consequences for body, soul
ATLANTA (ABP) — Nearly two decades ago, Sister Dianna Ortiz says, Guatemalan security forces abducted her and took her to a clandestine prison where she was brutally gang-raped; burned more than 100 times with cigarettes; forced to cut another woman…
Human Rights & Wrongs: Why the religious silence on torture?
ATLANTA (ABP) — Most evangelical American Christians remained silent about torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo for some of the same reasons European Christians 70 years ago largely failed to resist the Holocaust, ethicist David Gushee told a national summit…
Human Right & Wrongs: Christians should defend rights, ethicist says
ATLANTA (ABP) — Concern about human rights means biblically grounded compassion for oppressed people — not a selfish desire to protect one’s own property or prestige, Baptist ethicist Glen Stassen told a recent meeting of religious leaders concerned about torture….
Declaration calls for presidential executive order on torture
Evangelicals for Human Rights, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and the Center for Victims of Torture have drafted a declaration of principles its members want to see the next president include in an executive order on prisoner treatment, torture…
Survey shows megachurches more intimate, less gullible than stereotypes
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new survey by Baylor University researchers suggests megachurches are more intimate, believers less gullible and atheism less prevalent than popular stereotypes would suggest. Results of the 2008 Baylor Religion Survey were released in a Washington press…
Human rights rooted in Bible, not political philosophy
ATLANTA — Concern about hu-man rights means biblically grounded compassion for oppressed people — not a selfish desire to protect one's own property or prestige, Baptist ethicist Glen Stassen told the National Summit on Torture. “It has been the defenders…
Guidestone’s Hawkins urges investors to ‘stay the course’ when market drops
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — Even though sharp drops in the stock market have many Southern Baptist pastors worried about their retirement funds, making an emotional decision to get out of the market is unwise, the president of Guidestone Financial Resources…
Tortured suffer lasting effects in body & soul, experts say
ATLANTA (ABP) — Nearly two decades ago, Dianna Ortiz says, Guatemalan security forces abducted her and took her to a clandestine prison where she was gang-raped; burned more than 100 times with cigarettes; forced to cut another woman with a…
Disputed Iran dinner fails to deliver on dialogue
NEW YORK (RNS) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dined with 300 religious and political leaders Sept. 26, but the event that drew condemnation and protest offered far less dialogue than advertised. What was promised as a discussion of how religion…