You actually have asked two separate “right or wrong” questions. One concerns whether it is right or wrong to tell a “little white lie” to a child if it brings happiness. Parents avoid telling their children the absolute truth all…
EDITORIAL: When someone slaps you in the faith, turn the other cheek
The biblical word translated into English as persecution means to chase after; to harass, trouble, molest or mistreat. It seems to me that Christians and Christianity suffer persecution—face-slapping if you will—from numerous places. I realize that I may be accused…
Are some people born to be religious?
NEW ORLEANS (RNS)—A recent debate at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was titled “The Future of Atheism,” but the heart of the dialogue explored a related question: Can mankind's age-old belief in God be explained purely as a stubbornly recurring…
SECOND OPINION: Good manners and speaking the truth
The early onset of the presidential campaign has brought with it a renewed call for a “return to civility.” There seems, however, little prospect for any immediate restoration of such civility, assuming that it ever existed. I think there are…
Faith & family help minorities bridge academic achievement gap
WACO, Texas—The academic achievement gap between Anglo students and their African-American or Hispanic peers disappears when the students live in intact, religious families, a new study shows. William Jeynes, a nonresident researcher with the Baylor Univer-sity Institute for Studies of…
Evangelical leaders join broad-based coalition urging immigration reform
WASHINGTON (ABP)—A bi-partisan array of Congress members and evangelical leaders exhorted their colleagues on the moral necessity of immigration reform. Leaders from across the ideological spectrum—from Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to Southern Baptist public policy agency…
Faith Digest
Amish school reopens after shooting. Amish children entered their new school in Lancaster County, Penn., exactly six months after a gun-toting neighbor walked into their old schoolhouse and shot 10 students, killing five. The Amish demolished the old schoolhouse to…
Virginia Tech students gather at Baptist ministry center
Blacksburg, Va., is a wounded city. With 26,000 students, Virginia Tech is the dominant presence in the town usually bustling with students crisscrossing the campus and spilling over into the streets of the burg. Not Monday. JIM WHITE Although barraged…
Corporate setting offers chaplain chance to be ‘presence of Christ’
GLEN ALLEN — Tyson Foods Inc. in Glen Allen invests in its team each day to achieve the highest level of quality and production possible. In the process, the company sets an example for others to follow. Alan Tyson, director…
Grieving students, others pack VT’s covocation
The day after a student gunman killed 32 students and professors on the campus of Virginia Tech, thousands more than expected attended a solemn convocation to honor the dead and comfort the grieving. The day was sunny and mild but…
Wade announces plans to retire as Texas Baptist executive
DALLAS (ABP) — Charles Wade, who led the Baptist General Convention of Texas through major changes in its governance and a reorganization of its staff, has announced plans to retire as executive director Jan. 31, 2008. Wade told BGCT employees…
The church in parenthesis
When pastors leave congregations, their former churches often face what could be termed a punctuation crisis.Some mark the departure with a period, as the end of a sentence—either for the minister or the congregation. Others approach it with a question…