PARIS (ABP) — France's lower house of parliament has voted overwhelmingly to prohibit students from wearing “conspicuous” religious symbols in public schools, sparking an outcry from religious liberty advocates in the United States. The French National Assembly voted 494 to…
Judge dismisses most counts against Baylor in wrongful death suit
WACO, Texas (ABP) — A Waco judge dismissed Feb. 6 most of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of slain Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy. Ralph Strother of Waco's 19th State District Court threw out six of…
CBF membership influenced BWA decision, Rankin says
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — The Baptist World Alliance's decision to accept the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship into membership helped persuade the Southern Baptist Convention to withdraw from the BWA, an SBC leader said. Jerry Rankin, president of the SBC's International Mission…
Historic Massachusetts session tries to reverse gay marriage
BOSTON (ABP) — The Massachusetts legislature convened an unusual constitutional convention Feb. 11 to consider ways to reverse or limit the state supreme court's recent legalization of gay marriage. With thousands of protesters gathered outside, legislators began debating legal measures…
Quietly, new Commandments display goes up in Alabama Judicial Building
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP) — The Ten Commandments are back on display in Alabama's judicial headquarters, but their self-appointed cheerleader reportedly isn't happy about it. On Feb. 5, workers installed a display containing a manuscript of the Commandments as well as…
Retired pastor to become head of Texas Baptist benevolent group
DALLAS (ABP) — The Texas Baptist Men personnel search committee will nominate Leo Smith to be the organization's executive director at the group's Feb. 27 board meeting. Smith is currently TBM's interim executive director, a position he accepted after resigning…
Truett yanks gay student’s scholarship; Baylor, Texas gay-rights groups protest
WACO, Texas (ABP) — A moderate Baptist seminary has revoked a student's scholarship — purportedly because he is gay — and the student and gay-rights groups are calling “foul.” In late December, officials at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological…
House approves another bill allowing religious discrimination
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The House of Representatives has turned back a challenge to a bill that would allow religious organizations receiving federal funding to discriminate in hiring. In debate on the bill Feb. 4, Democrats attempted to offer a substitute…
Same-sex marriages imminent after Massachusetts court’s ruling
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As far as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is concerned, a civil-unions bill would be a separate and unequal response to their earlier ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. Their latest pronouncement was read publicly for the first time…