A friend called last week to ask me to think back to the beginning of a community service organization I helped to launch almost 20 years ago. Despite some time in reflection, there was very little I could add…
No marriage at all?
By Corey Fields In a recent interview with News 9 in Oklahoma City, state representative Mike Turner said, “[My constituents are] willing to have that discussion about whether marriage needs to be regulated by the state at all.” When I…
“Corporations are people, my friend” — Hobby Lobby and religious freedom
Less than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s most significant legislative accomplishment, “Obamacare” is set to be back before the High Court next month. Oral arguments for Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores,…
What will ex-Southern Baptists be when they grow up?
By David Gushee Follow David on twitter: @dpgushee It has been 35 years since the Southern Baptist Convention “conservative resurgence/fundamentalist takeover” began in earnest, 27 years since the Alliance of Baptists was formed by frustrated Baptist progressives, and 23 years since the…
Charity in all things
Now that the debate billed as a kind of clash-of-the-titans has finished the real curiosity for me is found in reading the write-ups. When I first heard that Ken Ham was going to debate Bill Nye I was intrigued. I…
Finding new meaning in ‘blood’ language
By Andrew Gardner For numerous people the sight of blood can cause a level of queasiness unmatched by anything else. In a somewhat related manner, for some Christians who characterize themselves as moderate, progressive or (dare I say) liberal, the…
A kiss of solidarity
By Bert Montgomery A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. This week, I learned just how true that is. I’ve written thousands of words over the past several years about how the Church has failed our gay and…
Five challenges of diversity
How strange it has seemed to us to live in Houston. The Houston we left 28 years ago and the Houston we call home today are two entirely different places, though they share the same geographic location. It was about…
Those thorny parallels between faith and addiction
By Trey Lyon Recently there was quite a dust-up among the evangelical-ish internet crowd when author Donald Miller revealed that he no longer regularly attends church. There were folks who assailed his position for any number of reasons, as well…