“They stole $77,000. And that was all of my savings.” Her voice was so soft I (Doug) had to lean in to hear her. “I’ve talked with the local police, the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission. The money is...
Christian nationalists are world-class experts in seizing power by taking Bible verses out of context. Growing up, my independent Baptist high school constantly used Philippians 4:13 as proof we could win the state championship, Jeremiah 29:11 as proof God would…
There is a children’s picture book called The Little Hummingbird that I absolutely love. It’s based on a fable by the Quechuan people of South America and tells the story of a forest ravaged by fire and the response of…
After growing up in a Christian cult (Bill Gothard’s IBLP of Shiny Happy People), I found freedom working at a church camp one summer when I was 21. Showing up with my waist-length hair, ankle length skirts and long list…
Three hundred pastors and faith leaders have signed a second letter to Baylor University decrying revocation of a $634,000 grant to study loneliness and rejection of women and the LGBTQ community in churches. This letter comes one week after a…
Three parents are appealing the dismissal of a lawsuit contending Florida violated their constitutional right to contest the removal of books from public schools. The target of the initial lawsuit and the appeal is a 2023 state law providing a…
The current MAGA evangelical attacks on science threaten to make America less safe, less healthy and much dumber. This anti-science compulsion is no surprise. Evangelical Christianity in the United States has rejected science at least since Charles Darwin. There is…
A veteran airline pilot once told me, “Even the most advanced aircraft won’t go anywhere without regular course corrections.” The same is true of churches. While rooted in timeless truth, churches must constantly assess whether they’re still aligned with their…
The Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge to admit about 12,000 refugees whose arrival plans were canceled when the president took office in January. U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle said his order includes refugees from…
“I ain’t gonna take the blame for no bastard child! It would ruin me, man. You can understand that, can’t you? Listen to me, boy. She was … delusional. She was crazy.” So goes the frantic defense of Rev. Preston…
Standing up for voting rights is essential in pushing back against the social and political chaos consuming the nation, activist Moya Harris said during a July 15 organizing webinar. “Protecting the right to vote is protecting every other right we…
Forty years after that long hot summer of 1925 in Dayton, Tenn., where the Scopes “Monkey Trial” was held, Southern Baptist preacher Carlyle Marney vividly recounted his memories. His parents were daily readers of the Knoxville News Sentinel, which claimed…
Christopher B. Hays is the D. Wilson Moore Professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Seminary, where his teaching focuses on biblical languages and the Hebrew Bible. In 1996, his father, Richard, a leading figure in…
