The stories of Graham Platner and Roy Moore, although unfolding in different parties and different eras, trace the same institutional pattern: Modern political parties elevate outsiders when they are useful and abandon them when they become inconvenient. Platner and Moore...
I’ve been busy with the holidays since last week. When the grand jury’s decision in Ferguson was announced, I was picking up extended family from the airport. When a local action took place in my city the next day, I…
My colleagues hate it when I read, especially something that isn’t religious, theological or churchy! For instance, when I read Googled: The End of the World as We Know It I ended up in a conference in California, and we…
Personal tragedy can make the Thanksgiving season very difficult. We need only remember Job to acknowledge that. After a series of events that included the deaths of all his children, his beloved servants, his contracting a painful illness, the inadequacy…
Has your church ever executed someone? Don’t be appalled by such a question. Think deeper. Perhaps you never hung someone on the cross at the front of your sanctuary, but have you considered the consequences of your inaction? Think about…
By Jeff Brumley A team of sociologists in Colorado say they were stunned recently by data showing a growing wave of once-dedicated church goers leaving their congregations. Their findings inspired the now-popular term “dones,” denoting Christians deciding to go it alone on…
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission joined other groups in siding with a former UPS delivery driver forced to go on unpaid leave when she became pregnant in a case argued before the U.S….
By Bob Allen The Obama administration paid a group related to the Baptist General Convention of Texas more than $182 million to care for undocumented immigrant children at two military facilities for four months this summer. According to documents obtained…
By Bob Allen A 74-year-old former Southern Baptist youth pastor pleaded guilty Dec. 1 to six charges of sexually abusing minors in Jefferson County, Ala. Mack Allen Davis, former youth minister at Lakeside Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., still faces…
David Hofer, the oldest brother, was released from prison the next day, but Jacob Wipf was held until April 13, 1919. From his hospital bed in Dec. 1918, Jacob shared the story of the shameful treatment the four Hutterites received;…
