Why coercive religious politics undermine Christianity and democracy

ATLANTA (ABP) — Young adults at Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va., got their hands dirty for missions at a seamen’s center. Teens at Metro Baptist Church in New York City learned the value of feeding the homeless, talking…

ATLANTA (ABP) — Men with chemical dependency in Waukegan, Ill., now have a home to help them recover and build new lives — thanks to a local church and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. First Baptist Church in Waukegan and CBF…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — While just 33 churches signed up to participate in a conservative Christian group’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” Sept. 28, planners viewed it as a success. That is, organizers said, because its stated purpose was not to inject politics…

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (ABP) — Voters hoping to know more about the vice-presidential candidates’ faith-influenced views on contentious policy issues probably learned little from the Oct. 2 debate between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin. Only one question posed…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new poll says white evangelicals under 30 are just as opposed to abortion as their older counterparts, but more liberal in their views on same-sex marriage or civil unions for gays. The survey, conducted for the…

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (ABP) — Debate over the morality of coercive force would be served better if everyone involved quit using the word “torture” altogether, said Daniel Heimbach, professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. “The problem here…

ATLANTA (ABP) — Nearly two decades ago, Sister Dianna Ortiz says, Guatemalan security forces abducted her and took her to a clandestine prison where she was brutally gang-raped; burned more than 100 times with cigarettes; forced to cut another woman…

ATLANTA (ABP) — Most evangelical American Christians remained silent about torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo for some of the same reasons European Christians 70 years ago largely failed to resist the Holocaust, ethicist David Gushee told a national summit…

ATLANTA (ABP) — Concern about human rights means biblically grounded compassion for oppressed people — not a selfish desire to protect one’s own property or prestige, Baptist ethicist Glen Stassen told a recent meeting of religious leaders concerned about torture….