Why coercive religious politics undermine Christianity and democracy

DALLAS (ABP) — A five-month investigation uncovered evidence church-starting funds from the Baptist General Convention of Texas were misused between 1999 and 2005 in the Rio Grande Valley. Independent investigators discovered about 98 percent of the 258 church starts reported…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — While Americans are focused on whether Democrats will regain control of one or both chambers of Congress during the Nov. 7 elections, several other issues important to religious voters will appear on state ballots. In eight states,…

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (ABP) — The executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention reportedly claimed the “real threat” to the United States is that “Islam has a strategic plan to conquer and occupy America.” David Clippard, in his address at…

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (ABP) — The Missouri Baptist Convention voted Oct. 31 to oust 19 congregations — some of which have been part of the group since its beginning — because of their affiliations with moderate Baptist groups. The move…

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — John Heflin Jr., an Arkansas businessman and philanthropist, died Oct. 26. He was 61. Heflin, who died from cancer, was a major donor to Baptist causes, including the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas and Ouachita…

DALLAS (ABP) — On Nov. 3, a Canadian film team will release in U.S. theatres The Great Warming, a movie about climate change and the initiatives aimed at reversing its trend toward permanent ecologic damage. Unlike other recent environmental movies,…

The global communities of science, business, and policymaking have largely moved past the debate about whether humans are causing serious climate change and on to the question of what to do about it. But the conservative Christian sector in the…

DALLAS (ABP) – After Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders voted Oct. 13 to award “identity partner” status to just four of the nine theological schools that applied for the designation, CBF board members and officials worried about the strained relationships and…

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — If a Missouri Baptist Convention committee has its way, messengers to the convention's annual meeting Oct. 31 will effectively eject 18 congregations — including the very church in which the convention got its start. If…

BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention expects very little from its vice presidents — nothing, in fact — unless the SBC president becomes incapacitated. Traditionally, those elected each year to the mostly honorary VP positions are seen…