“Take him out! Blow him up! Take him out! Blow him up!” the children chant during a vacation Bible school program at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky. With eerie music looming over the scene, the viral TikTok video...
Not to be outdone by themselves, Louisiana’s culture-war politicians recently passed a new law making the state the first in the nation to permit surgical castration for some people convicted of sex crimes against children. When the act goes into…
It’s not even occurred to me to tell this story for maybe 30 years, but Father’s Day just happened and the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting just took place, and somebody just died a few days before that happened, and…
The Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly has continued its decade-long protest of Israeli occupation of Palestine by voting to divesting from Israeli bonds. The unanimous consent vote of the 500-member assembly marks a continuation of a protest begun in 2014…
Supporters of Joe Biden and Donald Trump see the world in almost polar opposite ways, according to new data from Pew Research. From gun violence to slavery to gender equity to religious liberty and sexual orientation, Democrats and Republicans express…
For 25 years, Jean Becker had a front row seat into the life of former President George H.W. Bush as his chief of staff. Her work was a calling she enjoyed, not just a job serving one of the world’s…
As a person who tries, however poorly, to live as a Jesus follower, I find myself fearing people who have only a casual acquaintance with Christianity might assume all Christians are applauding the recent Louisiana legislation that mandates posting the…
The 248th birthday of our country will be celebrated this year under dark shadows. Personally, I will not be doing much celebrating. Let’s review our situation, shall we? Former President Donald Trump already was leading in the presidential election polls…
As July 4 approaches, we struggle with the political polarization in our nation and worry about our democracy threatened by the allure of autocracy. To use scriptural categories, we are living between Romans 13 and Revelation 13. Romans 13 has…
In the latest episode of conservative Christianity’s persecution complex, the Biden administration is accused of discriminating against Christians by prohibiting them from fostering kids. “Biden Takes Aim at Christian Foster Care,” one headline from the American Family Association claims. “The Biden Regime…
Christian nationalism: Does such a thing exist? If it does, what is it and how did it emerge? Is it a threat? How should we respond to it? To answer these questions, I do not offer a political treatise representing…
Major stereotypes about HIV/AIDS and its victims persist despite decades of advancements in the knowledge and treatment of the virus and disease, said Stacy W. Smallwood, new executive director of the Faith COMPASS Center at Wake Forest University Divinity School….
American Baptist leaders in Wisconsin have launched a prayer and social action campaign to support beleaguered faith, humanitarian and LGBTQ groups in the Republic of Georgia. The effort follows the May passage of a law requiring Georgian organizations that receive…
