Why coercive religious politics undermine Christianity and democracy

APEX, N.C. (ABP) — A Baptist teenager from North Carolina died Sept. 9 in an apparent accident at a church youth retreat. Ozzie Vargas Jr., 17, died after falling from a zip line at Camp Oak Hill in north Granville…

SALT LAKE CITY (ABP) — Days before the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a panel of Muslims discussed media-perpetrated misperceptions of Islam and a “climate of negativity” in the United States — particularly concerning the war…

ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist World Aid each have given $5,000 for flood relief in Ethiopia, where a local Baptist group is leading response efforts in the Addis Ababa region. Addis Kidan Baptist Churches, a convention…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Alliance of Baptists has filed a formal challenge to a Treasury Department fine for allegedly violating the United States' economic embargo on Cuba. Alliance officials sent the response Aug. 31 to the department's Office of Foreign…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — Some members of Congress want to make it harder for citizens to sue the government over religious-liberty abuses. If a House panel has its way, groups that win federal cases against the government for violating church-state separation…

ATLANTA (ABP) — Eighty students at 11 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship partner schools have received scholarships for the 2006-2007 academic year. The scholarships are designed for students with CBF ties going to seminaries or divinity schools that train future church leaders….

DALLAS (ABP) — Two esteemed institutions — the United States and the church –appear in danger of abandoning the high ideals of their founding documents, the president of the nation's largest African-American Baptist group said. “A haunting shade hangs over…

DALLAS (ABP) — Speaking to a late-afternoon audience of more than 1,000, former Southern Baptist Convention president Jimmy Allen told the nation's largest African-American Baptist group that media promotion of a “prosperity gospel” is deluging modern-day churches — and driving…

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — “If it means me dying and lost people coming to know Christ, I'd die.” Those words were spoken by 16-year-old Nathan Johnson at summer camp, just weeks before he lost his life in a car accident….

CEDARVILLE, Ohio (ABP) — Although the Southern Baptist Convention has established itself as a stalwart among conservatives, one group of Baptists thinks it's not conservative enough. The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches recently broke ties with Cedarville University, a…

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (ABP) — A businesswoman's contribution of more than $1 million to Gardner-Webb University will allow students of the university's divinity school to study overseas. University spokesman Noel Manning said the donation is one of the largest ever…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — A group of Christians who vote Democratic have launched an Internet forum aimed at making religious voters question whether the GOP is really the more faith-friendly political party, as polls show many believe. And they're doing it…