Why coercive religious politics undermine Christianity and democracy

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A Missouri judge, who recently dismissed a lawsuit against five Missouri Baptist agencies, won't allow the plaintiffs to amend the suit. Judge Thomas Brown, who ruled March 11 that the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — The United States ranks third, behind only China and Iran, in reported executions, according to a new report by a human-rights group that opposes the death penalty. Amnesty International's annual report on the death penalty, released April…

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist Medical/Dental Fellowship will expand their partnership to provide health-care ministries in the United States and overseas. An agreement signed April 2 during the BMDF annual meeting includes establishing medical/dental…

RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — The attorney general of North Carolina has told a Baptist pastor that his complaint against the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina appears to be a private matter. Gene Scarborough, pastor of North Rocky Mount Baptist…

BUIES CREEK, N.C. (ABP) — Jerry Wallace was inaugurated April 2 as the fourth president in the 117-year history of Campbell University, which is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Wallace was elected last year to succeed…

(ABP) — George Beverly Shea often wished he could preach like his father and grandfather, but he seemed to lack the “gift.” Even so, when he was on staff at the Moody Bible Institute's flagship radio station in Chicago, a…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — The 2004 presidential campaign has begun in earnest but, for Christian voters, deciding between the two major candidates may not be as black and white as campaign ads make it out to be. A significant majority of…

PINEVILLE, La. (ABP) — Louisiana College trustees, whose December decision to screen all classroom materials was criticized as a violation of academic freedom, will consider an even stricter textbook policy when they meet later this month. Conservative trustee Leon Hyatt…

DALLAS (ABP) — Flash floods swallowed parts of Piedras Negras, Mexico, April 4, prompting Texas Baptists to send blankets, clothes, food and drinking water. According to reports, more than 50 people have been confirmed dead and another 100 are missing….

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (ABP) — Churches, conventions and Christians are in deep financial trouble and facing a bleak future if church leaders do not actively engage cultural shifts and the perils of consumerism, according to a battery of speakers at…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — Disputes over the minimum wage and other contentious election-year issues have stalled congressional reauthorization of a welfare reform program that includes funds for religious charities. The dispute killed, for the time being, the Personal Responsibility and Individual…

DALLAS (ABP) — Federal agencies have issued safety warnings about them and major insurance companies have stopped writing policies on them, but some churches continue to struggle with the question of what to do with 15-passenger vans. Three years ago,…