Court strikes down Louisiana Ten Commandments law

A Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in every public classroom is “unconstitutional on its face” and may not go into effect Jan. 1 as state officials hoped, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge John W....

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Tsunami volunteers not needed yet but should prepare, leaders say

(ABP) — Volunteers are not needed to help yet with the relief effort in South Asia, but they need to be prepared for action. Relief leaders, including Baptists from around the world, continue assessing needs in the countries affected by…

Gonzales won’t repudiate torture memo despite appeals from religious leaders

WASHINGTON (ABP) — Although pledging not to tolerate torture of prisoners by American soldiers or law-enforcement agents, Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales also repeatedly refused Jan. 6 to renounce a controversial memo his office authored in 2002 supporting the legality…

Sudanese government, southern rebels sign long-awaited peace accord

WASHINGTON (ABP) — In what many hope will be the beginning of the end of a bloody conflict fueled by ethnic and religious differences, Sudan's Arab-dominated government signed a peace agreement Jan. 9. Meeting in neighboring Kenya, Vice President Ali…

Supreme Court sidesteps case on Florida adoption ban

WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court has declined, without comment, to hear a challenge to Florida's ban on adoptions by homosexuals. Returning to the bench from their month-long winter break Jan. 10, the justices turned away an appeal in Lofton…

Wife of former Baptist executive, Bettye Cothen, dies in Miami at 83

MIAMI (ABP) — Bettye Cothen, 83, wife of former Southern Baptist executive Grady Cothen, died Jan. 10 in a Miami hospice. She had Parkinson's disease. For 63 years, she was married to Grady C. Cothen, retired president of the Southern…

Rick Warren to write column for Ladies’ Home Journal

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren, whose books on spirituality have dominated secular best-seller lists for the past two years, will now write a monthly column for Ladies' Home Journal. The column, which debuts in the…

Louisiana College trustees nominate president, but lawsuit may block vote

Editor's Note: This updates and corrects a story released Jan. 6. PINEVILLE, La. (ABP) – Trustees of embattled Louisiana College will meet Jan. 17 to try again to elect a president, but they likely will be sued to prevent him…

Louisiana College trustees nominate president, but lawsuit may block vote

PINEVILLE, La. (ABP) — Trustees of embattled Louisiana College will meet Jan. 17 to try again to elect a president, but they likely will be sued to prevent him from taking office. Joe Aguillard, 47, a conservative professor and chair…

Cash is best for tsunami relief, Baptist disaster leaders say

(ABP) — If you want to help tsunami victims, money is better than supplies, disaster-relief leaders say. It is costlier to ship items overseas when the same supplies can be bought drastically cheaper in the country where relief workers are…