Baptist News Global

Was that a blatantly racist tweet from a Texas senator or not?

The ranking U.S. senator from Texas tweeted a response to former President Barack Obama June 25 that online observers immediately called out as blatantly racist. Exactly what Sen. John Cornyn meant is not clear, as he has not responded to…

Here’s what pastors said this Sunday in churches not celebrating the Supreme Court’s abortion decision

While conservative evangelical and Catholic churches across America celebrated Friday’s Supreme Court ruling rescinding a federal right to abortion care, sermons and prayers in other congregations ranged from lament to outrage to calls for simply getting along with each other….

The French Dreyfus Affair and Trump’s Big Lie

We are witnessing an extraordinarily disturbing juxtaposition in U.S. politics right now. In Washington, the January 6 Committee, primarily using testimony from Republicans and former Trump administration officials, is once again shredding Donald Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election…

Independence Day: Not to celebrate but to reflect

What do we call the American holiday coming up soon? The Fourth of July? Or Independence Day? A long-time friend answered that question for me in a dialogue we had two years ago. “It’s just the Fourth of July,” she…

U.S. State Department calls out Russia, China, Afghanistan, Myanmar for extreme religious freedom abuses

Its continuing domestic crackdowns on minority religious groups and its invasion of Ukraine have solidified Russia’s status as one of the world’s leading violators of religious freedom, U.S. officials announced this month. “Following its designation as a Country of Particular…

Two viruses threaten the life of the Southern Baptist Convention: Male hierarchy and dominion theology

There is most likely a virus inside your body right now. Probably even a few. These latent viruses are tiny squatters that call our bodies home. Some of the more well-known latent viruses inhabit as much as 80% to 90%…

Progress on sexual abuse in the SBC? Not so fast

As Russian tanks, troops and bombs poured into Ukraine, imagine if President Joe Biden had announced to the world: “This is shocking. We pledge to help Ukrainians save their lives and freedom for one year. Next year, though, we may…

Pranoto, Shaw, Smith and Younger join BNG board of directors

Four new members have been elected to the board of directors for Baptist News Global, an independent national nonprofit news service. Joining the board are Kevin Pranoto of Little Rock, Ark.; Susan Shaw of Corvallis, Ore.; Sid Smith III of…

Uyghur American elected chairman of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

The first Uyghur American appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has been elected the group’s chairman. Nury Turkel was elected unanimously to the post by his fellow commissioners. Also, Abraham Cooper, a recognized authority on antisemitism, was…

When a Mexican cartel kidnapped a Baptist pastor, they got more than they bargained for

A Mexican cartel got more than it bargained for earlier this month by kidnapping Lorenzo Ortiz, an American pastor who operates shelters for asylum seekers and other migrants south of the U.S.-Mexico border. His abduction at 6 p.m. June 2…

The Black community needs allies who listen and act, scholar says

The quest for racial justice in the United States needs more white people who hear the concerns of their Black neighbors and respond with concrete actions, a Black church scholar wrote in a New York newspaper. In an op-ed published…

Supreme Court slides into partisanship

Before the fireworks, be careful what you drink

The contemptible case of Clarence Thomas

The permanent paradoxes of Christian thinking about war