Finding the definition of a “biblical church” became a linchpin in the unsuccessful lawsuit filed by some members of Second Baptist Church of Houston against the leadership of their megachurch. Texas Business Court Judge Grant Dorfman dismissed the entire case...
Alex and I are treated differently. That’s not a complaint, and it isn’t something either of us spends much time dwelling on, (I’m not sure he’s even noticed) but it’s simply true. We’re both gay men. We’re now married to…
To understand the judicial legacy of Clarence Thomas is to examine a decades-long exercise in institutional alienation. His trajectory on the Supreme Court cannot be viewed merely through the lens of conservative legal theory; rather, it is defined by a…
As the Southern Baptist Convention in its recent annual meeting has proved itself unreliably Baptist, it gives me pause to think about how quickly the transmogrification of this Baptist denomination into its ecclesiastical opposite has happened. Baptist folk often have…
The morality of warfare has been in the news recently. This occurs every so often, usually when the United States launches a dubious military action (like the one against Iran) and someone in the administration (like JD Vance) claims the support…
Scott Cairns is a poet and writer who is the Curators Distinguished Professor of English emeritus at the University of Missouri. He is the author of poetry collections such as Slow Pilgrim, and of the spiritual autobiography Short Trip to…
As the case against Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin goes public next week in an evidentiary trial in Utah, the cottage industry of conspiracy theories about Kirk’s death has accelerated. The official story — not yet adjudicated in court — is…
These days, you’d think we wouldn’t be shocked by a new weekly, daily or hourly religio-political-cultural-rightward-revisionism in the land of the free and the home of Project 2025. But “adjusting” to such practices seems abidingly stressful and/or depressing to many…
Ever since the beginning of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy last May, there has been anticipation concerning his first encyclical letter. Oftentimes the subject and tone of a pope’s opening epistle is a significant marker of a given pontificate. For Pope…
It has been four years this month since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, and the number of annual abortions in the U.S. has nearly doubled. But the battle continues on other fronts, including efforts to ban the drugs…
When I meet with pastors and ask how giving is going, the answer is pretty much the same: Giving is down, and not just during the low seasons churches are used to experiencing. The decline in giving is no longer…
This is the 10th in a BNG series of articles on Christianity and democracy that will lead toward the July 4 celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The series has been curated by Carol McEntyre, senior minister at First Baptist Church of…
Christians often have been reminded that some of their forebears supported slavery, but many do not know Christians ended slavery in the United States. Southern Baptists, in particular, frequently are reminded their convention began amid the defense of slavery. Yet…
