WASHINGTON (ABP) — Two new polls seem to provide more bad news for supporters of gay rights and the candidates who court them. Polls recently released by National Public Radio and the Family Research Council show strong opposition both to…
Billy Graham recovering after surgery to repair hip
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Evangelist Billy Graham is recovering in a Jacksonville hospital after partial hip-replacement surgery Jan. 6, according to a story in the Florida Times-Union. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association spokesman Larry Ross said Graham, 85, fell during the…
Baptists begin relief effort to Iranian quake survivors
DALLAS (ABP) — Disaster-relief volunteers from Texas Baptist churches are slated to leave the United States Jan. 9 bound for Iran, where they will spend two weeks meeting the needs of people left homeless and hurting after a massive earthquake….
Former seminary president Lewis Drummond dies at 77
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Lewis A. Drummond, prominent evangelist and former president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, died Sunday in Asheville, N.C. Drummond, 77, suffered a heart attack on Christmas Day after battling cancer for several years. He is survived…
New Afghan constitution omits full religious freedom, critics say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A council of regional and tribal leaders has given approval to a new Afghan constitution containing provisions that fail to protect religious freedom, say international human-rights activists. About 500 delegates to the loya jirga, or grand assembly,…
SBC report on BWA theology untrue, German theologian says (updated)
BOCHUM, Germany (ABP) — A German Baptist theologian, who was cited as an example of “aberrant and dangerous” theology within the Baptist World Alliance, says the Southern Baptist committee that leveled those charges is guilty of lying and should repent….
New Jersey governor signs cloning bill
WASHINGTON (ABP) — New Jersey has become the second state to authorize human cloning for therapeutic purposes. New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey (D) signed a bill Jan. 4 authorizing what supporters call “somatic cell nuclear transplantation,” but banning cloning for…
Priest abuse victims’ groups view audit results skeptically
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A semi-independent audit of American Catholic dioceses released Jan. 6 said that diocesan officials are mostly complying with new anti-abuse rules. But abuse victims' groups are skeptical of the study. The study was conducted by the Boston-based…
Bush comments appear to back Federal Marriage Amendment
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush is drawing fire from both the left and the right after he made comments in a television interview that appeared simultaneously to endorse a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and support states' rights to…