Some of you who have seen the movie Ocean’s 13 may remember the line near the end when George Clooney’s character, Danny Ocean, confronts Al Pacino’s character, Willie Bank, with this gem: “You should know better. You shook Sinatra’s hand.”…
Here’s who’s behind the war on empathy
When Donald Trump made his triumphal return to the White House, Joe Rigney could hardly contain his excitement. “The polls show that a significant majority of Americans favor the president’s goal,” the Baptist scholar noted, “but will we have the…
Revised book highlights religious freedom for African Americans
The Black church and community must band together to bring ancestral wisdom to bear against white Christian supremacy, said William Lamar, pastor of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., which recently won a court judgment against the Proud…
A Declaration of Economic Independence
DEI, originally coined as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, has a new meaning for Black Americans in the second age of Trump called the Declaration of Economic Independence. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, corporate America temporarily pledged billions…
Why Greg Abbott pardoned a killer
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has once again injected himself into the headlines by pardoning a convicted murderer. A couple of months after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, spontaneous Black Lives Matter protests sprang up across the nation. Daniel Perry,…
It wasn’t your imagination: New study proves divisions created in churches by COVID
A new study exposes the stress and pain clergy endured during the COVID-19 pandemic as divisions over public health restrictions transformed many churches into culture-war battlefields. “Polarization decreased the middle ground, diminished trust in pastoral decision-making and created a general…
Movements expand and contract, Black Lives Matter co-founder says
Social and racial justice activists should envision rubber bands when frustrated, fearful or angry about the “perilous times” currently facing the movements for systemic change in the U.S., Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza said. “What happens with rubber bands?…
Is talk of ‘Christian nationalism’ a ‘Maoist insurgency’ against Christians or are Christian nationalists a ‘threat to democracy’?
The term “Christian nationalism” was invented by the nation’s liberal “occupiers” as part of a “Maoist insurgency” to deny evangelicals’ religious freedom and democratic rights, according to a recent town hall moderated by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. The…
In Flint, Mich., a Baptist pastor and a Nation of Islam leader join in a call for justice
A Baptist pastor affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has teamed with a Nation of Islam leader to demand justice for an African American man allegedly beaten by police in Flint, Mich., earlier this month. Devontae Powell, lead pastor at…
Most young people are unsettled in the new year but few plan to turn to the church for help
Young people in the United States are fearful about the new year but are not turning to churches or other faith communities for solace or guidance, according to a research group that tracks the spiritual lives and perspectives of Generation…
Why I’m among the unchurched today
In his Nov. 9 analysis, “The Church Is Losing Its Way,” Rob Sellers outlines the numerous ways in which the church is failing. In addition to Sellers’ list (irrelevance, unchallenging, unaccepting, and, most interestingly, unChristlike), I would like to add…
Baptism is a call to social action, not a genteel ceremony, Braxton says
Baptism services should not be polite affairs or genteel ceremonies. Instead, they should be provocative political statements that agitate more than comfort and call believers to action, according to Brad Braxton. “Baptism services should not be polite. On the contrary,…