An African-American pastor is asking the Southern Baptist Convention to adopt a resolution calling for elimination of public display of the Confederate flag. Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, recently submitted a resolution for possible consideration…
Taking it all in – the pain and the joy
Joseph Andrew Haynie’s eyes were blue. Reading his Army discharge papers fifty-eight years after his death, I learned this simple fact. Joe Haynie married Katie Louise Clyde in the tumultuous year of 1941 – and left not long afterwards for…
Confederate flags left at MLK’s home church
By Bob Allen The pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church called Thursday’s placement of four Confederate flags on the campus of the home church of Martin Luther King an act of hate and terrorism. “It is the kind of…
Rights and offenses: The Confederate flag
On Friday, July 10, at the South Carolina Capitol, the Confederate flag was removed. On Sunday, July 12, at my church, the Confederate flag was prominently displayed. I saw the oversized flag attached to the back, right-side of an oversized…
Newspaper op-ed decries bashing of Confederate flag
By Bob Allen A guest column in a Baptist state newspaper takes exception to Southern Baptist leaders reacting to the recent church shooting in Charleston, S.C., with calls to take down the Confederate flag. Edward DeVries, pastor of Village of…
Christian flag breaking
An excited patriot handed me one of those 10-inch flags that you stick into your lawn on July 4th.The plastic red, white and blue was intact, but the pole that once held it together was broken three stripes from the…
The Confederate flag honors a bad memory
I am a proud Southerner. That is why you will never see me display the Confederate flag. Now, I do not pretend to have plumbed the depths of the debate over the flag, but I do believe that symbols hold…
Faith and the Confederate flag
My family bloodline is bound up in a dark part of American history. With a name like Robert Lee the question I undoubtedly receive most about my name is, “Are you related to him?” and the answer is yes, yes…
The Mother Emanuel Nine and the Parable of the Sower and the Soils
South Carolina became my adopted state 30 years ago. Understanding and appreciating its culture is a continual journey of social and religious understanding. The story of the Emanuel Nine provides a new dimension of learning. This tragic incident is personal…
SBC’s Russell Moore: Take down the Confederate flag
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention ethicist Russell Moore says for the sake of the gospel the time has arrived to take down the Confederate flag. Russell Moore, head of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said in a…