I’ve learned recently that the value of a disagreement in 2022 is fairly low, nearly completely devoid of any real value at all. This is due mostly to the constant stream of information for which we are able to, and…
Racial history is American history
We have seen the backlash against all things “woke,” a word and movement that means to become “awakened” to American history, particularly as experienced by Black Americans. The word “woke” itself, and its supporters, have been criticized as jargonistic, left-wing…
With Ed Litton not running, the race for SBC presidency draws new interest, including one possibly controversial candidate
Note: This story was updated Friday night, March 4, to include newly available comments from Voddie Baucham. With the surprise announcement by Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton that he will not seek a traditional second term, speculation has quickly…
Trayvon and Ahmaud: If schools can’t tell their stories, churches must
“I recall a Sunday morning in the spring of 1968 when the pastor of the Southern Baptist Convention-related church in Mesquite, Texas, where I was youth minister, offered his sermonic response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It…
Everything you need to know about the rise in efforts to ban books from libraries
Remember those quaint days when some people tried to ban the Harry Potter books from libraries because they were sure kids would learn how to cast spells if they read the fictional accounts of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?…
Letter to the Editor: A response from Oklahoma Senator Rob Standridge
Letter to the Editor February 15, 2022 Dear Editor: Per your article on Feb. 7, 2022, I was smeared for filing bills trying to protect the religious freedom of religious and Christian citizens in Oklahoma. Although I did remove the religious…
Willie McLaurin appointed interim Executive Committee president, becoming the SBC’s first-ever Black entity head
Willie McLaurin, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization, has been appointed interim president and CEO of the Executive Committee. The appointment came 10 days before the four-month mark of Ronnie Floyd’s resignation from…
The sacred work of white discomfort
In Florida, a state Senate committee wants to make it illegal to cause discomfort to white people. This bill, which reads like a scene from 1984, is a doozy. You can, and should, read the full text of it here. The bill…
The year of being threatened by smart women
Editor’s note: This story has been updated at the end with additional comments from Beth Allison Barr and Anthony Bradley. Maybe 2021 was the year of feeling threatened by smart women. That is, if you’re a white male conservative evangelical…
‘Bindergate’ story shows the behind-the-scenes struggle for unity versus strict orthodoxy in SBC
Southern Baptists were early to the cultural war over Critical Race Theory, but documents obtained by the Nashville Tennessean show the tightrope denominational leaders have walked trying to placate white ultra-conservatives while not running off Black conservatives. A Dec. 8…
Houston pastor voted off local school board by angry parents who called him a Black liberal racist
Pastor John Ogletree never imagined he would be unseated from his local school board position amid charges that he is a Black liberal racist. But after 17 years of service, he is out of office — along with two other…
School boards are ‘local beacons of democracy’ and susceptible to national discord, panelists explain
Local school board protests targeted at COVID-19 mask mandates, transgender student rights and Critical Race Theory are inspired at least as much by state and national politics as they are by parental concerns about education and student safety, a panel…