By Bill Leonard Tonight I am ashamed to be a Baptist. Born into Baptist “cradle role” in the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Texas, and baptized on profession of faith in that congregation when I was 8 years old, I’ve…
What’s wrong with gay marriage?
By Jim Denison President Obama made history with his recent endorsement of same-sex marriage. Several prominent evangelicals were quick to disagree. Why? What’s wrong with gay marriage? Space does not permit exploring such controversy in detail, but we can survey…
There’s a new world coming
By Amy Butler Since I learned this catchy tune at the Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity conference held in D.C. last week, I can’t seem to get it out of my head. There’s a new world coming,…
The sin of heterosexism
By Miguel De La Torre I met Tommy (not his real name) back in the 1980s at our local church where I served as deacon and Sunday school teacher. We became close friends and talked about many things. Both of us…
Shorter librarian’s job in jeopardy
By Bob Allen A gay librarian has become a reluctant symbol for opponents of Shorter University’s new “personal lifestyle statement” that must be signed by faculty and staff who want to remain at the Baptist-affiliated school in Rome, Ga. A…
Baptists split on NC gay marriage ban
By Bob Allen Some religious leaders hailed North Carolina’s May 8 passage of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman as a win for family values, while others vowed to continue the fight for what…
Race & Faith
By Ken Camp A neighborhood watchman in Florida shoots and kills a hoodie-wearing African-American teenager. Two white suspects in Tulsa, Okla., confess to the Easter weekend shooting of five people in a predominantly black neighborhood. Elizabeth Eckford, one of the…
Stand Your Ground sponsor sees no contradiction with his Baptist faith
By Jeff Brumley The state legislator and Southern Baptist layman who championed the Stand Your Ground law made infamous in the Trayvon Martin case was relieved when the killer was charged with second-degree murder. “I was redeemed by it because…
Ethnicity thwarts unity: BWA head
By Marv Knox Ethnicity – not race – thwarts Christian unity, Baptists’ international leader told participants at the T.B. Maston Lectures in Christian Ethics. Neville Callam, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, delivered the 12th annual Maston Lectures April…