Not only are conservative evangelicals seeking to redefine religious liberty to their favor through court rulings, they’re also quietly using a provision of the IRS code to shield their flourishing nonprofit ministries from financial reporting obligations and to aid in…
Franklin Graham says he’s not a preacher of hate, so let’s roll the tape and see
I have a couple of questions for Franklin Graham. For years I have granted him a sort of “don’t criticize” card because of my respect for his father, Billy Graham. But as Franklin has become more and more political and…
Government by quips, tweets and slogans
Once upon a time, a politician with a quick wit conveyed confidence, intelligence and a sense of humor. Americans loved politicians who could think quickly on their feet under pressure. Now, we get packaged, pre-written statements read from a teleprompter….
Franklin Graham calls for Holy Week cease-fire in Ukraine war but still won’t name Putin as the source of the suffering
Faced with mounting evidence of horrific war crimes committed by Vladimir Putin, a leading American evangelical working in humanitarian relief efforts has yet to call out the Russian president for his brutal assault on Ukraine. Just back from a two-day…
Why it’s wrong to assume American evangelicals are siding with Russia over Ukraine
If Vladimir Putin wanted to invade a former Soviet-bloc country and get the blessings of American Christians, he might have done better than choosing Ukraine. Among all the countries that once made up the USSR, Ukraine today stands out as…
How Donald Trump became god
Few historical events have captured the attention of Americans, if not the world, more than the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States in 2016 and the dizzying, polarizing and, to some, maddening four years of…
Why is anybody still giving money to Franklin Graham?
On the anniversary of the greatest single domestic threat to American democracy since the Civil War, what would you expect a respected religious leader to say? After the president of the United States calls out his predecessor’s perpetually expanding web…
I’ve seen this movie before
If you live long enough, you can tell when the re-runs are playing. Now eyeing 80, I find some of the re-runs are no better now than the first performance. For instance: When the Southern Baptist wars began in 1979,…
I want to experience Christianity much bigger than a shoebox
Every year about this time, old content from the Baptist News Global website starts lighting up, due to searches for “Operation Christmas Child.” As it turns out, people are not just searching these words because they love the program and…