By Colin Harris The closing days of 2013 saw two more states gaining approval for marriage equality, bringing the total to 18, suggesting a clear political momentum that will not likely be reversed. Around and beneath this legal process has…
Gay couple fined 1 cent for trespassing
By Bob Allen A gay Baptist minister arrested in January for refusing to leave a county clerk’s office that denied him and his partner a marriage license was convicted Nov. 26 of trespassing and fined a penny for the crime….
Baptist leader blasts ‘civil religion’
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s chief spokesman on public policy said Oct. 10 that issues facing military chaplains are part of a larger trend in society to endorse “a bland, generic, nothing blob of civil religion over genuine…
BGCT chaplains won’t wed gay couples
By Bob Allen Military chaplains endorsed by the Baptist General Convention of Texas cannot officiate at same-sex marriage ceremonies, according to new guidelines announced Oct. 9. According to a news release, the Texas Baptist Chaplaincy Relations Office issued guiding principles…
SBC touts safeguard for gay-marriage foes
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is backing a bill filed in Congress to protect religious institutions and other nonprofit groups that don’t recognize same-sex marriage from possible discrimination. The Marriage and Religious Freedom Act,…
ERLC defends rules for military chaplains
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission defended new guidelines for military chaplains in response to a recent commentary published by Associated Baptist Press. Andrew Walker, director of policy studies for the SBC agency dedicated…
Mohler says military chaplains at risk
By Bob Allen New guidelines that bar Southern Baptist military chaplains from leading or attending same-sex wedding ceremonies may force Bible-believing Christians to choose between serving God or country, a seminary president says in a blog and audio podcast. “The…
SBC chaplains cannot serve ‘God and country’
By Tom Carpenter The North American Mission Board has turned the Army motto on its head. They have forced their endorsed chaplains into the untenable position of either serving God or country. Given that choice, as men (NAMB forbids women to serve…
SBC chaplains won’t perform gay weddings
By Bob Allen The head of a group that supports atheists and freethinkers in the military says new guidelines banning Southern Baptist chaplains from leading or attending wedding ceremonies for gay service members will prevent chaplains from performing many of…
Baptist pastor open to same-sex unions
Correction: This story was edited after posting to correct an error in the 13th paragraph. By Bob Allen An Alabama Baptist pastor says she is reconsidering her previous policy of not performing marriage-like commitment services for same-sex couples. Sarah Shelton,…
Trial for gay Baptist minister postponed
By Bob Allen A misdemeanor trespassing trial for a gay Baptist minister and his partner who refused to leave a city clerk’s office after being denied a marriage license was postponed Monday when attorneys were unable to come up with…
Knowing what we’re FOR
“Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil,” wrote the late Eric Hoffer. Though his 1951 book, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, was written in…