By Bill Wilson Compartmentalization is the bane of authentic faith. When we begin to divide the realms of our life from one another, the end result looks very different than loving God with “all your heart, soul, mind and strength.”…
Environmental racism afflicts US minorities
By Miguel De La Torre We are called by God to be good stewards of the earth. Unfortunately, racism gets in the way. Environmental racism, defined as the link between the degradation of the environment and the racial composition of the areas…
Study finds health benefit to Jewish prayer
By Jeff Brumley Rabbi Yossi Posner knows from experience that Jews who fervently pray and regularly attend synagogue tend to enjoy a greater quality of life than those who don’t. “When people are praying and more in tune with their inner…
Hobby Lobby case in federal court
By Jeff Brumley A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments May 23 in Hobby Lobby’s claim that the contraception mandate in President Obama’s health-care policies violates its religious freedoms. A federal judge ruled in November 2012 that the company was not…
SBC leader calls HHS mandate ‘persecution’
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral concerns charged the Obama administration with “religious persecution” for requiring religious employers to cover preventive health-care services including FDA-approved contraceptives. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known…
AU calls for access to birth control
By Bob Allen A Washington-based religious-liberty watchdog group says the Obama administration should reject demands of conservative religious groups seeking to curb access to contraceptive coverage in the name of religious liberty. “Americans want and deserve access to safe and…
AU calls for access to birth control
By Bob Allen A Washington-based religious-liberty watchdog group says the Obama administration should reject demands of conservative religious groups seeking to curb access to contraceptive coverage in the name of religious liberty. “Americans want and deserve access to safe and…
Mission needs benefit public health
By Jeff Brumley Technologies like water purification systems designed for use by Christian missionaries are getting notice from secular agencies for their potential impact on economic development, a trend faith-based groups see as a “collateral benefit” of the doors they…
AU defends birth-control mandate
By Bob Allen The billionaire owners of Hobby Lobby’s religious objection to the use of certain types of birth control doesn’t entitle them to deny the company’s 22,000 employees insurance coverage required by federal law, Americans United for Separation of…
Rising stress boosts clergy depression
By Jeff Brumley Bryan Hatcher was a Baptist pastor once, so he gets it when ministers buckle under the strain of long work weeks, budget pressures and that feeling of constantly being in a fish bowl. And because he has…
Alzheimer’s: The long, sad goodbye
By Leroy Seat Had she not passed away in 2008, Wednesday (Feb. 13) would have been my mother’s 99th birthday. But as sad as it was, it was a blessing she passed away when she did. Although she was never…
Contraceptive mandate opt-out expanded
By Bob Allen The Obama administration proposed a broader opt-out Feb. 1 for religious organizations that object to mandated coverage of contraceptives in employee health care plans, an effort to alleviate religious-liberty concerns behind a number of lawsuits challenging the…