Government restrictions on in-person church gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic have been inconvenient, disruptive and possibly even illegal in some instances, but they are not examples of religious persecution as some American faith leaders have claimed, an expert on global…
Next BNG free webinar will survey global religious issues and human rights
International religion expert Knox Thames will be the featured guest for Baptist News Global’s first free webinar of the new year on Monday, Jan. 25, at 6 p.m. Central Time. Registration for the 75-minute webinar is free. However, registration is…
Loving your global neighbor
This week, the United Nations marks Human Rights Day. But it won’t be much of a celebration, as a pandemic of persecution impacts billions of people around the world. In response, Christians should stand up and meet this challenge, speaking…
Black people have the right to defend themselves by the same means their white counterparts do
Here’s the unsettling but important point being made: You cannot just kill black people indiscriminately, wantonly, whimsically and expect that they will – or better yet – that they SHOULD accept it as if their lives do not matter to themselves, their families and their communities.
James E. Wood, Baylor scholar and BJC leader, dead at 96
James E. Wood Jr., a Baptist statesman and scholar recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the subject of church-state relations and religious liberty, died peacefully March 4 at age 96. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, Wood began his…
Baptist pastors among 8,500 released from prison in Myanmar
Two Baptist pastors from Myanmar arrested for leading journalists to a church reportedly destroyed by military air strikes in 2016 reportedly have been released from prison.
Missing Burmese pastors in police custody
Two Burmese Baptist pastors missing since Christmas Eve are in police custody and face prison if convicted under a law banning “unlawful association” left over from the era of British colonial rule. The Irrawaddy, a website founded in 1990 by…
Religious freedom and human rights
By Molly T. Marshall Baptists claim religious liberty and soul competence among their fragile freedoms, yet some draw the line when these freedoms are claimed in the service of sexual orientation and gender identity. While many wish these issues would…
Baptists open safe house for human trafficking victims
By Vicki Brown Savannah Oswald elbowed her way through the crowds on Black Friday 2014, searching for the cutest clothes she could find for her limited bucks. The then-high school senior cast a practiced eye over the racks and nabbed…