Did Holy Week this year seem to shout out for a new dimension of holy dialogue? It did to me. It was an unusual and disruptive week in several ways. It caused me to think about the need for a…
Evangelicals find “the heart of God” on immigration
American Evangelicals are gradually joining the push for immigration reform and the impetus behind this shift in emphasis is most apparent in Focus on the Family, a para-church organization founded by the controversial James Dobson. But Dr. Dobson has yielded…
Church leaders confront ‘statelessness’
By Bob Allen About 50 international Christian leaders convened this week at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., for a consultation on the rights of the “stateless,” an estimated 12 million people around the world who are not considered a…
Perspectives on Immigration: cultural concerns
Immigration reform is an issue making headlines in our nation. Both sides of the political aisle discuss and debate the best way forward for the nation, while seeking to preserve both the laws of our land and the dignity of…
Six assumptions that allow white evangelicals to flout biblical norms
By Alan Bean In The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement, Steven Teles describes how the conservative movement was able to undermine and largely replace what he calls the Liberal Legal Network (LLN for short). By the late 1960s, liberal…
Scholar says Bible speaks to immigration
By Bob Allen A female Bible scholar, ordained as a Baptist and United Church of Christ minister, says immigration is not a “black and white” issue in the African-American community in this week’s installment of a series of Bible commentaries…
Perspectives on immigration: safety and security concerns
The issue of immigration is a subject of discussion and debate within the Christian community. Followers of Jesus have diverse perspectives on how to address economic, security, and cultural concerns. Having shared in previous posts the primary points of diversity…
American Baptists laud ‘Gang of 8’ plan
By Bob Allen American Baptist leaders tasked with ministry to immigrants and refugees welcomed a bipartisan framework unveiled by eight senators being called the “gang of eight” for their public effort to get the ball rolling on legislation to rewrite…
Aliens knocking at the church’s door
By Miguel De La Torre The beloved apostle John, while exiled on the island of Patmos, wrote a letter to the Christian church of Laodicea. He accused the church of being neither cold nor hot. Because they were lukewarm, God…