I spent Sunday with the good folk of University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo. It is a strong American Baptist Churches-Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church, and annually the congregation hosts a Baptist Heritage Sunday. Last year Dr. Neville Callam of…
Baptist pastor defends Muslim friends
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor in Oklahoma defended two imam friends accused by a state legislator of being terrorists. Rep. John Bennett (R-Sallisaw) said at a state Capitol hearing last week that Muslim groups operating in Oklahoma and across the…
9/11 inspired Baptist, Muslim to find Bible-based brotherhood
What a difference 15 years makes. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the United States has endured two gut-wrenching wars and a resulting debate over immigrants, refugees and Muslims that divides the nation. But there also has been enough…
A story of new neighbors: What will Muslim students in the U.S. find?
A large charter bus sat in the parking lot, exhaust brakes hissing. Several rooms in the conference center were full of large suitcases, most of them looking brand new. I knew they couldn’t have belonged to the small group of…
Baptist editor eyeing case of Muslim suspended for refusing to serve booze
A Baptist state newspaper editor says a Muslim flight attendant who sued ExpressJet airlines for suspending her because she refused to serve alcohol to passengers could be a test case on whether courts use a double standard in adjudicating religious…
Our political mantra: ‘Get out of here!’
On Saturday afternoon, walking through Harvard Square on the way to my church, I saw a Muslim woman in a long black garment and niqab. As I passed her, a man suddenly emerged from the crowd, aggressively shouting, “Get out of here! I said get out!”
Bluefield scholar seeks to take a bite out of interfaith tensions
Anti-Islamic sentiment is driving U.S. and European politics while religious hatred fuels world terrorism. Rob Merritt sees the roots of that animosity. “Most of the global conflict we see today has to do with religious controversy,” says Merritt, dean of the…
Pokémon is a no-go for leading Saudi clerics
Pokémon Go has become a no-go according to the leading religious organization of Saudi Arabia, the Reuters News Service has reported. Far from seeing the virtual reality game as a potential lure to houses of worship, the Saudi Muslim clerics…
These Muslims are praying in a basement while fighting to get their mosque built
Muslims in Bayonne, New Jersey, have wanted an Islamic center and prayer hall for nearly two decades — they currently pray in the cramped basement of an elementary school.