When you hear the phrase, “the Black church,” what comes to mind? Who do you think about? Maybe high-spirited songs and impassioned sermons fill your ears as you recall attending a Sunday service where the majority of people in the…
The good graduate student: A modern parable
This past Sunday was beautiful. After a wonderful worship service, many of us walked downtown for Williamsburg’s PrideCon, an annual event put on by Love is Love Tidewater. It was a welcoming environment where people felt safe and free to…
Making sense of the senseless death of an Alabama pastor
I did not know F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, but I probably have more insights into his tragic story than most Baptist pastors. Copeland, mayor of Smiths Station, Ala., and pastor of First Baptist Church in nearby Phenix City, took his own…
SBC ethics agency opposes EEOC guidance on what constitutes workplace harassment
The Southern Baptist Convention wants to allow workplace discrimination related to abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity views. The convention’s Ethics and Religious Commission has written the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to object to proposed new guidance on workplace harassment that…
When ‘family values’ matter more than family
Amber Wylde grew up in a tight-knit family that strictly followed the “tough love” teachings of James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, the $133 million conservative Christian nonprofit where Amber’s father is a broadcast executive. “Amber, friends will…
Undoing the damage of conversion therapy
In 2021, the documentary Pray Away released on Netflix, detailing the history and harms of conversion therapy. It chronicles the rise and fall of Exodus International, whose primary mission was to make people who were “struggling with homosexuality” straight. During…
‘You could be next on the chopping block,’ LGBTQ advocates warn faith leaders
The assault on LGBTQ liberties by far-right Republicans in Congress will widen to other marginalized groups if conservatives are successful passing trans- and homophobic measures, activist Jon Cohen said during a recent episode of the Interfaith Alliance’s “State of Belief”…
World Bank suspends aid to Uganda over anti-gay laws
Uganda’s harsh anti-LGBTQ policies have created financial repercussions, as the World Bank has suspended funding to the East African country. The World Bank said it was halting funding for new projects in the country due to the passage of an…
Anti-trans group wants candidates to sign a Title IX pledge
A group that advocates against expansion of Title IX protections to include gender identity has created a “pledge to protect schools, children and families” that candidates for political office are asked to sign. SAVE, based in Rockville, Md., is promoting…