By Bob Allen Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter and Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission president Russell Moore were among a small group of faith leaders who met in the Oval Office April 15 to discuss immigration…
Diverse groups defend clergy tax break
By Bob Allen Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus may have different ideas about God, but they all agree on a tax break for clergy under attack by an atheist group that says it discriminates against the non-religious. Interests diverse as…
Tennessee Baptist school fights Obamacare
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist-affiliated Union University filed a lawsuit April 4 challenging insurance coverage of contraceptives mandated for employers by the federal Affordable Care Act. The Tennessee Baptist Convention-affiliated school in Jackson, Tenn., joined numerous secular and religious employers…
Russian, Ukrainian Baptist leaders meet in Kiev
By Bob Allen The heads of the Baptist unions in Ukraine and Russia met April 8 for the first time since a political crisis began last November putting the two nations on the brink of war. Presidents of the All-Ukrainian…
Jeb Bush to meet with Southern Baptist leader
By Bob Allen Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will meet privately next month with Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore, the Washington Post reported April 8, an effort to reach out to evangelicals should he…
Government should leave religion alone, Baptist leader insists
By Ken Camp Government should let religion “flourish or flounder on its own,” not promote it or prohibit liberty of conscience, a religious freedom advocate told a chapel assembly at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. In spite of their diversity…
‘What’s mine is yours’ defines ‘kingdom economics,’ New Testament scholar insists
By Marv Knox Jesus’ perspective on economics can be up summed in four words — “What’s mine is yours,” New Testament scholar Hulitt Gloer stressed during the annual T.B. Maston Lectures in Christian Ethics. And while such a standard may…
Christian revisionists do injustice to American founders, law professor says
By Ken Camp and Daniel Wallace Contemporary Americans who cite isolated quotes by the nation’s founders to buttress arguments in favor of a Christian nation or a secular society without religious influences misinterpret history and do injustice to those who…
Pastor terms U.S. policies ‘a re-assassination’ of Martin Luther King
By Bob Allen America honors Martin Luther King 46 years after his assassination with statues and a federal holiday but has done little to challenge “the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism” that King struggled to oppose, according to…
Saying goodbye to Christian America
By David P. Gushee Follow David on twitter: @dpgushee One day in a doctoral seminar at Union Seminary, my ethics mentor Larry Rasmussen said words I will never forget: “There are advantages and disadvantages in every power position for the…
Faith leaders oppose Miss. religion bill
By Bob Allen Baptist signers including ABPnew/Herald columnists Amy Butler and David Gushee were among more than 350 clergy leaders across the United States opposing a bill in Mississippi that critics say would legalize discrimination by commercial businesses throughout the…
White House, faith leaders, discuss disability
By Bob Allen American Baptist Home Mission Societies was among 16 faith groups represented at a White House meeting March 10 on issues including support within the religious community for a U.N. disability treaty opposed by conservative Republicans in the…