By Bob Allen Florida voters rejected a measure to repeal the state’s ban on public funding for religious organizations, 55 percent to 45 percent, Nov. 6. Amendment 8 would have removed language from Florida’s constitution prohibiting state funds from being…
Evangelicals and abortion: chicken or egg?
News analysis by Bob Allen Heading into a presidential race in which taxpayer funding of abortion tops the Family Research Council’s “values voter” guide, author Jonathan Dudley suggested in a recent CNN religion blog that as late as the 1960s…
How not to vote on today
Alas, my Facebook and Twitter feeds are blowing up with political jabs that mostly rely on ad-hominem attacks that play into people’s confirmation bias of a candidate. [sigh] No candidate is immune from a little ad-hominem attack against their opponent….
Talking politics in church
When 4-year-old Abigail Evans burst into tears for no apparent reason, her mother asked what was making her so sad. “I’m tired of Bronco Bama and Mitt Romney,” Abigail wailed between sniffles. Mamma Evans didn’t switch off NPR, but she assured her daughter that…
What Election Day won’t fix
By Miguel De La Torre This Tuesday, we as a nation vote. For some reason, the presidential cycle this year seemed nastier than usual. Emotional rhetoric replaced civil discourse. Rather than assessing the positives and negatives of the respective candidates,…
Communion alternative for election strife
By Jeff Brumley Kevin Glenn has become quite the buzz in Columbia, Mo., the past couple of weeks for publicly promoting what he says has become a radical concept in American Christianity: That devotion belongs first to God and to…
NAACP criticizes Franklin Graham
By Bob Allen A group of African-American leaders in North Carolina has called out evangelist Franklin Graham a second time for attempting to raise doubts about whether President Obama is a Christian. A seven-page, 2,500-word letter on the NAACP of…
States eye ballot questions
By Bob Allen With the eyes of the nation trained on a presidential race that pollsters say is too close to call, voters in 38 states will decide in ballot initiatives Nov. 6 on hot-button issues including marijuana, marriage and…
Baptists divided on Florida amendment
By Jeff Brumley Florida Amendment 8 has pitted secular civil rights and education activists against religious conservatives in a rhetorical battle over the meaning of religious liberty. But the measure also has re-exposed the divide between Baptists over the separation…
Carter Center supports Israel probe
By Bob Allen Former President Jimmy Carter commended 15 Christian leaders whose recent call for Congress to investigate human-rights violations by Israelis against Palestinians caused tension between Jewish and mainline Protestant denominations in the United States. The Atlanta-based Carter Center…
Choosing faith and freedom
By Henry Green In Mark 10, James and John ask Jesus for the positions of authority when he establishes his kingdom. The others learn of this and “became indignant” toward James and John for making such a request. In the…
Pastor has harsh words for gays
By Bob Allen A former leader in the Southern Baptist Convention weighed into debate over gay marriage in Maryland, saying people who do such things, or approve of them, are “worthy of death.” Robert Anderson, pastor of Colonial Baptist Church…