Last week, the Southern Baptist Convention’s overwhelming number of messengers voted to kick out Saddleback Church and Fern Creek Baptist due to their inclusion of female leadership. I support the credentialing of female pastors as not only legitimate in our time, but also…
Movements expand and contract, Black Lives Matter co-founder says
Social and racial justice activists should envision rubber bands when frustrated, fearful or angry about the “perilous times” currently facing the movements for systemic change in the U.S., Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza said. “What happens with rubber bands?…
Coalition of Atlanta faith leaders plans action to ‘Stop Cop City’ and defend a forest
A coalition of faith leaders in Atlanta has joined the protest to stop construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by the Atlanta Police Foundation and the City of Atlanta. The planned facility has been nicknamed Cop City. Stop…
The volatile concoction of social justice and sports
Mix sports fans, professional athletes, coaches, politics, race and social justice and you have a volatile concoction. Several years ago, ESPN’s The Undefeated reported on a poll exploring the “racial divide” in the NFL. The poll measured attitudes of fans…
Iranian women are demanding religious freedom following the death of Mahsa Amini
After being arrested in Tehran, the capital of Iran, by the Islamic Republic’s morality police, Mahsa Amini died in police custody after allegedly suffering multiple blows to the head. Amini had been arrested for wearing her hijab improperly. Wearing a…
Group of survivors seek ‘accountability’ from Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee
A group of nearly two dozen persons comprised of both survivors and advocates convened across the street from Southern Baptist Convention headquarters Feb. 21 to protest the SBC Executive Committee’s alleged mishandling of sexual abuse and mistreatment of survivors. The…
Poor People’s Campaign marches on Texas Capitol with demands for voting rights
A civil rights demonstration at the Texas State Capitol July 31— that included country music legend Willie Nelson and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke — was intended to warn Americans about the dangers of nationwide voter suppression efforts and to…
America 2021: ‘Illegalizing’ dissent?
In the year 1612, British Baptist/dissenter Thomas Helwys published A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity, the first English call for universal religious freedom. Addressed to King James I, it began: “Hear, O King, and despise not the counsel…
At Baptist college in Virginia, a disagreement over athletes kneeling during National Anthem
Bluefield College, a Baptist-affiliated school in Virginia, suspended its men’s basketball team for one game this month after players failed to heed administration warnings against kneeling during the National Anthem to protest racial injustice. Media reports and statements from the…