July 1, 2015 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, We are deeply disturbed by the recent rash of yet to be explained fires at African American churches in the Southeastern part of our country. In the past two weeks, there…
Racism and religious persecution: Who’s burning black churches?
Guest commentary by Denise Anderson On June 17, 2015, nine people were shot and killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, by a white supremacist. Since then six predominantly black churches across the South have gone up in…
I beg to differ
My colleague in the Baptist ministry, Greg Faulls, has written an article about Christian life in the aftermath of the ruling on same-sex marriage.It mirrors so many others from the evangelical camp, articulating disappointment, angst, awareness of new cultural realities,…
The Confederate flag honors a bad memory
I am a proud Southerner. That is why you will never see me display the Confederate flag. Now, I do not pretend to have plumbed the depths of the debate over the flag, but I do believe that symbols hold…
Inerrancy, racism and theological education: Responding to Al Mohler
Note: Portions of this reflection are based on a paper I wrote about inerrancy, slavery, and Reformed heritage in the United States for an independent study. I read Al Mohler’s article “The Heresy of Racial Superiority – Confronting the Past,…
Maintain legacy of racism busting, American Baptists told
By Bob Allen As the nation’s most racially diverse Protestant denomination, American Baptists must take the lead in eradicating racism and violence such as the June 17 hate crime that took nine lives at a historic African-American church in Charleston,…
It’s time to talk
It’s time for a conversation. Not more talk, but a conversation. There is a massive gap between these two related items. “Talk” is plentiful and abundant. It is the stuff of comment sections and social media and message boards. It…
Black, white pastors unite in ‘war’ on fear, racism
By Bob Allen A century-and-a-half after the United States fought a civil war over slavery, two black and two white Baptist pastors in Kentucky say it is time for another war against “fear and racism.” “This war will not employ…
Sunday’s coming: Freedom from Racism
He shot them at prayer meeting. On June 17, in the year of our Lord 2015, a 21-year-old white supremacist millennial named Dylann Roof shot nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., in cold blood…