WASHINGTON (RNS) — As the U.S. Supreme Court ends its 2010-2011 term, legal scholars say one decision is likely to resonate within church-state debates for years to come. The justices rejected a challenge to an Arizona school tuition credit program…
Southern Baptist Convention wrestles with elaborate gay hoax
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Officials of the Southern Baptist Convention say they were the victims of a hoax in which a group claiming to be the denomination’s Executive Committee announced it had started to support gay marriage. A website of the…
All Southern Baptist eyes on black New Orleans pastor
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Even before the Southern Baptist Convention elected the Rev. Fred Luter to national office, there was already widespread speculation that Luter is poised to become the denomination's first African-American president. Representatives of 16 million Southern…
International religious freedom envoy condemns religious intolerance
GENEVA (RNS) — The Obama administration's new envoy for international religious freedom told a U.N. commission that government, political, religious and business leaders must stand ready to condemn hateful ideology. Borrowing from recent headlines, Ambassador-at-Large Suzan Johnson ook cited a…
Southern Baptist Convention looks to minorities to jumpstart growth
PHOENIX (RNS) — The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a plan to try to boost minorities in their top leadership posts as the convention faces continuing reports of stagnant baptism rates and declining membership. Messengers to the annual meeting backed the…
As presidential candidate, Gingrich woos skeptical evangelical voters
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As evangelicals and other social conservatives gather here June 3-4 to take the measure of a number of Republican presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich will be conspicuously absent. Gingrich’s campaign cited scheduling conflicts in not speaking to Ralph…
REVIEW: God at the root of Terrence Malick’s newest film, ‘Tree of Life’
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Terrence Malick’s new film, Tree of Life, is nearly indescribable. Not because its beauty or virtuosity are beyond words, although it has its moments. Tree of Life, which opened May 27, is iconoclastic, its plot nonlinear,…
Gingrich and evangelical voters
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As evangelicals and other social conservatives gather here June 3-4 to take the measure of a number of Republican presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich will be conspicuously absent. Gingrich’s campaign cited scheduling conflicts in not speaking to Ralph…
Grace or nature? A question at the heart of Malick’s new film
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Terrence Malick’s new film, Tree of Life, is nearly indescribable. Not because its beauty or virtuosity are beyond words, although it has its moments. Tree of Life, which opened May 27, is iconoclastic, its plot nonlinear,…