By Bob Allen An Oklahoma district court judge sparked national attention after sentencing a teenager to attend church for 10 years as a condition for avoiding prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Muskogee Judge Mike Norman gave 17-year-old Tyler Alred…
2012 a turning point for faith in politics
David Gushee President Obama’s narrow re-election came despite fierce lobbying against him and on behalf of Mitt Romney by an array of conservative Catholic and evangelical leaders and groups. Those groups went “all in,” and they lost. Now they are…
Home of former jailed pastor raided
By Bob Allen Police in Azerbaijan have raided the home of a Baptist pastor who served 10 months in prison before winning a pardon following appeals on his behalf from Baptist leaders worldwide, including former President Jimmy Carter. The Oslo-based…
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…
Baptist addresses Vatican crowd
By Bob Allen A U.S. scholar representing the Baptist World Alliance at a recent Vatican gathering of Catholic bishops described his presence as “a moment of historic significance.” “Baptists and Catholics differ on important ecclesial and theological issues but we…
Resource offers guide for churches
By Robert Dilday Weeks before voters head to the polls in the closely fought presidential election, a resource developed by faith groups and civil liberties leaders offers guidelines to churches hoping to influence the political process without violating legal restrictions….
Church-state relationships in a pluralistic society
Recently, two Baptist-affiliated universities filed a federal lawsuit against the Obama Administration. Houston Baptist University and East Texas Baptist University are challenging the constitutionality of the controversial “contraception mandate” of the Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”) requiring most health care…
Two Texas schools challenge Obamacare
By Ken Camp East Texas Baptist University and Houston Baptist University have filed the latest legal challenge to a preventative services mandate in the Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama in 2010. The two Texas Baptist schools…
Florida Baptists back ‘no-aid’ repeal
By Bob Allen The Florida Baptist Convention’s governing board voted Sept. 21 to support a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution that backers say protects religious freedom and opponents say would open the door for indirect public funding of sectarian…