The U.S. Civil Rights Commission has denounced new state “religious liberty” laws backed by Southern Baptist state conventions as a trend to use religion as an excuse to deny people their human rights. The independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising…
Baptist says ‘religious liberty’ bill threatens … well, religious liberty
A Missouri religious liberty bill passed last month by the state Senate after a 39-hour filibuster once again kept lawmakers up late at night, when a five hour debate April 13 in the Missouri House of Representatives ended after midnight…
The religion of the New Lost Cause
At Maundy Thursday worship in Wake Forest University’s Davis Chapel, the day after Gov. Pat McCrory signed NC House Bill 2, a transgender divinity school student washed the feet of an African Pentecostal student as the Gospel text from John…
SBC agency backs Mississippi ‘religious freedom’ bill
The Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm has voiced support of a controversial Mississippi religious freedom bill being decried as anti-gay. The SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission published an article April 1 titled “Will Mississippi Lead the Way?” The…
Bill termed anti-gay authored by Baptist lawmaker
The Mississippi Senate has passed what critics call the most sweeping anti-LGBT legislation in the United States, sponsored by a Baptist layman who is a trustee at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, a member and former…
Do you know the difference between being an American and being a Christian?
One of the great gifts of the Baptist voice to the wider world of Christianity is the idea of the separation of church and state. In the United States, this voice gave direction, via the Constitution, that citizens of our…
Mohler cites CBF in veto of anti-LGBT ‘religious liberty’ bill
A Southern Baptist seminary president says theology played a role in Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s decision to veto a measure that would have discriminated against the state’s LGBT community. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.,…
Embattled Alabama governor no longer member of Southern Baptist church
The governor of Alabama is no longer a member of First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa after allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with a female adviser, also a member of the church. “While church discipline is a church family matter,…
Anti-hate group scrutinizes SBC resolutions committee
The Southern Poverty Law Center questioned Southern Baptist Convention leadership for naming to a resolutions committee at the upcoming SBC annual meeting representatives of organizations the civil rights organization identifies as hate groups. The nonprofit legal advocacy organization — which began…