By Bob Allen Critics of the Obama administration’s requirement that faith-based employers include mandatory contraceptive coverage in their health-care plans for women voiced disappointment June 28 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld key portions of the Affordable Health Care Act…
Baptists split on NC gay marriage ban
By Bob Allen Some religious leaders hailed North Carolina’s May 8 passage of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman as a win for family values, while others vowed to continue the fight for what…
Slavery continues in U.S. in 21st century
By Marv Knox Although the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, predators still buy and sell other human beings across America, a social work professor and a police detective told a gathering of Texas Baptists. Kim Kotrla, assistant professor in…
A family conversation, part 2
By David Gushee #1 The conference presupposes that there is such a thing as the Church, which is not the same as the State or the Culture, and that the Church is (something like) that community of human beings who…
Mohler says churches ill-prepared for gay marriage
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary president says American Christianity lacks credibility to confront same-sex marriage because of its own failure to model marital fidelity and life-long commitment in churches. Albert Mohler “We have to understand that where we…
Panel urges ‘complementarians’ to practice what they preach
By Bob Allen A movement in evangelical Christianity that promotes male headship and wifely submission in marriage faces competition today not from radical feminists but rather believers who are “complementarian” in name only, according to a panel at a recent…
Lesbian Christian singer goes back to church — with a different message
By Greg Warner When Christian singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp acknowledged her homosexuality a few years ago, she figured she was done singing in churches. She already had walked away from her eight-year career in contemporary Christian music in 2002 because her…
A conservative at the Baptist sexuality conference
By Mike Glover As one of recently few attendees who is — and intends to remain — traditionalist in my ethic of sexuality, I found last weekend’s [Baptist] Covenant on Sexuality and Covenant a unique experience. I heard many speakers…
Sexuality conference not your parents’ Baptist church
By Joe Phelps It seems appropriate that the [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant met in Atlanta, home of columnist Lewis Grizzard, author of Shoot Low, Boys: They’re Ridin’ Shetland Ponies. I followed Grizzard’s advice, assuming this gathering, co-sponsored by…