The juxtaposition of beliefs at this church in the Deep South is a window into a debate in much of the U.S. that sometimes puts friends, neighbors and even fellow church members at odds.
Embrace ‘extremist’ Christianity to counter hate, ministers say
By Jeff Brumley Joe Phelps admits he is a Christian extremist. For years, he’s being spreading his brand of faith all over Louisville, Ky., where he’s pastor of Highlands Baptist Church. And now he admits he’d like to see it…
Lawyer says Scalia’s death looms large in pending cases
By Bob Allen The unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia looms large in cases currently before the Supreme Court concerning abortion and religious liberty concerns, says a lawyer who recently filed a brief asking justices to uphold a Texas law…
Blogger concerned about controversial pastor’s SBC ties
By Bob Allen An Alabama Baptist pastor says Southern Baptists should be concerned about a new magazine expose alleging child sex abuse and cover-up in a church formerly led by a pastor with close ties to the denomination’s leaders. Rick…
Pastor defends letter denouncing Syrian refugees
By Bob Allen An Alabama pastor is standing by a letter to the editor in his Baptist state newspaper criticizing Southern Baptist Convention leaders for what he says is coddling Syrian refugees. SBC leaders rushed to Twitter to condemn a…
Book documents molestation in conservative Baptist churches
By Bob Allen As the Oscar-nominated movie Spotlight shares the story of the Boston Globe’s 2001 expose of child molestation and cover up in the Catholic Church, a new book by a Baptist author makes the case that clergy sexual…
Tale of evangelical sex scandal hits Washington newsstands
By Bob Allen The story behind a sex-abuse scandal at an evangelical megachurch near Washington, D.C., kept out of court by a statute of limitations, has hit newsstands in a long-form story in the Washingtonian, a monthly lifestyle magazine read…
Realm of earth, rule of Heaven: Bodified faith and environmental activism
The greatest failure in the history of Christian thought is the separation of souls from bodies, spirit from soil, the wrenching of hearts from habitation-all representing the abdication of the realm of earth from the rule of Heaven.
Government to post names of schools seeking Title IX waivers
By Bob Allen Colleges and universities requesting religious exemptions to federal non-discrimination standards will have their waivers posted online in a searchable database to be developed in coming months by the U.S. Department of Education. Catherine Lhamon, the Education Department’s…
Filmmaker of anti-Planned Parenthood videos opens first-ever Evangelicals for Life conference
By Bob Allen Anti-abortion activist David Daleiden said Jan. 21 he believes undercover videos about Planned Parenthood and the procurement of fetal organs for medical research tap into a “cruel paradox” that transcend the abortion debate. Daleiden, founder of the…
Scholar disputes pollsters’ dire predictions for faith in U.S.
By Jeff Brumley You don’t have to follow the news that closely to hear that Christianity is on the ropes in America, that worship attendance is spiraling downward, that young people want nothing to do with church and that Americans…
How Martin Luther King Jr. predicted the decline of the church
So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average…
Unarmed truth and unconditional love
The year 1964 was a difficult one for the United States. The nation had suffered the assassination of a beloved President in November of the year before. The war in Vietnam was heating up in 1964: the Gulf of Tonkin…
Religious voices respond to State of the Union
(RNS) In his last State of the Union address, President Obama made an impassioned case against religious bigotry and cast other key issues in moral terms. He rejected “any politics that targets people because of race or religion.” “This is…