By Bob Allen A pastor who led the Southern Baptist Convention to adopt a resolution in 2009 applauding the election of Barack Obama as America’s first African-American president termed the president’s May 9 endorsement of same-sex marriage a betrayal of…
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…
Baptist ministry leaving Vandy
By Bob Allen The Baptist and Reflector reported May 7 that while the university has approved the Baptist ministry as a recognized student organization on campus, that BCM will decline that status. The Tennessee Baptist Convention owns the Baptist Collegiate…
Author says young Christians tired of culture war
By Bob Allen Author Jonathan Merritt wrote a USA Today op-ed piece that ran the day before the official May 7 release of his new book, A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars. The son of…
Former SBC officer arrested in protest
By Bob Allen A former Southern Baptist Convention official was arrested May 4 for kneeling and praying outside the White House on behalf of blind Chinese human-rights activist Chen Guangcheng. Wiley Drake, who served as second vice president of the…
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…
Show death penalty the door
By Jimmy Carter For many reasons, it is time for Georgia and other states to abolish the death penalty. A recent poll showed that 61 percent of Americans would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder. Also,…
Race & Faith
By Ken Camp A neighborhood watchman in Florida shoots and kills a hoodie-wearing African-American teenager. Two white suspects in Tulsa, Okla., confess to the Easter weekend shooting of five people in a predominantly black neighborhood. Elizabeth Eckford, one of the…
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…