By Bob Allen American Baptist Home Mission Societies and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty are among 130 religious, education, civil rights, labor, LGBT, women’s and health organizations asking President Obama to review a Bush-era legal opinion allowing faith-based…
Anti-nuke activist chastises politicians for rhetoric about proposed Iran deal
By Bob Allen A leading evangelical voice for nuclear disarmament criticized politicians for comparing a widely debated nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran to the Holocaust and saying it fulfills End Times prophecy in the Bible. In an interview with the Christian Post, Tyler…
Chipping away at the block of wood in my eye
Introductory word: Family Systems Theory calls for a focus upon one’s self, rather than upon another, when seeking to improve interpersonal dynamics. After all, one’s own part within a relationship is the only part one has the power to change….
Fear, racism, and new knives
Two weeks ago, Samuel DuBose, a black man stopped for not having a front license plate, was shot and killed two minutes later by Raymond Tensing, a 25-year-old University of Cincinnati campus police officer. The event, recorded by the officer’s…
Don’t blame Millennials for shrinking sermon lengths, Baptists say
By Jeff Brumley Millennials and other young people get a lot of credit — or blame, depending on the observer — for the dramatic changes occurring in the modern church. Experiments with everything from mission to worship styles are attempted in order…
What’s the matter with Florida?
To channel Thomas Frank who famously asked “What’s the matter with Kansas?” — I have the same question for the Sunshine State. What’s the matter with Florida? Or, more specifically, what’s the matter with the (almost) entire Florida Congressional Delegation…
Civil rights groups, Baptists creating ‘incredible moment’ in U.S. politics
By Jeff Brumley The prevailing wisdom is that there is little if anything new under the sun when it comes to politics and religion. But some ministers and expert observers are challenging that notion as the nation leans into the…
Church-state group says matrimony sentence out of bounds
By Bob Allen A Texas judge had no right to sentence a man to marriage and court-ordered Bible study, a Washington-based church-state watchdog group said Aug. 10. Americans United for Separation of Church and State attorneys wrote Smith County Judge…
Letter from a Birmingham intersection
**The author has been participating with QC Family Tree in tracing the steps of the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement. Learn more about the trip here and here. Remembering that it happened once, We cannot turn away the thought,…
Combatting global warming
By Leroy Seat The View from This Seat
Progressive National Baptists initiate call to restore and advance voting rights
By Ken Camp On the eve of the landmark Voting Rights Act’s 50th anniversary — and meeting in Dallas hours after a federal appeals court ruled against Texas’ voter ID law — three groups historically linked to Martin Luther King…
Unsolved church bombings leave New Mexico community on edge
By Bob Allen Police in Las Cruces, N.M., evacuated a mall Aug. 6, after a suspicious package was left near the entrance to a Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Mesilla Valley Mall in Las Cruces was closed for several hours amid…