By Bob Allen Baptists in North Carolina opposed to ending the state’s ban on Sunday hunting got some accommodation in a compromise measure passed by the legislature that prohibits hunting with a firearm between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on…
Riding the winds of change: How we can adjust to the same-sex marriage ruling
Goodness! There has been a virtual flood of words since the U. S. Supreme Court proclaimed that same-sex marriage could not be outlawed by the states. So much so, that I hesitate to add to the mix. But, like any…
Jesus doesn’t celebrate the 4th of July
On this 4th of July weekend, I exhort you, American preachers, do not take Uncle Sam into the pulpit. Carefully consider how you plan worship for this Sunday. A good place to start would be: do not sing “America the…
Millennials not OK with conventional science vs. religion debates, experts say
By Brian Kaylor Ninety years ago, the “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Dayton, Tenn., pitted reason against faith and defined the Bible as an opposing perspective to science. A national media circus erupted as substitute high school teacher John Scopes faced…
The Confederate flag honors a bad memory
I am a proud Southerner. That is why you will never see me display the Confederate flag. Now, I do not pretend to have plumbed the depths of the debate over the flag, but I do believe that symbols hold…
Baptist groups react to gay marriage ruling
By Bob Allen Amid both praise and condemnation for last week’s Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship staked out a position of neutrality on a topic deemed best left up to the local church….
Now what?
The Supreme Court finally released the decision most court watchers had been waiting for this morning and … it went pretty much the way everybody thought it would. So now what? Well, to get a jump start on the barrels…
Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage in all 50 states
By Bob Allen The U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a thin margin June 26 that the Constitution allows religious objection to same-sex marriage but does not permit the government to deny marriage benefits to gay couples that are available to…
Obergefell decision does not remove the separation of church and state
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel Click here for a 2-page handout about the decision (PDF link). Early in the U.S. Supreme Court decision finding a constitutional right to marriage that includes same-sex partners, Justice Kennedy describes the “transcendent…
Black, white pastors unite in ‘war’ on fear, racism
By Bob Allen A century-and-a-half after the United States fought a civil war over slavery, two black and two white Baptist pastors in Kentucky say it is time for another war against “fear and racism.” “This war will not employ…
Same-sex marriage: Church divided, but liberty protected
Same-sex marriage is the law of the land. Outcries to the contrary, the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision did not herald the demise of religious liberty in America.
50 years on, Baptist leaders say voting rights are jeopardized
By Robert Dilday Leaders of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. gathered on Capitol Hill June 25 to advocate for stronger voting rights protection, urging legislators to adopt two bills currently winding their way through Congress. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary…