Abortion has been at the forefront of the Religious Right for almost 50 years — since the landmark Supreme Court decision in 1973 that recognized a woman’s freedom to abort a fetus based on the constitutional right to privacy. That…
Panel says Arkansas Supreme Court justices violated ethics by removing pastor/judge from death penalty cases
A state government commission tasked with investigating claims concerning the ethical conduct or disability of judges on Thursday filed formal charges against six members of the Arkansas Supreme Court for their handling of a case involving a Little Rock judge…
Mississippi church a window into national gay rights debate
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…