By Bob Allen “Religious liberty has never been threatened in our lifetimes, and probably in terms of the American experiment, like it will be threatened with same-sex marriage,” Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, warned in a video…
Pastor: Not all Baptists OK with guns in church
By Bob Allen Twenty-five Georgia Baptists including staff members of the Decatur-based Cooperative Baptist Fellowship joined a pastor in disputing claims that a Georgia Baptist Convention official spoke for Georgia Baptists when he testified in support of legislation to allow…
Engaging Compassionate Curiosity on Sexuality
In a recent visit to the Wake Forest Divinity School, Baptist minister and PhD candidate Cody Sanders shared reflections on his book, Queer Lessons for Churches on the Straight and Narrow, and the intersection of the church and human sexuality….
Man challenging Alabama gay-marriage ban a Southwestern Seminary grad
By Bob Allen A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate and one-time Baptist campus minister is suing the state of Alabama for refusing to recognize his legal same-sex marriage performed in another state. Paul Hard, who earned a master-of-divinity degree from…
Minister sentenced for child sex abuse
By Bob Allen A former children’s minister at an Alabama Baptist church was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sex abuse March 7. Jeffrey Dale Eddie, 41, longtime associate pastor for children and church administration…
Baptists fined in Belarus for illegal worship
By Bob Allen Four Baptists in Belarus paid fines after losing appeals for holding worship services without government permission. Forum 18, an international news service that specializes in religious-freedom issues, reported that Pastor Aleksandr Zolotarev, arrested in a Dec. 22…
Attitudes among Southern Baptist leaders shifting on birth control
Editor’s note: This article was corrected March 11 to clarify a quote in 14th paragraph. By Bob Allen On the surface, Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists might seem unlikely bedfellows in opposing mandated coverage of contraceptives under Obamacare, but observers…
Southern Baptist Convention’s abortion stance moving toward birth control issues
By Bob Allen Once essentially pro-choice, the Southern Baptist Convention today stands firmly with pro-life evangelicals and Catholics on sanctity-of-life issues, including opposition to mandated coverage of contraceptives in the Affordable Care Act. Southern Baptist attorney Linda Coffee wrote a…
Ethicist says gun giveaway shifts focus of church event from hunting to politics
By Bob Allen A moderate Baptist ethicist faulted Kentucky Baptists’ method of giving away guns to lure unchurched men to outreach events for politicizing wild game feasts that have been popular in rural America for decades. “There is no conflict…
Baptist, Methodist pastors in Miss. oppose discrimination based on religious freedom
By Bob Allen Five Baptist and Methodist pastors have sent an open letter urging Mississippi legislators to defeat a bill, similar to one recently vetoed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, that is headed for the House of Representatives for debate…
Southern Baptist leaders oppose anti-gay laws
By Bob Allen Two Southern Baptist Convention spokesmen criticized Uganda’s new anti-homosexuality law as government overreach and “unjust persecution” of gays in a commentary on an SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission website. ERLC President Russell Moore and Andrew Walker,…
Latest outrage at Ole Miss points to a deeper distress
The University of Mississippi just can’t outrun its association with bigotry. In 2012, a crowd of angry white students expressed their displeasure in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election. And just last week, a small group of freshmen wrapped an…