By Bob Allen A former U.S. Senate candidate and past president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina joined other pastors at a rally at the state capitol July 15 calling on Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to defend the…
Transgender Hobby Lobby employee claims discrimination
By Bob Allen A transgender employee of a Chicago-area Hobby Lobby is suing the Oklahoma City-based craft store chain, claiming discrimination because her employer won’t allow her to use the women’s restroom. Meggan Sommerville, frame-shop manager at a Hobby Lobby…
Clergy, psychiatrists launch new partnership
By Bob Allen Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy described the important role that spirituality played in his own recovery from alcohol and substance abuse at an inaugural gathering of a new collaboration among psychiatrists and clergy July 11 in Arlington, Va….
Expelled transgender student gets partial win
By Bob Allen A California judge ruled July 11 that a Baptist university was within its rights to expel a transgender student for violating the school’s moral code but went too far in barring her from university-controlled businesses and services…
Richard Land says transgenderism ‘ultimate rebellion’
By Bob Allen Transgenderism is “the ultimate rebellion” against God’s created order, a former Southern Baptist leader said recently in a television interview. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary near Charlotte, N.C., made the comment June 26 on Newsmax…
Baptists light up Twitter after release of torture report
‘War on poverty’ remains incomplete after half century, say advocates
It had all the marks of a transformational moment in American life. When President Lyndon B. Johnson declared “unconditional war on poverty” in 1964, around 19 percent of the nation lived in poverty. For the first time a sitting president…
‘We just need to be the church,’ says anti-poverty activist
Fifty years ago the United States declared war on poverty. Half a century and trillions of dollars later, what’s been accomplished? Is it an incomplete triumph or a wasteful failure? What really captured my thought was the slogan itself —…
Seven things you should know about poverty
$23,021 — The official poverty line for a family of four. It’s $11,484 for an individual. 15.1% — The number of Americans (46 million) in poverty, by the most common official figure. In 2007 the figure was 12.5 percent. 11.1% —…