An Alabama pastor stirred controversy after liking social media posts that some community members viewed as culturally insensitive. Though he has since issued an apology, the local school board and housing authority have cut ties with the church, prompting further debate on whether actions on social media should warrant such a response.
Read MoreThe landmark Supreme Court ruling protecting gay and transgender people from employment discrimination has raised concern among religious organizations, who say that the religious exemptions are too weak.
Read MoreA group of black ministers from Churches of Christ across the country penned a letter calling for justice in the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Dreasjon Reed, Breonna Taylor and Floyd. The letter has been signed by a diverse group of more than 300 Christians.
Read More(OPINION) Prayer is paramount and education is critical. But is it essential that they lead us to act. We cannot hide in our prayer closets or behind our books. Perhaps what is most important for the current moment, is for us as Christians to do all we can to support structural changes that will reduce the frequency of incidents such as the death of George Floyd.
Read More(REVIEW) Season 2 of “Ramy” follows a young American Muslim man in his earnest struggle with sexual impurity and relationships. He wants to practice Islam dutifully, but the consequences of his actions serve as a haunting reminder of how he’s failed — or maybe an encouraging reminder that it’s never too late to start over.
Read MoreIn this Friday’s Weekend Plug-in, a tie-in between the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957 and a Houston teen who stood up for a friend called the N-word. The teen is the great-grandson of the Arkansas mayor who asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to send federal troops to allow the school’s desegregation.
Read MorePeaceful Muslim protesters in New York City prayed together and decried anti-black racism in the Muslim community, calling it an issue that requires the attention of all faithful Muslims and saying it must be addressed before racism outside the community can be dismantled.
Read MoreJohn Perkins, an author and activist, sat down with a reporter to discuss the role of faith in healing racial divisions. In the wake of George Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests, Perkins says the present moment is an opportunity to progress toward unity and reconciliation through abundant love and forgiveness.
Read More(OPINION) It’s difficult for most Americans to understand what is happening in the streets at this time. That’s because most of us have a poor media diet. To better understand racism and protests, we need to read older books, too.
Read MoreFamily and friends of George Floyd, along with several celebrities, politicians and Christian leaders gathered today in Houston for Floyd’s final memorial at The Fountain of Praise Church in Houston, Texas.
Read MoreBlack alumni in a letter last week called for Jerry Falwell Jr. to change his behavior or step down as Liberty University president after he tweeted an image of a face mask imprinted with a photo of one man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan robes.
Read MoreAn alumnus of the private Christian university in Arkansas says the daily chapel venue’s namesake, George S. Benson, was “a vocal racist and supporter of segregation.” The petition proposes renaming the auditorium in honor of Harding graduate Botham Jean, a black man who was shot to death by a white police officer in Dallas in 2018.
Read More(OPINION) Journalists needed to give readers both sides of a debate so that they had some chance to fully understood and assess what is happening. Otherwise, they’re only telling half the story. Right?
Read MoreLocked and loaded parishioners acting like John Wayne of the church pews may be a new chapter in church history. Historically, Christians were hesitant to deploy violence for self-protection. While the Bible and church history illustrate tension around violence, armed resistance isn’t completely foreign to Christendom.
Read MoreTim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, announced his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer on Sunday.
Read MoreIn the aftermath of the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville and Ahmaud Arbery near Brunswick, Georgia, segments of Atlanta’s Jewish community decried violence against African Americans and called for greater efforts to counter racism at the individual and institutional levels. The statements they issued struck common themes as well as differences reflecting how each views its mission.
Read More(REVIEW) “Just Mercy” follows civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson as he represents a black man on death row in Alabama, wrongly accused of murdering a white 18-year-old girl. The movie based on a true story is about systemic racism and corruption within the justice system, but it’s also about how those injustices can change.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in includes a pop quiz on President Trump’s photo op at St. John’s Episcopal Church and other top headlines in a busy week of religion-related protest and pandemic news.
Read More(OPINION) A young black Christian woman in New York had not attended previous protests because she thought revenge, anger and bitterness characterized the Black Lives Matter movement. Then Brooklyn churches organized a “prayerful protest.”
Read More(OPINION) Although President Trump exploited the Bible as a symbol of peace, throughout the gospels Jesus displays righteous anger against unethical money changers and societies who alienated strangers. Trump invoked the Bible to divert attention to the economy, but God always sides with the oppressed.
Read More
