Gordon College, a Christian school in Wenham, Massachusetts, could be required to pay back more than $7 million of COVID-19 relief funds. The school contested, arguing that its request for loan forgiveness was denied because of religious discrimination.
Read MoreRyan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction, spoke recently inside the Board of Education conference room at the state Capitol complex in Oklahoma City. The interview came amid a national debate that every teacher in Oklahoma must be provided with physical copies of the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments.
Read MoreWhat political activities can churches and other religious nonprofit groups engage in legally? According to the Internal Revenue Service, “Section 501(c)(3) organizations are precluded from, and suffer loss of exemption for, engaging in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) The debate over a potentially less religious future for the Republican Party took center stage during discussions surrounding the Republican National Convention in July. On the first day of the festivities, Amber Rose was given a speaking slot. Is there a rising number of nonreligious Republicans that are going to take the party in a less socially conservative direction?
Read MoreIf you look up “Baptist” in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, you will find: “… a member or adherent of an evangelical Protestant denomination marked by congregational polity and baptism by immersion of believers only.” Ah, but I have heard quite a few Baptists, especially those leaning toward an Anabaptist identity, argue that the vague term “evangelical” doesn’t apply to them and some may even debate the word “Protestant.”
Read MoreAbout 200 Christians of multiple nationalities — Russian, Ukrainian, Iranian and Israeli, to name a few — sang a hymn of unity together, their citizenship on Earth far less important than a shared home in heaven. Some attendees drove 45 minutes. Others spent more than a day on planes and buses. They gathered in a city known for a particular distance — 26.2 miles.
Read MoreThe Department of Justice has expressed an interest in an Arizona case involving a church that has been dealing with alleged zoning code violations for a benevolence food pantry it has operated for nearly 25 years.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Christianity, with its rich history of metaphysical claims and moral imperative, offers a bulwark against a descent into chaos — not for everyone, I know, but for a chunk of humanity. It provides a narrative that encompasses human suffering, offers redemption and asserts the inherent dignity of the individual, grounded in the image of God. Peter Thiel is aiming to bring that to the tech world.
Read MoreChristian universities are dying. Several years of soaring costs, declining demographics and insufficient cash reserves have steadily driven the market into crisis. Yet, a 79-year-old private institution in North Carolina appears to be an anomaly. Carolina University’s enrollment has surged 29% this year, rising from 826 to 1,068 students.
Read MoreIn her bid to be the nation’s first female president, Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, thrusting the outspoken Minnesota Lutheran into the national spotlight. Walz, 60, brings political experience as well as suburban-and-rural appeal to the presidential race.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Catholic history is full of childless women respected for their work, many of them members of religious communities. They often contributed to lasting social and cultural change. In fact, the very existence of women’s religious communities is a testament to the value Catholicism puts on childless women’s lives.
Read MoreU.S. adults support in vitro fertilization in general but are more divided about destroying embryos created in the process. The assisted reproductive technology procedure involves fertilizing an egg with sperm in a lab dish and then implanting the egg in a woman seeking to get pregnant. Around 2 percent of births each year in the U.S., or almost 100,000, involve IVF.
Read More(ANALYSIS) All credit to the tremendous Landon Schnabel for a great paper that was published at the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. The title tells the story: “A Search for Liberalizing Religion: Political Asymmetry in the American Religious Landscape.”
Read MoreLiberty University and its former president Jerry Falwell Jr. have reached an agreement to settle all outstanding disputes and lawsuits between the two parties. A statement said the two reached a mutual understanding about the retirement and severance Liberty will pay to Falwell.
Read MoreSeven weeks after Robert Morris resigned from Gateway Church after Cindy Clemishire publicly claimed he abused her in the 1980s when she was 12 years old, Gateway has announced that Morris’ son, James Morris, is stepping away from the church.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Over the past few months, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been locked in a court battle with Annunciation House, a network of shelters in the El Paso area that assists migrants with basic needs and legal aid. On July 2, district court Judge Francisco Dominguez issued a ruling denying Paxton’s attempt to shut down Annunciation House. Paxton appealed two weeks later.
Read MoreMore than two decades ago, a veteran Catholic priest and educator explained some ecclesiastical math to me. The late Father Donald Cozzens was talking about one of the biggest religion-news stories of the past half century — the growing shortage of priests at Catholic altars. To understand the problem, he said, you need to view it through the eyes of mothers and fathers.
Read More(OPINION) As a GOP voter for as long as I can remember, I’m not discouraging you from voting Republican. Not in the least. And as a two-time Trump voter, I’m not discouraging you from voting for Trump. That is not my intent at all, as I personally plan to continue to vote GOP. Instead, I’m urging each of you Christian conservatives who votes for Trump and the GOP to do so with your eyes wide open recognizing that the GOP is not God’s party.
Read More(REVIEW) “Shepherds” is certainly a book that is stuffed with footnotes, each page linking to multiple articles and websites to back up her claims. It’s unfortunately a book many people will jump to either attack or support without actually looking up the sources themselves. But it is a book that requires just that to responsibly engage with it. To Basham’s credit, she provides the footnotes for people to check her work. For this review, I did not fact-check every source that Basham cited.
Read MoreAs the number of U.S. frozen embryos has grown to estimates beyond a million, their moral status has become the crux of discussion among bioethicists. Vic McCracken, professor of ethics and theology at Abilene Christian University, co-teaches the medical bioethics course with Cynthia Powell, who directs ACU’s Center for Pre-Health Professions. Every year the class includes students who were born through IVF.
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