The resolution never hit the floor of the 2004 Southern Baptist Convention for debate. An effort to insert some of its biting language into another resolution was easily defeated, with enough church messengers from across the nation raising their peach-colored voting cards on June 16 that a formal ballot was not required. No doubt about it, Southern Baptists are upset about the state of American culture and, to get specific about it, the moral climate in public schools. But leaders... Read more
When the Rev. Robert Maddox went to work as Jimmy Carter’s White House faith liaison, one of his main jobs was helping Beltway politicos lose their fear of born-again Christians. The landscape has changed radically in the past three decades. What infuriates Maddox now is that Americans now automatically assume that religious believers are right-wing Republicans. “People on the progressive side of things have not been doing a good job getting our message out,” he said, during a break in... Read more
As a Baptist preacher’s kid who grew up in Texas in the 1970s, I had plenty of reasons to reject Ronald Reagan. That may sound strange, since the Southern Baptist Convention and the Republican Party that Reagan built now appear to be wedded at the hip. But people tend to forget that Jimmy Carter really is a Baptist. So are Al Gore, the Rev. Bill Moyers and Britney Spears, while we’re at it. People also forget that Reagan was not... Read more
When it comes to media-bias surveys, God is almost as big a story these days as the president of the United States. It helps if researchers release their work as journalists prepare for trench warfare in an election year. God is more newsworthy when linked to life’s crucial issues, which, in journalism, are always politics, sports, entertainment and then more politics. Thus, news coverage of a study by the Pew Research Center and the Project for Excellence in Journalism immediately... Read more
The Rev. Mac Brunson recently took his kids out and, while the movie was forgettable, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas was hooked by one of the coming attractions. It was a trailer for the comedy “Raising Helen,” in which Kate Hudson plays a hot New York City fashion star whose life changes when she has to raise her sister’s three children. Five-hankie chick flicks require hunky love interests and, lo and behold, this time the blonde... Read more
When it comes to judging Hollywood, critics in pulpits and pews have been chanting the same mantra for decades. All together now: There’s too much sex and there’s too much violence. Amen. Then a strange thing happened. An evangelical named Randall Wallace wrote “Braveheart,” which a Catholic named Mel Gibson turned into an Oscar-magnet about freedom, faith, sacrifice and truth. It was bloody violent and its wedding was followed by a nude wedding night. Many conservative believers cheered and began... Read more
From coast to coast, United Methodists are doing the math. America’s third-largest flock just survived another quadrennial General Conference rocked by media-friendly fighting over sex. Now it’s time to dissect the numbers. Delegates voted 570-334 to affirm the historic doctrines of the Christian faith. Efforts to back laws defining “marriage as the union of one man and one woman” passed on a 624-184 vote. Same-sex union rites fell — 756-159. Should the church delete its “faithfulness in marriage and celibacy... Read more
Any Top 10 list of slogans for abortion-rights signs would include “Curb your dogma” and “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” At the recent March for Women’s Lives, one nurse weighed the tensions between Sen. John Kerry and the Vatican and proclaimed: “I’m a Catholic, I take Communion … and I’m Pro-Choice.” She could have added: “And I vote.” George W. Bush will receive few votes from these voters. They’re not fond of Pope John Paul... Read more
Anyone watching the annual March for Life will see all kinds of people saying all kinds of prayers as that river of protest against abortion flows toward the U.S. Supreme Court. But as a rule, the Baptist marchers do not pray the rosary with Catholics. Orthodox Jews do not chant the same dirges as Orthodox Christians. It would be rare to see Methodists pray with Mormons, or Presbyterians lifting their hands with the Pentecostals. They are united by a cause,... Read more
The Rev. Julian Rush watched the headlines as 13 United Methodist pastors in the Pacific Northwest judged the fate of one of their colleagues. Few, if any, facts were in dispute. The Rev. Karen Dammann was living openly in a lesbian relationship and leveled with her superiors. And everyone knew, after a generation of bitter strife, that their Book of Discipline banned “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from ministry, because gay sex is “incompatible with Christian teachings.” Rush wasn’t surprised by the... Read more
Terry Mattingly
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