Cakes, Artistic Prerogative, and SSM — In Colorado, the three appeals judges weighing the Phillips wedding cake case examined those issues, asking: Is cake making really an act of expression protected by the First Amendment, or should bakeries have to serve all customers equally? Phillips, the owner-baker, declined, saying he would make other treats, but […]
Court Stays Catholic Charity from ACA Birth Control Mandate
Court Stays Catholic Charity from ACA Birth Control Mandate — The Supreme Court issued an order that allows certain nonprofit religious groups to avoid compliance with federal rules concerning insurance coverage of contraceptives for women. The order bars the Obama administration from enforcing the rules against religious groups and church officials until the court decides […]
Oregon Fines Bakery $135,000
Oregon Fines Bakery $135,000 — Oregon’s labor commissioner has ordered the owners of a Portland-area bakery to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple for whom they declined to bake a wedding cake. Any appeal would first appear before the Oregon Court of Appeals. But it eventually could end up at the U.S. Supreme […]
Polygamous Trio Applies for Marrriage License
Polygamous Trio Applies for Marriage License — Nathan Collier, inspired by last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, has applied in Billings, Montana, for a marriage license to legally wed his second wife. Montana, like all 50 states, outlaws bigamy — holding multiple marriage licenses — but Collier said he plans to sue […]
Evangelical Pastors Gather to Learn Another Calling: Politics
NPR’s summary of this 5 min. audio clip: “Hundreds of conservative evangelical pastors across the country are being trained to run for political office. The project is part of an effort to mobilize an “army” to do battle in the culture wars.” The piece can serve as an introduction to a two-kingdoms analysis on the […]
Update on Christian Campuses, Gay Policy, and SSM
— At least two Christian colleges are extending benefits to same-sex spouses of employees after last month’s Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. After Indiana legalized same-sex marriage last fall, the University of Notre Dame and nearby Saint Mary’s immediately extended health care and other benefits to same-sex couples. In May, Baylor […]
Whither Christian Higher Education?
In this column, the president of Midwestern Baptist Seminary recommends three steps for responding to the current culture shift: clarifying identity, maintaining sustainability, and advocating for Christian liberty.
Mercy, Justice, and Emmanuel AME in Charleston
Charleston’s Black leaders want to see justice as well as forgiveness as an outcome of the shooting of 12 people in Bible study there. This 7 min. audio clip might be used to set out the Biblical themes of grace and justice and when and how to employ them–themes we find in literature, jurisprudence, the […]
The Culture Shift and the Gospel as External (not internal) Authority
The Benedict option for non-Catholics: If American evangelicals are to succeed at Christian formation under the new cultural regime that the Supreme Court has just instituted in law, they must re-learn the Gospel of Christ as an external word, not an internal, personal experience.
Mercy, Justice, and Emmanuel AME in Charleston
Charleston’s Black leaders want to see justice as well as forgiveness as an outcome of the shooting of 12 people in Bible study there. This 7 min. audio clip might be used to set out the Biblical themes of grace and justice and when and how to employ them–themes we find in literature, jurisprudence, the […]
