Latest Articles
Democrats to cut off abstinence-only funds: Program called "colossal failure"
Congressional Democrats say they will pull the plug on abstinence-only sex education when a $50 million grant expires on June 30—a move sparking outrage among social conservative groups....
Evangelical society president quits, returns to Catholicism: Beckwith returns to the faith of his youth
A Baylor University scholar serving this year as president of the Evangelical Theological Society shocked colleagues by returning to the Catholic faith of his youth and college years. ...
Poll says most Muslims assimilated, moderate: Socially conservative, politically liberal
Most Muslim Americans are largely assimilated in the culture, happy with their lives and embracing the American dream, according to a comprehensive study released by the Pew Research Center, which ...
Putin helps end long Russian church rift: Exile church returns to the fold
The Russian Orthodox Church and an émigré church that broke ties in 1927 over a Russian church leader’s declaration of loyalty to the Soviet state have officially reunited at a ceremony in Moscow’s...
Access denied: The problem with voter ID laws
In Wisconsin, voter fraud is rampant—or so thought U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, who began a hunt for fraudulent voters after John Kerry won Wisconsin by just 11,000 votes over George W. Bush in 2004. But by the time he completed his work, Biskupic reported that he had uncovered only 14 illegal votes—and no conspiracy.Lawmakers in many states are saying that there's only one way to stop this epidemic of fraud: have every voter show a state-issued photo ID at the polls. But experts on elections say that voter fraud of the kind that can be countered by ID requirements is rare; what’s more, requiring photo IDs would disenfranchise millions of voters.
Call-in confessions: Youthful indiscretions
Should there be a statute of limitations on youthful indiscretions?...
Gaza turmoil: U.S. choosing sides again
When Israel would not allow the Palestinian soccer team to practice in Gaza, the team held its practice sessions in Egypt....
Life cycles: The mainline lives on
"Life dies” will be the label for this column in my computer files. Life dies? Because of global warming?...
Alternative freedom: Galatians 5:1-26
Americans celebrate freedom as a national right and immortalize its twin sister liberty in the glorious statue that many of our ancestors saw as they came to this country....
Unqualified Christians: Galatians 3:23-29
You may find it strange that I, an African American, do not believe in interracial marriage. I do not believe in interracial dating or even in having friends of other races....
Signs of design: Is there purpose in evolution?
Because I am a biologist, evolution is at the core of virtually everything I think about....
Politics of charity
This is a provocative book on charitable giving in the United States and a variety of...
Johann Sebastian Bach
No composer has more universal appeal than Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)....
God at Work
Some books simply cannot be written because the subjects are too large. Who could read a history of Fridays?...
The Scandalous God
American media consumers are fed such a steady diet of scandal that it’s hard to imagine anything being universally considered ...
Fishing for answers
Alfred Hitchcock said that the literary form that most resembles a movie is not the novel but the short story, since it is designed to be digested in one sitting....
Sound alternatives
Rickie Lee Jones broke into the music business in 1979 with the jazz-pop novelty hit “Chuck E’s in Love,” and she has been a maddening enigma e...
Blogging toward Sunday
When you have long hair and perfumed oil and kissing feet and a sinful woman in the same pericope, it’s hard not to think of sex....