NEWS STORY
RNS-Beth-Moore: Bible teacher Beth Moore ends partnership with Lifeway: ‘I am no longer a Southern Baptist’
(RNS) —Beth Moore, the iconic Southern Baptist Bible teacher, author and Twitter powerhouse, has broken ties with Lifeway, the SBC’s publishing arm and says she is no longer a Southern Baptist. She said that denomination’s tolerance of sexism and racism made staying untenable. By Bob Smietana. 2,200 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Cocaine-Disparity: Prison Fellowship joins partners on proposed reforms for equitable cocaine sentencing
(RNS) — Prison Fellowship has joined forces with criminal justice and prosecutorial organizations to support efforts to equalize punishments for sales of different kinds of cocaine. Their #EndtheDisparity campaign has recently focused on the current 18:1 ratio in federal sentencing for distributing crack cocaine versus the drug in powdered form. By Adelle M. Banks. 600 words. (category: a)
NEWS BRIEF
RNS-Pilgrimage-Covid: Intention can turn any lockdown walk into pilgrimage, urges British Pilgrimage Trust
(RNS) — You may be able to point to the exact moment this week or the next when the COVID-19 pandemic upended your everyday life. Put more succinctly: when taking a daily walk became for many of us a great escape, a way to get some fresh air and movement. For people of faith — or even no faith — looking for something more spiritual, Guy Hayward, director of the British Pilgrimage Trust, has a new idea: Turn those walks into a pilgrimage. By Emily McFarlan Miller. 550 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-West-Union: Cornel West returns to Union Theological Seminary after Harvard tenure dispute
(RNS) — The move comes after West had threatened to leave Harvard University, which he said denied his request to be considered for tenure, according to media reports. This is West’s second departure from Harvard, where he taught in the law school, divinity school and department of African and African American studies. By Alejandra Molina. 425 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Burge-Oped: As a pastor I pray my flock comes back. As a religion demographer I’m more realistic.
(RNS) — It should come as a comfort to pastors of declining churches that the most likely reason for the dramatic rise in the religiously unaffiliated is simple secularization — the theory that as nations become more educationally advanced and economically prosperous, they will become less religious. By Ryan Burge. 1,145 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Key-Oped: Religious freedom protects our right to worship. It doesn’t protect discrimination.
(RNS) — For too long, people of faith have looked the other way while our leaders codify discrimination against LGBTQ Americans in the name of “religious liberty.” In the past months, that effort has been accelerated, with vile and inhumane laws being proposed in states across the country to restrict the freedoms of LGBTQ people. By David W. Key Sr. 650 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Wallis-Oped: Time for some good news for the poor
(RNS) — This bill would do a great deal to help relieve those experiencing economic insecurity and who are deeply suffering. These must be nonpartisan aspirations. As a faith leader, I believe that this must be at the heart of our ongoing response to the pandemic. It is unconscionable that congressional Republicans would seek to delay or diminish this focus. By Jim Wallis. 990 words. (category: k)