Thursday, June 6, 2024

This Week in Religion - Southern Baptist church struggles to implement reform

Lead story

People at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting hold up yellow ballots to vote.

Editor's note:

For the past several years, abuse reform has been a major topic at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. Local church representatives, or messengers, have proven again and again through their votes that they want to see the denomination take action to prevent sexual abuse in its churches. Yet, the volunteer task force charged with implementing those reforms is ending its work with two of its chief tasks unfinished. In a report this week, The Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force said a lack of funding, concerns about insurance and other unnamed difficulties hindered its work, writes RNS’s Bob Smietana. It marks the second time in two decades that a proposed database for abusive pastors has been scrapped, frustrating and angering abuse reform advocates. “The institution does not care,” said one. “If it did care it would put money and resources behind this. And it did not do that. And it hasn’t for years.”

A portrait of Roxanne Stone, Managing Editor at Religion News Service.
 

Religion News

Ohio’s attorney general seeks to block seminary college from selling its rare books

The school was founded in Cincinnati in 1875 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the founder of the American Jewish Reform movement, and is the nation’s oldest Jewish seminary. By Bruce Shipkowski/The Associated Press

President Milei’s surprising devotion to Judaism and Israel provokes tension in Argentina and beyond

Breaking decades of policy precedent, Milei has gone further in his support of right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government than perhaps any other world leader. By Isabel Debre and Almudena Calatrava/The Associated Press

The ADL’s Antisemitism Report Card gives failing grades to Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Michigan State, and Northwestern, among others. By Michele Chabin/Religion News Service

A woman holds two babies.

A court ruled embryos are children. These Christian couples agree yet wrestle with IVF choices

When faced with infertility, Christians who believe life begins at or around conception must wrestle with weighty questions, including the ethics of in vitro fertilization. By Laura Ungar and Tiffany Stanley/The Associated Press

The second coming of Doug Wilson

Conservatives are elevating long-controversial Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, framing him as a champion of a relatively moderate form of Christian nationalism — but critics say his ideas remain extreme. By Jack Jenkins/Religion News Service

 

Commentary and Analysis

The ruling BJP failed to see that those who had not benefited from the country's rapid economic growth, were deeply unhappy. By Sumit Ganguly for The Conversation

Like other fascist leaders, Donald Trump has transposed himself from a man to a symbol. And that's the danger. By Robert P. Jones/Religion News Service

A Catholic friar under the chuppah? A bride in henna and a groom in a kippah? Many Jewish interfaith couples find ways to honor both of their faiths. By Samira Mehta for The Conversation

Warrior-monks crusaded for Christianity throughout medieval Europe. Adding to the ongoing mystery surrounding the military order is their enigmatic seal. By Andrew Latham for The Conversation

 
People walk on a rug made of colored salt. The person at the front of the procession has their arms outstretched and their head tipped towards the sky.

People pray as they walk on a rug made of colored salt toward the Christ the Redeemer statue after a Catholic Mass celebrating Corpus Christi in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 30, 2024. Corpus Christi celebrates the tradition and belief of the Holy Eucharist, which for Christians represents the body and blood of Jesus Christ. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

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