Mark Tooley

A Religion News Service (RNS) story several days ago highlighted how the usually Catholic-dominated annual March for Life, which occurred yesterday, is more deliberately reaching out to evangelicals. One prominent evangelical speaker yesterday was former Focus on the Family chief James Dobson, age seventy-seven but still fiery. . . .  Continue Reading »

As recently as the 1990s, the National Council of Churches, the once great institution of mainstream liberal Christianity, still could make headlines. Under general secretary Joan Brown Campbell they raised money for burned black churches, (much of which forestalled the NCC’s own financial insolvency), stood with President Clinton during his confrontations with the new Republican Congress, and championed the return of little Elian Gonzalez to Castro’s Cuba. In the early 2000s, Campbell’s successor, former Democratic Congressman Bob Edgar helped keep the NCC alive with grants from secular liberal philanthropies. . . . Continue Reading »

There is a small but growing movement among evangelicals against unique friendship for Israel, embodied by the recent “Impact Holy Land” conference hosted by Evangelicals for Social Action in Philadelphia. Among the prominent U.S. and Palestinian church voices who spoke was Lynne Hybels, co-founder with her pastor husband Bill of the Chicago area Willow Creek Church, which itself spawned a widely replicated model for especially non-denominational congregations… . Continue Reading »

Richard John Neuhaus once sardonically noted that Methodism thinks in terms of centuries. The quip captured simultaneously his disenchantment with, deep knowledge of, and, although he might have denied it, continued concern about Mainline Protestant denominations, of which United Methodism is the largest… . Continue Reading »

Thomas Jefferson’s religion has been controversial for over 200 years, since at least the 1800 presidential race. The latest flare-up was over popular conservative Christian writer David Barton’s recently published Jefferson Lies, which the publisher withdrew last year after the exposure of numerous distortions in Barton’s attempt to baptize Jefferson as a virtual evangelical fellow traveller. Secular historians have typically painted Jefferson as a religious freethinker… . Continue Reading »

Visiting Chautauqua, New York, is almost like peering into Norman Rockwell’s world decades ago. Chautauqua the lake is stunning, with Lucille Ball’s hometown of Jamestown on the southern edge. Chautauqua the village is dominated by charming early 20th century cottages, most of them immaculately maintained. Everywhere there are flowers, brick sidewalks, American flags, Adirondack chairs, and welcoming front porches. Concerts sometimes begin with the National Anthem… . Continue Reading »

A 2006 Vanity Fair photo spread on environmentalist heroes pictured long-time National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) official Richard Cizik walking on water. The New York Times had hailed him as the “Earthy Evangelist” in 2005. He had helped make environmentalism, and global warming, major issues at NAE. Cizik’s career at NAE ended with resignation after he endorsed same-sex unions during a 2008 NPR interview… . Continue Reading »

For better or worse, clergy have always been involved in U.S. politics. A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland by Charles Lachman tells how pastors, rather fecklessly, virtually decided a presidential election… . Continue Reading »

After twenty-five years Richard Land has retired as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Representing the public policy voice of America’s largest Protestant body, he was a consistently faithful voice on matters of Christian moral witness such as abortion, marriage, and religious liberty… . Continue Reading »

Recently the Evangelical Environmental Network and Young Evangelicals for Climate Action took a delegation to Malawi for first-hand examination of global warming’s ostensible impact. One participant wrote for Religion News Service (RNS): “At first blush, it is difficult to understand why there is so much suffering in Malawi,” but the “changing climate neutralizes the benefits of Malawi’s natural resources… . Continue Reading »