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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Shreveport babies saved by NOLA judge’s ruling

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM)—In a July 8 hearing, Judge Ethel Simms Julien, a Democrat, ruled that she did not have jurisdiction over the case which had been filed in New Orleans to stop enforcement of a trigger law that now bans abortion in Louisiana. She also declined to extend the temporary restraining order granted, June 27, by Orleans Parish Civil District Judge Robin Giarrusso, also a Democrat, that stopped the law from going into effect. Julien’s decisions spared the lives of an estimated 40-50 babies scheduled to be aborted during the weekend by a plaintiff in the case, Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport. Medical Students for Hope, a pro-abortion group, which has a chapter with Tulane University, New Orleans, is the other plaintiff in the case. BACKDROP Louisiana’s abortion ban went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned, June 24, its previous rulings in Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) and returned “the authority to regulate abortion … to the people and their elected representatives.” The lawsuit to stop the abortion ban was filed, June 27, by the two pro-abortion groups, and named Louisiana Department of Health … [Read more...]

Are Southern Baptists ready for a world that despises Christians?

By  Ron F. Hale   Originally published July 9, 2022, on The Stream, stream.org. Reprinted with permission of author.   JACKSON, Tenn. (LBM)--Aaron Renn’s penetrating analysis of American evangelicalism in his First Things article triggered much thought. As a respected writer and thinker, Renn uses the framework of three worlds (positive, neutral, negative) with evangelicals swimming against a relentless secular rip current. Evangelicals are not only losing standing in the public arena while struggling against an increasingly hostile culture. Renn says, “Today there is a culture war within evangelicalism itself.” I’d like to apply Renn’s diagnosis to the Southern Baptist Convention. Renn points to three “worlds,” or moments in time, that formed Christians’ views and attitudes. LIVING IN THE POSITIVE WORLD (Pre-1994) Society at large retains a mostly positive view of Christianity. To be known as a good, churchgoing man remains part of being an upstanding citizen. Publicly being a Christian is a status-enhancer. Christian moral norms are the basic moral norms of society and violating them can bring negative consequences. Renn states that evangelicals created two main strategies in relating to the secular … [Read more...]