By Gregory Tomlin Christian Examiner NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation has fired off a handful of threatening letters to universities demanding each one sack its "football chaplain." The letters to Auburn University, Georgia Tech, University of Georgia and University of South Carolina come after the atheist group – which has a long history of litigation –issued a 25-pagereport titled "Pray to Play" on the alleged abuses of Christian football chaplains at NCAA schools. According to FFRF, it conducted a year-long investigation into the activities of the chaplains and determined that all of the chaplains investigated "are promoting Christianity, usually with an evangelical bent." "These chaplains preach religious doctrine, including apparently creationism, to the athletes. Some universities, like Missouri, paid for chaplains and their wives and children to attend bowl games. Other universities paid chaplains for their services, including the University of South Carolina, which has a policy prohibiting such payments. Other universities, such as Auburn, give chaplains offices in the stadium. Chaplains were also involved in recruiting prospective athletes, raising the … [Read more...]

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Most Americans believe they are seeing an epidemic in the United States of people taking their own lives, a LifeWay Research study shows. But most Americans don't view suicide as a selfish choice, and they don't believe it sends people to hell, the survey finds. "Americans are responding with compassion to a tragedy that touches many families," said Scott McConnell, LifeWay Research vice president. "For example, as researchers learn more about the effects of mental illness, people may be more likely to react to suicide with mercy." In a phone survey of 1,000 Americans, LifeWay Research found more than a third (36 percent) have had a friend or relative commit suicide, and 56 percent describe suicide as an epidemic in the U.S. The study, released Aug. 21, is based on a survey conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 5, 2014. Concern is highest among the oldest half of the millennial generation, those 25 to 34 years old. This age group is more likely than others to perceive an epidemic of suicide (66 percent), say suicide is selfish (45 percent), and believe those who commit suicide go to hell (27 percent, matching 35- to 44-year-olds). Federal data show suicides have been on the rise since 2005. This is not … [Read more...]

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP) -- Kelvin Cochran was enjoying newfound popularity in 1981 as one of the first black firefighters in Shreveport, La., when women began following him to the fire station with their phone numbers in hand, charmed by his presence on the back of the fire engine. The 21-year-old dated like "crazy" for four months, he said, until God woke him up one morning and changed his life. "Son, this is not the life I called you to. You need to find yourself a wife," Cochran remembers God saying to him. "So I took God very seriously and I thought, rather than trying to find someone that I never met, let me just take the time and pray and think of the girl that I admired the most growing up in Shreveport." His memories took him back to the fourth grade and a certain Carolyn Marshall, whom he found only after calling every Marshall in the Shreveport phone book. He persuaded her to invite him to the home she still shared with her mother in a public housing development. He proposed on that very night over hot chocolate, and without a diamond ring, at the kitchen table as her mother sat in another room. He and Marshall were married six months later. They celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary in June and have three … [Read more...]

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Marijuana legalization advocates continue to gain ground as nearly half of all states have decriminalized marijuana possession at least for medical purposes and a majority of Americans reportedly have told pollsters marijuana should be legal. Despite such momentum, ethicists, federal agencies and even some mainstream media outlets are warning of serious consequences of further legalization of the mind-altering drug. Barrett Duke, a Southern Baptist public policy specialist, said it is troubling to see so many states weakening their laws on marijuana use because they are "embracing a drug that has already revealed its destructive character." "Marijuana is not a harmless drug. It is an addictive substance that interferes with relationships, health and productivity," Duke, vice president for public policy and research with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told Baptist Press. Marijuana also is a poor pain reliever, Duke said. "Many people are going to be deeply disappointed when they discover that their use of marijuana has increased the number of problems they are dealing with while doing practically nothing to alleviate their suffering," Duke said. "Years of controlled study are still … [Read more...]

ROWAN COUNTY, Ky. (BP) -- A county clerk in Kentucky defied a federal judge's order to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Thursday (Aug. 13), turning away two men who arrived at her office as soon as it opened. Kim Davis argues her Christian beliefs prevent her from issuing a same-sex marriage license because signing the document is tantamount to approving the marriage. Thursday evening, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning dismissed that argument. But Davis, represented by Liberty Counsel, is appealing to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Until it can hear her case, she has declined to issue marriage licenses to any couples, gay or straight. In his ruling, Bunning said Davis' actions likely violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition of government-sponsored religion because she is promoting her convictions "at the expenses of others." "Davis remains free to practice her Apostolic Christian beliefs," Bunning wrote. "She may continue to attend church twice a week, participate in Bible study and minister to female inmates at the Rowan County Jail. She is even free to believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, as many Americans do. However, her religious convictions cannot excuse … [Read more...]

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (BP) -- Opponents of a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance in Fayetteville, Ark., heard Oregon bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein underscore the cause of religious liberty during an Aug. 11 rally at University Baptist Church. Leaders of Protect Fayetteville (www.protectfayetteville.com) who sponsored the rally say Ordinance 5781 would infringe on First Amendment religious freedoms. Proponents, meanwhile, say it would protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community from being denied service, housing or employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The proposed ordinance is slated for a vote Sept. 8 in the city of 80,000 people where the University of Arkansas is located. The Kleins, owners of the Oregon bakery Sweet Cakes who face a $135,000 fine for discrimination after refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding, addressed the rally's 200-plus attendees. The proposed ordinance "leaves the door wide open to force people to adhere to something they don't want to adhere to," Aaron Klein said in an interview with KNWA-TV. (For Baptist Press' latest report on the Kleins' case, clickhere.) Protect Fayetteville warns on one of its websites (www.repeal119.com): "Under this … [Read more...]

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Internal Revenue Service will not revoke the tax-exempt status of religious organizations that object to same-sex marriage, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has promised at least twice in recent weeks. But some tax code experts say the commissioner's commitments are not a guarantee of tax shelter for organizations with religious objections to the Supreme Court's nationwide legalization of homosexual marriage this summer. Michael Batts, a CPA who specializes in nonprofit organizations, told Baptist Press some types of tax exemptions could still be in jeopardy. "It is helpful to have correspondence from the sitting IRS commissioner that provides some minimal level of temporary assurance about the position of current IRS officials. But the commissioner's comments on federal tax-exempt status for religious organizations do not establish legal authority on the matter and they are not the end of the story," Batts, managing partner of a national CPA firm that exclusively serves nonprofits, said in written comments. "Leaders of religious organizations must also keep in mind that federal income tax exemption is only one front with respect to this issue," Batts noted. "State and local tax exemptions of … [Read more...]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (BP) -- A Minnesota study that found lesbian teens four times more likely to become pregnant than their heterosexual peers has been called a predictable reflection of the homosexual community's apparent emphasis on sexual activity. "Some people may be shocked by the high pregnancy rates among the lesbian and gay teens," Evan Lenow, assistant professor of ethics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press in written comments. "However, this confirms what studies have shown for years. Individuals who identify as lesbian and gay are much more likely to experiment with sex and have many more sexual partners than their heterosexual counterparts. Some of these teens who identify as lesbian and gay may be simply experimenting with all types of sexual partnerships and thinking less about the ramifications of such experimentation." According to the 2015 Minnesota Adolescent Sexual Health Report, gay males and those questioning their sexual orientation are four times more likely than their heterosexual peers to report getting someone pregnant. Bisexual girls are more than five times more likely to get pregnant than heterosexual girls. The survey of nearly 78,000 9th and 11th graders found that 2 … [Read more...]