The federal judge who will preside over a highly anticipated gay marriage case in California will allow the trial to be videotaped for later showing on YouTube despite the negative effects that doing so could have on witnesses. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker decided Wednesday to have court employees record next week’s legal showdown... Continue Reading

Struthers Presbyterian Church, located just south of Youngstown, Ohio voted to secede from the Presbyterian Church USA and Eastminster Presbytery on January 10th. The vote, taken after the 11 a.m. service Sunday, was categorized as “97 percent in favor of disaffiliation” by Forrest A. Norman, the Struthers’ congregation’s Cleveland lawyer. Norman described the church, at... Continue Reading

Meeting in Canton, Ohio on Saturday, January 9, the Muskingum Valley Presbytery of the PCUSA voted by a 2-1 margin to dissolve the relationship of the Rev. Dennis Allison and First Presbyterian Church in Mansfield, Ohio, despite objections from the congregation and its leadership. An Administrative Commission had been appointed by the Presbytery in December... Continue Reading

Rarely has a romance seemed so star-crossed. He was 51, she 25. She was a pretty, petite student-nurse; he was stocky and bald, with a roving intellect and a boisterous laugh. He was also the most celebrated Catholic monk in America. Margie Smith had read at least one of the books that made Thomas Merton... Continue Reading

It is a lie that the Hyde Amendment will protect American taxpayers from funding elective abortions if the merged version of Health Care Overhaul goes through. Hyde is legislation that must be renewed annually and covers abortions through Medicaid in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment of the mother. Right now, seventeen states offer... Continue Reading

Two of the most famous books in the Western canon turned 150 years old in 2009—On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. But these anniversaries were celebrated in vastly different ways. While Darwin’s book was honored around the globe with films and websites and much... Continue Reading

On October 22, 1976, Clyde Kilby, who is now with Christ in Heaven, gave an unforgettable lecture. I went to hear him that night because I loved him. He had been one of my professors in English Literature at Wheaton College. He opened my eyes to more of life than I knew could be seen.... Continue Reading

Religious broadcasters have asked the Federal Communications Commission not to reallocate any broadcast spectrum for wireless, saying it will disproportionately impact Christian TV broadcasters. Responding to an FCC request for input on how the public’s welfare would be impacted were the commission to “diminish” over-the-air TV coverage in order to recover spectrum, the National Religious... Continue Reading

With a $30 million endowment gift from the St. Louis-based Danforth Foundation, Washington University in St. Louis is establishing a scholarly and educational center that will focus on the role of religion in politics in the United States, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “The Center reflects the legacy of Jack Danforth and his belief... Continue Reading

And just what’s wrong with religion? I’ll echo what I believe many American’s are saying: Perhaps Tiger Woods does need a dose of “the old-time Religion,” as the song says. Brit Hume suggested recently that Woods, embroiled in countless adulterous scandals, would be redeemed if he converted to Christianity. It amazes me that the minute... Continue Reading