Texas activist David Barton wants to end separation of church and state. He has the ear of the new U.S. House speaker.
Barton has been a staple of Texasโ Christian conservative movement, offering crucial support to politicians and frequently being cited or called on to testify in favor of bills that critics say would erode church-state separations.
In East Texas, skepticism over private school tuition assistance persists despite push from conservative leaders
Gov. Greg Abbott and other conservatives say families need options to escape โwokeโ education in public schools. East Texas parents and school leaders say the national talking points are off base.
LGBTQ youth of faith pray, bond at 'Beloved Arise' group
Jessika Sessoms grew up in a conservative Black evangelical family, attended Christian schools, and often heard that being gay was an abomination, until she understood that she was queer when she was studying to become a missionary at Liberty University.
Vatican bars gay union blessing, says God 'can't bless sin'
(Tiziana Fabi/Pool photo via AP)ROME โ The Vatican declared Monday that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions since God โcannot bless sin.โThe Vaticanโs orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. Since gay unions aren't intended to be part of that plan, they can't be blessed by the church, the document said. Francis has endorsed providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions, but that was in reference to the civil sphere, not within the church. At the time, Argentine lawmakers were considering approving gay marriage, which the Catholic Church opposes. AdSpeaking of families with gay children, he said: โYou canโt kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this.
International evangelical pastor Luis Palau dies at 86
(AP Photo/Marianne Armshaw, File)PORTLAND, Ore. โ Luis Palau, an evangelical pastor who was born in Argentina and went on to work with Billy Graham before establishing his own powerhouse international ministry, died Thursday. The Luis Palau Association said he died at his home in Portland, Oregon. โThis is hard news, but Luis is experiencing the beauty of the Lord face to face.โBorn to an affluent family in Buenos Aires, Palau rose from obscurity to become one of the most well-known international Christian evangelists. How many people weโve reached with the Gospel.โHis radio programs, including the international Spanish-language โLuis Palau Responde,โ are broadcast on 3,500 stations in 48 countries, and his Portland-based Luis Palau Association organizes dozens of events each year on five continents. โLuis Palau was the Apostle Paul to the Spanish-speaking world.
The Latest: Pope honors massacre victims at Baghdad church
Pope Francis delivers his speech during a meeting with bishops and priests, at the Sayidat al-Nejat (Our Lady of Salvation) Cathedral, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 5, 2021. The pontiffโs landmark visit has been months in the making and is the first papal visit to Iraq, one that eluded his predecessors. The Alitalia flight, with both Vatican and Iraqi flags, carrying the pope and his delegation landed just before 2 p.m. (1100GMT). Dozens of Christians are gathering at the Church of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad hours before Pope Francis was due to land in Iraq for a first papal visit to the war-weary country. The papal visit has raised alarm among public health experts, who fear large crowds will inevitably gather to see the pope.
Iraq's struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit
Iraqi Christians place a cross on a church in Qaraqosh, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Iraq's Christians are hoping that a historic visit by Pope Francis in March will help boost their community's struggle to survive. Iraqโs Christian communities in the area were dealt a severe blow when they were scattered by the IS onslaught in 2014, further shrinking the country's already dwindling Christian population. Many hope their struggle to endure will get a boost from a historic visit by Pope Francis planned in March. The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, estimated that 1 million Christians have left Iraq since 2003 and about 500,000 remained.
Election turmoil splits West Virginia city's evangelicals
Travis Lowe, second from right, pastor of Crossroads Church in Bluefield, W.Va., raises his arm during services Sunday Jan. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)BLUEFIELD, W.Va. โ If youโre Christian in Bluefield โ and most everyone is, in this small city tucked into the Appalachian Mountains โ you have your choice. Or you can venture up East River Mountain to Crossroads Church, where Pastor Travis Lowe eschews Bradfordโs fiery political rhetoric, seeking paths to Christian unity. AdJoe Biden carried parts of Bluefield itself, small splotches of blue in the sea of red that is West Virginia. But Mercer County gave more than three-quarters of its votes to Trump, and Bradford and his pronouncements are very much in line with that.
Christianity on display at Capitol riot sparks new debate
The Christian imagery and rhetoric on view during this months Capitol insurrection are sparking renewed debate about the societal effects of melding Christian faith with an exclusionary breed of nationalism. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)WASHINGTON โ The Christian imagery and rhetoric on view during this monthโs Capitol insurrection are sparking renewed debate about the societal effects of melding Christian faith with an exclusionary breed of nationalism. The rise of whatโs often called Christian nationalism has long prompted pushback from leaders in multiple denominations, with the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty forming the Christians Against Christian Nationalism coalition in 2019. โBut as a Christian, my highest allegiance is to Christ.โYet some supporters of former President Donald Trump say that denunciations of Christian nationalism are a way of attacking them politically. AdโThe fact that we saw QAnon, white supremacy and white Christianity all carried together in a violent attack on the Capitol means that particularly white Christians have got some real soul-searching to do,โ said Jones, author of two books on white Christianity in America.
The history of the Christmas tree, and why it became a popular holiday tradition
From the tree that stands tall and beautiful in Rockefeller Center to the humble Charlie Brown Christmas tree, it wouldnโt be Christmas without the traditional tree. Christmas trees are part of the Christmas spirit, but when and how did this all become such a staple in the Christmas tradition? By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. The first Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center was in 1931. Workers at the Rockefeller Center construction site put their money together for a 20-foot Christmas tree because they were thankful to have jobs during the great depression.
Bipartisan Christian group forms super PAC to oppose Trump
Dubbed Not Our Faith, the new super PAC plans to roll out six-figure TV and digital ads focused on Christian voters โ particularly the evangelical and Catholic voters who helped power Trump to victory in 2016. Urging Christians to break from Trump, the ad states that they โdonโt need Trump to save them. โTrump eked out 2016 with unprecedented support from white evangelicals and, important to note, a really strong showing among Catholics. Whether Biden backersโ bid to peel away evangelical support from Trump is making headway remains to be seen. But the new PAC sees room for a wide-ranging connection with Christian voters beyond Trumpโs white evangelical base.
How two traditions merged to create Day of the Dead
SAN ANTONIO โ Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a merger of two traditions, Mexicoโs Indigenous customs and Christianity. This merger began when the first missionaries arrived in Mexico after the Spanish conquest. The missionaries took existing beliefs about the dead and Christianized those rituals. The combination of traditions brought about change and was difficult for the Indigenous people of Mexico. Find more Day of the Dead stories on KSAT.com: