Archives For Mass shooting

The Briefing: Condemning racism after El Paso

Meredith Flynn —  August 6, 2019

Christian leaders decry ‘system of hatred’ after weekend shootings
After a gunman killed 22 people in a Texas border town Aug. 3, evangelical pastors and ministry leaders spoke from their pulpits and on social media against the racism and white supremacy that motivated him, according to an online manifesto.

“When these manifestos outline the motive as #WhiteSupremacy, the Church CAN’T be silent in calling this out!” tweeted D.A. Horton, pastor of Reach Fellowship in Long Beach, Ca. “This doesn’t mean everyone of European descent is a White Supremacist. But it does identify the system of hatred that is rooted in evil.”

In the early hours of Aug. 4, another shooting took nine lives in downtown Dayton, Ohio.

>Related: While President Donald Trump said Monday the country “must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy,” USA Today reported the President’s remarks signal a focus on mental health and cultural issues, rather than gun control.

How to pray for shooting victims
Shooting survivor Taylor Schumann shares 11 specific suggestions for praying for people in the aftermath of a shooting. “I know firsthand what living through a shooting does to a mind and what a bullet does to a body,” she writes at Christianity Today online, “and I believe that my recovery and healing is a direct result of prayers that were prayed for me.”

>Related: “Welcome Jesus into the midst of this turbulent time,” author Max Lucado urged after the shootings. “Don’t let the storm turn you inward. Let it turn you upward.”

Movie trailer leads to board resignations
Founders Ministries, a Calvinist group with roots in the Southern Baptist Convention, announced the resignations of three board members following the release of a controversial promo video for an upcoming documentary about liberal drift within the denomination. The trailer for “By What Standard” features interviews with prominent Southern Baptist leaders, some who have since distanced themselves from the project.

 -Christianity Today, The Christian Post, USA Today, Religion News Service, Baptist Press

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Briefing: Finding meaning in the wake of tragedy; reaction continues to signing of HB40

ib2newseditor —  October 3, 2017

The Briefing

How do we find meaning in yet another mass shooting?
Al Mohler asks that question following the tragedy in Las Vegas.
In the face of such overwhelming news, we naturally seek after facts. But the facts of who and what and where and how, still unfolding, point to the even more difficult question — why? We cannot help but ask why because, made in God’s image, we are moral creatures who cannot grasp or understand the world around us without moral categories.

Gov. signs HB40 into law; Baptists deeply disappointed
Gov. Bruce Rauner ended months of speculation last week when he signed legislation allowing state health insurance and Medicaid coverage for abortions. Reaction has been swift and strong.


So. Baptists, others release letter on ‘alt-right’ to Trump
A letter drafted by a group of Southern Baptists and others has called on President Trump to denounce clearly the racism of the “alt-right.” The letter commends the president for signing a joint congressional resolution rejecting white nationalism and supremacy, but it tells him the country “needs your voice and your convictions to defeat racist ideologies and movements in every form that they present themselves.”

Pew surveys governments on religion
More than 40% of the world’s countries have an official or preferred state religion, according to a study released by the Pew Research Center. The most common official state religion is Islam, which is named in the constitutions or basic laws of 27 countries. That’s 63% of the 43 countries that officially designate a religion. Thirteen countries list Christianity as their state religion—nine in Europe, two in the Caribbean, one in Africa, and one Pacific island nation.

Sources: AlbertMohler.com, Springfield State Journal-Register, Baptist Press (2), Christianity Today

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