The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) is the SBC entity tasked with speaking for Southern Baptists in the public square and speaking to Southern Baptists on matters of moral importance. As an organization committed to bridging the gap between the moral demands of the gospel and the practical realities of life and society, the …
Continue...When you hear the phrase “payday loans,” what words and ideas come to mind? Helpful? Useful? Timely? Or words with a more negative connotation like harmful, predatory, and immoral? These are some of the responses given by a group of Christians that took part in a recent survey titled American Views on Payday Loans. The …
Continue...Recently, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) proposed a rule change concerning education programs and school activities that receive federal financial assistance. On April 6, the ED released a proposed rule under Title IX anti-discrimination laws to “clarify” the participation of transgender students in school sports. The proposed rule focuses on sex-related eligibility criteria for …
Continue...On April 6, the Department of Education (ED) released a proposed rule under Title IX anti-discrimination laws to “clarify” the participation of transgender students in school sports. This new rule establishes that federally-funded schools may violate Title IX if they categorically ban transgender students from participating on sports teams consistent with their claimed gender identity, …
Continue...On May 3, the North Carolina legislature passed the “Care for Women, Children, and Families Act” (Senate Bill 20), legislation that reduces the state’s elective abortion limit from 20 weeks down to 12 and includes an exception for rape and incest through 20 weeks. It also establishes an exception for fetal life-limiting anomalies through 24 weeks …
Continue...Over the past year, there’s been increasing debate about the nature and classification of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022. Are these systems truly representative of artificial intelligence (AI)? Do they propose a threat to humans? The answers, as with many things in …
Continue...In April 2019, a group of over 70 evangelical leaders signed and launched Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles (Spanish version) with two goals in mind. First, we wanted to help the Church proactively think about the myriad of ways that AI is shaping our society and provide a sound theological, philosophical, and ethical …
Continue...On May 1, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2023 annual report. As the report mentions, USCIRF was created as a result of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). USCIRF “is an independent, bipartisan U.S. government advisory body, separate from the U.S. Department of State, that monitors religious …
Continue...Sexual abuse in the nation’s federal prisons must be rooted out, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the Justice Department’s second-highest-ranking leader, recently told prison wardens gathered for a nationwide training event. “This is urgent, urgent work,” Monaco told the Associated Press (AP) in an interview. “It’s incumbent upon us as leaders to call that out …
Continue...In less than two months, 13 students in Nashville, North Carolina, will don caps and gowns and walk across a stage. Before their loved ones and college faculty and staff, they will receive diplomas and embark on a new season as graduates. However, unlike many others graduating this spring, their regalia will be worn over …
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