BENJELOOL NEWS

Most religious groups now support same-sex marriage being legal, according to  a study released today from PRRI , the Public Religion Research Institute. The survey, which was based on more than 40,000 survey responses collected throughout 2017, finds that twice as many Americans now support same-sex marriage as oppose it, 61% to 30%. Not surprisingly, support is strongest among members of religious groups that tend to be politically liberal, such as Jews (77%), the unaffiliated (80%), and Unitarians (an overwhelming 97%). What is more surprising is how quickly support for same-sex marriage has grown among religious groups that are more politically diverse. Two-thirds of Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and white mainline Protestants now say they are in favor. What’s more, majority support now includes African Americans, whose support for same-sex marriage has increased from 41% in 2013 to 52% today. Hispanic Americans also saw double-digit increases, with support rising from 5

(RNS) — A dozen pastors known for their consistently stellar performances in the pulpit  made Baylor University’s list of the most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. The list of 11 men and one woman, chosen by scholars of homiletics, or the art of preaching, was released Tuesday (May 1). “In a world where talk is cheap and there seems to be no end to it, the preacher has to recover the priority and power of the word,” said W. Hulitt Gloer, director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas. “Words are the tools of the preacher and that gives them incredible power,” Gloer added. The dozen preachers in the  top 12  — academics, pastors and authors — were picked from nearly 800 nominees. Preaching experts in the Academy of Homiletics and the Evangelical Homiletics Society judged how much nominees’ preaching matched criteria that included their selection of biblical texts, the relevance of their ser

District of Columbia City Council President Phil Mendelson speaks during an impromptu news conference outside City Hall on May 1, 2018, in Washington, as other council members listen. The council has been roiled by mounting tensions and controversy that originally stemmed from Councilman Trayon White claiming the Rothschilds, a Jewish banking dynasty and frequent subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, were controlling Washington's weather conditions. (AP Photo/Ashraf Khalil) WASHINGTON (AP) — A spiraling controversy over anti-Semitic comments and conspiracy theories has roiled the Washington city government, seemingly getting worse with every public attempt to ease the tensions. The issue nearly derailed a City Council meeting Tuesday (May 1) and resulted in the resignation of a city official who organized a disastrous “unity rally” that featured a speaker who called all Jews “termites.” At the heart of the debacle is City Councilman Trayon White, wh