Nearly seven in 10 Americans, including a majority of those who attend evangelical churches, believe “people are basically good,” according to a new survey by Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center.

A total of 69 percent of U.S. adults agree with the statement “people are basically good,” the survey says. This view is so popular that a majority of every population subgroup – including churchgoers – say they affirm it.

The poll of 2,000 adults, released in June, is part of the center’s American Worldview Inventory, a larger report examining the views of Americans on a wide range of issues. The university is releasing the report in 10 parts.

“Seeing human beings as ‘basically good’ runs counter to the foundational biblical teaching that human beings are created by God and made in His image but are fallen and in need of redemption,” an analysis by the university’s Cultural Research Center says.

The belief that “people are basically good” is held by a majority of Americans affiliated with evangelical churches (70 percent), mainline Protestant churches (75 percent) and Catholic churches (77 percent).

Even a slight majority of Americans who hold a biblical worldview – 52 percent – affirm the statement, according to the survey. The “biblical worldview” assessment is based on questions about a person’s beliefs and…

Actor Terry Crews continues to spark outrage across social media for his outspoken posts on controversial topics.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, Crews recently made headlines after criticizing the Black Lives Matter organization. He later addressed his comments in a controversial interview with CNN host Don Lemon.

On Tuesday, the “America’s Got Talent” host expressed his desire for the world’s largest porn site to go down.

“DEFUND PORNHUB,” Crews wrote on Twitter in all caps, tagging anti-porn organization Fight the New Drug.

DEFUND PORNHUB@FightTheNewDrug

— terry crews (@terrycrews) July 14, 2020

“Dude, no,” responded one Twitter user. “Masturbation is healthy, self-love is healthy. Pornhub gives safe platforms to sex workers — to say nothing of the artists who got kicked off Tumblr — and generates revenue for them. Are there issues with the industry? Absolutely. Is going after Pornhub the answer? No.”

On the other hand, Crews was also met with support in seeing the adult website defunded.

One Twitter user wrote, “Amen, brother. I’m with you. Pornography sites are dangerous [because] they keep people in serious bondage to sin.”

Crews, who is a professing Christian, has openly confessed his past addiction to porn and how it almost cost him his marriage, according to the Christian Post.

“It changes the way you think about people. People become objects,” Crews said in a 2016

A group of Christian Republicans is warning other Christians and Republicans not to vote for President Trump in the 2020 election.

An ad entitled “Trump is Using Us” was released on Tuesday on the Republican Voters Against Trump YouTube channel. The minute-long video features six Republican voters who explain how Trump is manipulating and using believers.

The group asserts that the President does not reflect anything regarding Christianity based on his words and actions.

Highlighted in the video includes Trump’s infamous remarks on grabbing a woman’s genitalia in leaked footage from 2005.

Another highlight was Trump’s comments following a violent white nationalist rally in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The President had stated that there were “very fine people on both sides” regarding rally goers and protestors.

More recent moments showed Trump’s retweeting of a man shouting “white power!” on his Twitter page.

Republicans Paul and Pat blatantly criticized Trump’s visit to St. John’s Church last month.

Paul mentioned how law enforcement “bludgeoned and gassed peaceful protestors” for Trump’s “ridiculous photo op” holding a Bible in front of the church.

 “The moment that he held up that Bible, he revealed this president is using us,” Pat said, adding that, “Christians have to resist being used to justify things that Jesus…

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — While Los Angeles public schools will remain online this fall, Catholic schools in the county still plan to reopen their doors for in-person classes.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Wednesday (July 15) told Religion News Service it would continue with plans to resume in-person instruction for its Catholic schools throughout Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

This after the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the nation, announced Monday that the school year beginning in August will not start with students at school facilities. President Donald Trump, in an interview with CBS, called the decision by Los Angeles schools a “mistake.”

“The health and safety of all in the school community is not something we can compromise,” said Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner.

This announcement came as COVID-19 surges across California, and nearly a month after the Department of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced it would resume in-person instruction this fall on its campuses, which includes 214 Catholic elementary schools and 51 Catholic high schools. 

On Tuesday, Itzel Magana, an archdiocese spokeswoman, said the Department of Catholic Schools is monitoring the situation and is in contact with county public health officials. 

“Given the situation…

This week, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that women do not need an ‘in-person’ doctor’s visit to obtain an abortion pill.

According to U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, the current requirements for the abortion pill create a “substantial obstacle” for women, the Associated Press reports.

The case arose after the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May, citing the difficulty women are currently facing to obtain an abortion during COVID-19.

“Particularly in light of the limited timeframe during which a medication abortion or any abortion must occur, such infringement on the right to an abortion would constitute irreparable harm,” he said in an 80-page decision.

Healthcare providers will now allow women to receive mifepristone through the mail. The previous rule required women to pick up the tablet at a hospital, clinic or medical office. The FDA’s lawyers argued the now-previous process required patients to sign a waiver providing lifesaving information that indicates the medical risks involved with taking the medication.

The lawsuit stated that the FDA rule has “particularly severe implications for low-income people and people of color, who comprise a disproportionate share of impacted patients and who are already suffering and…

(RNS) — A prominent Southern Baptist church led by a former denominational president is the subject of a lawsuit that highlights how ignoring “red flags” of manipulative behavior could lead to sexual abuse. 

On Sunday (July 12), Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in the Memphis suburb of Cordova, Tennessee, announced at the start of the worship service that a complaint had been filed against the megachurch.

The lawsuit claims that a former teenage volunteer in the church’s child-care program was groomed and later abused by a church staffer.

“In May of 2019, a former part-time employee of Bellevue was arrested when police discovered him in a car with a minor off-campus,” reads a statement provided by the church to Religion News Service on Tuesday. “The former employee resigned from his position at Bellevue in March of 2019, two months before his arrest and the discovery of this illegal relationship. He pled guilty to criminal conduct in February 2020.”

Bellevue has been prominent in the Southern Baptist Convention for decades. Gaines, who read a similar statement to his congregation, was president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2016 to 2018. Adrian Rogers, his predecessor at the church and a well-known religious broadcaster who died in 2005, was also an SBC president and led the church for 33 years.

In the 24-page complaint filed in April,…

Upcoming Hallmark movies will include “LGBTQ storylines, characters, and actors” as part of a company-wide strategy to promote diversity, an official from the parent company of Hallmark Channel says.

George Zaralidis, the vice president of network program publicity at Hallmark’s parent company, Crown Media Family Networks, made the comment to NBC News the same day Crown Media announced a slate of new original movies for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries for 2020-2021.

Among the new movies are 13 for Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas series and five original films for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ Miracles of Christmas franchise.

NBC News pointed to critical comments online about the apparent lack of LGBTQ representation in the lineup.

Zaralidis said an announcement about LGBTQ representation is forthcoming.

“Diversity and inclusion is a top priority for us and we look forward to making some exciting programming announcements in the coming months, including announcements about projects featuring LGBTQ storylines, characters, and actors,” Zaralidis wrote in an emailed statement. “We are committed to creating a Hallmark experience where everyone feels welcome.”

Crown Media is in “active negotiations” related to the issue and will announce “more details when we can,” Zaralidis said.

His comments came eight months after…

(RNS) — For years, John Onwuchekwa was a rising star in the Southern Baptist Convention.

He attended a Southern Baptist seminary, spoke at the convention’s national pastors conference, was befriended by SBC leaders, started a new SBC church in the west end of Atlanta and helped recruit other Black pastors to do likewise.

Onwuchekwa was part of the family and destined for great things.

Then he wasn’t.

Last week, concerned about support for President Donald Trump among Southern Baptists and a lack of urgency in dealing with racial inequality, the pastor and his congregation decided it was time to leave.

“The SBC liked me,” he wrote, in announcing his decision to leave. “But I feel like they’ve failed people like me.”

In recent years, evangelical groups have invested heavily in helping start congregations among communities of color, hoping to reach new people at a time when the United States is becoming more ethnically diverse. More than half of new congregations started by the SBC’s North American Mission Board are diverse, according to an agency spokesman. But the nation’s current political climate and national divides on matters of race may make it difficult for pastors like Onwuchekwa to ever feel truly at home. Yet financial ties to their denominations make it complicated to leave.

Onwuchekwa, who grew up in Houston, the son of Nigerian immigrants, said the…