Several key witnesses in the case of Henry “Hank” Reeves took the witness stand this week in an unprecedented hearing that could serve as a test case for the rest of the nation. In 2001, Reeves was sentenced to prison following his conviction in Pitt County Superior Court for taking indecent liberties with his 6-year-old […]
Patrick O'Neill
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Innocence Inquiry Commission could help clear man facing life sentence
The first test of the state’s Innocence Inquiry Commission happens this week in the case of Henry “Hank” Reeves. The former Plymouth police officer has served his full prison sentence after being convicted of taking indecent liberties with his 6-year-old daughter, but because he refused to register as a sex offender, he faces the possibility […]
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New evangelicals search for faith, not lip service
The Barack Obama campaign opened its downtown Raleigh headquarters July 22 to much fanfare, but just around the corner the same night, the Obama celebration was outdrawn almost 3-to-1 by Jesus. A “campaign stop” of the Jesus for President book tour was led by evangelical progressives Shane Claiborne, 33, and Chris Haw, 26, whose book, […]
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Separately, church and state debate the death penalty
Another North Carolina death-row inmate is exonerated; a former death-house chaplain speaks out against capital punishment; and a bill brews in the legislature that would address the racial issues in executions: Both church and state are addressing the fairness and morality of the death penalty. When Greenville attorney Ernest “Buddy” Conner got the news that […]
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Moderate Southern Baptists still divided over gay, lesbian issues
It has been a slow and sad process, one still in motion. The Southern Baptist Convention, representing the multimillion-member denomination characterizing the spiritual soul of the South, has lost its diversity. In the past 25 years, fundamentalist conservatives, voting as a majority bloc, albeit a slim one, have taken over the SBC. The denomination’s seminaries […]
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What would Jesus buy? A used pair of sandals
Imagine you’re in Starbucks sipping a $4 latte, and suddenly the joint is converged upon by a handsome preacher with bleached white hair, dressed in a white suit with an Anglican collar. The Rev. Billy, bullhorn in hand, tries to exorcise a demon from the Starbucks cash register, while a gospel choir sings in the […]
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Author Jeremy Scahill discusses how Blackwater is changing how war is waged
On the fourth floor of the N.C. State University Student Center, Jeremy Scahill stepped to the podium to address the Peace Lunch Forum sponsored by Presbyterian Campus Ministry. For the next 45 minutes, the 32-year-old author of The New York Times best-seller Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army delivered his rapid-fire […]
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Faith community remembers Otto Mintz
In late July, Otto Mintz, sick with congestive heart failure, left his homeless encampment behind the Garner Kmart for the last time, and took the CAT bus to WakeMed. On Aug. 1, Otto died. Although many of the homeless die alone, and without mention on the obituary page, such was not the case for Otto, […]
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Social justice defines Pullen Baptist’s progressive legacy
Summer is usually the quiet season for faith communities. However, that’s not the case at Raleigh’s Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, a congregation that consistently stands out as one of the Triangle’s strongest progressive voices of faith. The congregation’s legacy of activism can be traced to the 1950s, when Pullen, then under the leadership of the […]
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Raleigh parish mobilizes for immigration policy
Anti-immigrant sentiment may be rising, but at Raleigh’s Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, support for a compassionate immigration policy has left the pews and entered the halls of government. At all June 9-10 masses, St. Francis devoted prayers, homilies and actions in support of immigrants. That weekend, when Catholics throughout the world […]