Mark A. Kellner
Articles by Mark A. Kellner
Postal Service plans first-class rate hikes
Stock up on those "forever" stamps now, before the price goes up. The U.S. Postal Service Friday announced plans to hike the cost of a one-ounce first-class letter to 58 cents, effective August 29. Metered letters, domestic postcards, large pieces called "flats," and outbound international letters will also see price rises. Published May 28, 2021
U.S. academics: Sanction Finnish prosecutor for charging Christians opposing gay marriage
Ten academics and human rights advocates, including a former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, called on the Biden administration Friday to sanction Finland's top prosecutor after she filed charges against Christians who declared what they believe the Bible says about homosexuality. Published May 28, 2021
Jack Phillips, a Christian baker, hounded by lawsuits, threats years after Supreme Court ruling
Authors doing online video book "tours" is common in the pandemic era. But Coloradan Jack Phillips had an unusual "sidekick" for his May 26 conversation with a reporter: attorney Ryan Bangert of Alliance Defending Freedom, a public interest law firm that's been at Mr. Phillips' side since 2012, including during a 2018 Supreme Court victory. Published May 27, 2021
Jack Phillips, Christian baker, hounded by lawsuits, threats
Authors doing online video book "tours" is common in the pandemic era. But Coloradan Jack Phillips had an unusual "sidekick" for his May 26 conversation with a reporter: attorney Ryan Bangert of Alliance Defending Freedom, a public interest law firm that's been at Mr. Phillips's side since 2012, including during a 2018 Supreme Court victory. Published May 26, 2021
Family Research Council launches Center for Biblical Worldview
The Family Research Council announced Wednesday it has launched a new project aimed at helping "Christians develop and live by a biblical worldview." Published May 26, 2021
China sanctions evangelical leader Johnnie Moore, former Trump liaison
China said Wednesday it has sanctioned the Rev. Johnnie Moore, an evangelical leader who twice served on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and as a liaison for President Donald Trump. Published May 26, 2021
Evangelical protests force publisher out of ‘God Bless The USA’ Bible project
An entrepreneur's goal of publishing a Bible bound alongside the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and other patriotic texts is taking a sharp detour after protests and a petition sprang up and a leading Christian publisher said it would not assist the project. Published May 26, 2021
Mormons to resume in-person missionary training
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in late June will reopen missionary training centers in Provo, Utah; Accra, Ghana; and Auckland, New Zealand, to resume the in-person training suspended 14 months ago for the coronavirus pandemic. Published May 25, 2021
Facebook shuts down ‘Jerusalem Prayer Team’ after Islamist cyberbullying claims
A Christian Zionist organization claims its "Jerusalem Prayer Team" Facebook page, which had close to 77 million online followers, was canceled by the social media giant following an alleged cyberbullying attack by Islamists. Published May 24, 2021
Benjamin Storey asks French philosophers why we are restless
Americans remain unhappy despite surviving 2020's global pandemic and a tumultuous election. Why? Published May 23, 2021
‘God Bless the USA Bible’ creates ‘toxic mix’ says evangelical man who started petition to cancel it
A proposed Bible that would bind the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and the lyrics to a decades-old patriotic song along with the Old and New Testaments in a single volume is revving up rancor from those calling it a "Trump Bible." Published May 20, 2021
Jane Goodall, renowned conservationist, wins $1.5 million Templeton Prize
Famed primatologist Jane Goodall, who garnered world attention for her intimate study of chimpanzees over six decades, is the 2021 recipient of the $1.5 million Templeton Prize for her "unrelenting effort to connect humanity to a greater purpose." Published May 20, 2021
Franklin Graham: Americans should ‘prayerfully’ consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine
The Rev. Franklin Graham, an evangelical leader who has been intimately involved with care for COVID-19 victims, said Tuesday that Americans should "pray about" getting a vaccine against the virus. Published May 19, 2021
Maj. Andrew Calvert, Army chaplain, appeals ‘career-ending’ reprimand over Army transgender rules
An Army chaplain has appealed an official reprimand that his attorney claims could end a 16-year career because he opposed proposed changes to Defense Department rules on transgender troops. Published May 17, 2021
KELLNER: Troubling tones in too many religious debates
Spend a year — as I have just done — writing about a variety of religious beliefs and events for a major metropolitan newspaper, and one can be both inspired and depressed. Published January 23, 2014
KELLNER: Did a prominent rabbi find Jesus — and does it matter?
The 2006 funeral of Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, and a Kabbalist who studied and taught Jewish mysticism, drew a crowd estimated at 200,000 by Britain's Guardian newspaper. Eight years after his death, Kaduri's life and, especially, a "last teaching" contained in a note allegedly sealed until a year after his death, are stirring some interest in decidedly non-Jewish quarters. Published January 16, 2014
KELLNER: ‘Failed’ states among most dangerous lands for Christians
Three weeks ago in this space, you read about the difficulties with which Christians contend in nations around the world. This week, an international ministry that has long supported the persecuted church has released a "watch list" documenting even more issues. Published January 9, 2014
KELLNER: Positive thinking key to Horowitz’s ‘One Simple Idea’
Mitch Horowitz is right: the notion that changing one's thoughts can change one's life really is "One Simple Idea," and his engaging history of positive thinking in America, to be published next Tuesday is, in fact, a tour de force recap of what is a bedrock philosophy, also known as "New Thought" or even "New Age" in some circles. Published January 2, 2014
KELLNER: The year in religion offered hope, peril
No doubt about it — the man born Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the religious figure of 2013. Time magazine confirmed this by naming the Argentine cardinal now known as Pope Francis as Person of the Year, and a survey of Religion Newswriters Association members this month designated his election as the top religion story of the year. Published December 26, 2013
KELLNER: It’s not a Merry Christmas for the persecuted church
Christmas is different things to different people it seems, and that's no surprise. For most, if recent surveys are correct, it's just a wonderful time to reconnect with family and friends, exchange presents, and, perhaps, consume too many calories. This week, the District-based Public Religion Research Institute reported "more than one-quarter (26 percent) of Americans celebrating Christmas this year will do so largely as a non-religious holiday." Published December 19, 2013