GetReligion
Friday, April 04, 2025

Religion Unplugged

, , , , , ,

Plug-In: Tulsa Massacre centennial -- focusing on repentance, reconciliation, reparations

, , , , , ,
Plug-In: Tulsa Massacre centennial -- focusing on repentance, reconciliation, reparations

TULSA, Okla. — Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a truly dark moment in America’s history.

At the centennial, a prayer room at a downtown Tulsa church focuses on the sins of 1921 while asking God to bring healing, as I report here at ReligionUnplugged.com.

In separate dispatches for The Christian Chronicle, I explain how faith drives two leading advocates fighting for massacre justice and detail the racial unity effort by two Tulsa-area ministers — one Black, one White.

New Associated Press religion writer Peter Smith reports from Tulsa on how houses of worship commemorated the massacre Sunday.

At The Oklahoman, longtime faith editor Carla Hinton and her colleagues offer in-depth coverage, including a compelling story on how a modern-day Moses helped rebuild Tulsa’s Mount Zion Baptist Church.

A strong narrative piece by AP’s Aaron Morrison opens with a scene from Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church, a congregation involved in a massacre reparations lawsuit that Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks highlights.

Check out the Tulsa World, too, for the latest developments, including a last-minute cancellation of a planned centennial event featuring John Legend and Stacey Abrams.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , , ,

Plug-In: Even with ailing digit, Bobby Ross, Jr., manages to cut and paste week's top stories

, , , , , , , , , ,
Plug-In: Even with ailing digit, Bobby Ross, Jr., manages to cut and paste week's top stories

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Evangelical leaders are encouraging their congregants — many of whom are skeptical — to get the vaccine.

* Why "the pathway to ending the pandemic runs through the evangelical church" (by Kathryn Watson, CBS News)

* Love Your Neighbor' And Get The Shot: White Evangelical Leaders Push COVID Vaccines (by Sarah McCammon, NPR)

* White Evangelical Resistance Is Obstacle in Vaccination Effort (by Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham, New York Times)

* Vaccine skepticism runs deep among white evangelicals in US (by David Crary, Associated Press)

2. A Nashville church is planting a community garden to survive after the building was destroyed in tornadoes last year.

* A tornado destroyed their church. Now, faith takes root in a garden planted to serve the community (by Holly Meyer, The Tennessean)

* After 13 months apart, Easter service brings Watson Grove church members together again (by Cassandra Stephenson, The Tennessean)


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , ,

Plug-In flashbacks: Several religion-news questions and answers with Bobby Ross, Jr.

, , , ,
Plug-In flashbacks: Several religion-news questions and answers with Bobby Ross, Jr.

GetReligion readers really don’t need an introduction to religion-beat veteran Bobby Ross, Jr.

After all, he has been a contributor here since 2010 — which is longer than anyone other than the founders of the blog. There’s about 15 million words in our files, at this point, and Ross has to have written about 25% of them. And don’t forget that his wife, religion-beat veteran Tamie Ross, was a contributor here for several years, as well.

Bobby, of course, covered religion and all kinds of other topics for The Oklahoman and also spent several years with the Associated Press, working with religion-beat patriarch Richard Ostling, which is as good a credential as you can get. These days, readers around the world know him as editor-in-chief at The Christian Chronicle. He continues to write his weekly Plug-In feature for Religion Unplugged, which still runs here at GetReligion.

As a re-introduction to Ross, Religion Unplugged recently ran this short Q&A with him (and offered a short list of some of his top recent Plug-in pieces). I thought GetReligion readers who have followed him for a decade or more would like to see them.

You've covered religion since 1999. How did you first get onto the beat, and what's a favorite story you reported in your early days?

I had covered a religion story or two in my career up to then, including writing a 1994 piece about the Christian conversion of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. But in 1999, the editors at The Oklahoman assigned me to cover Pope John Paul II's visit to St. Louis. That was an important and challenging assignment, and my favorite story probably was the one I wrote about a big youth rally where dc Talk sang "Jesus Freak" to an "arm-waving, hip-shaking, foot-stomping" crowd before John Paul appeared on stage, and the decibel level got even louder.

As the news industry has changed since you began your career, the religion beat has certainly changed too. What's been the biggest challenge you've faced as a religion reporter because of these changes?


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , ,

Another shot of controversy: New Catholic questions about Johnson & Johnson vaccine

, , , , , , , , ,
Another shot of controversy: New Catholic questions about Johnson & Johnson vaccine

My wife has lupus and autoimmune diseases that make her high-risk if infected with COVID-19. Because of that, we’ve adhered strictly to masking, distancing and other safety precautions. For nearly a year, we’ve not attended an in-person worship assembly or eaten inside a restaurant.

After reporting from all 50 states and 15 nations in my career, I’ve done all my work from home since flying to Tennessee to cover deadly tornadoes last March. That was right before the coronavirus lockdown hit America in the middle of that month.

Last week, I mentioned my excitement to roll up my sleeve for the first of two Moderna shots. And on Thursday, our family got an extra dose of hope: Tamie received a Johnson & Johnson single shot, the coronavirus vaccine recommended by her rheumatologist because of her life-threatening reactions to medications last year.

Ironically, my wife was able to schedule her last-minute appointment on the same day that Religion Unplugged managing editor Meagan Clark and I moderated an online panel on the COVID-19 vaccines and religion.

A key focus of the panel: conflicting and sometimes confusing statements issued by U.S. Catholic bishops on the morality of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson shot.

“Leaders at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are discouraging Catholics from using the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine if given a choice, citing the use of cells with a distant link to abortion in the development of the vaccine,” reported Religion News Service national reporter Jack Jenkins, one of the panelists.

Jenkins offered excellent insight on the diversity of Catholic responses to the vaccine debate, from individual bishops to the Vatican.

Panelist Clemente Lisi, who analyzes Catholic news for Religion Unplugged, noted: “Unless you’re a scientist, this is a very difficult thing to understand. … I think most people are getting this (news) through headlines, through Twitter, and I think it may cause some misunderstanding.”

Many Americans have no choice which COVID-19 vaccine to receive, Lisi stressed. Stopping the virus’ spread, he added, could itself be construed as a pro-life act.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , ,

President Joe Biden's a Pope Francis fan, but does that mean the pope's a fan of Biden?

, , , , , , , ,
President Joe Biden's a Pope Francis fan, but does that mean the pope's a fan of Biden?

Pope Francis appears to be a big supporter of President Joe Biden.

A majority of the U.S. Catholic bishops are not.

At least that’s a prominent narrative concerning America’s second Catholic president (after John F. Kennedy).

To wit: The headline on a Los Angeles Times news story this week declared: “Pope Francis is a Biden fan, but some U.S. Catholic leaders give president a frosty reception.”

My sincere question: Is it accurate to characterize Francis as a Biden fan?

“While Pope Francis has enjoyed a warm relationship with Biden from time spent together in both the U.S. and at the Vatican, it would be wrong to classify him as a partisan player in U.S. politics,” Christopher White, national correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, told me. “His approach to any world leader is to try to find common ground and see where there’s work to be done together.”

Clemente Lisi analyzes Catholic news for Religion Unplugged.

“I’d say the pope seems cordial to Biden, and the two have met a few times,” Lisi said in response to my question. “There seems to be a fascination in the media to lump these two men together.”

The Los Angeles Times is, of course, just the latest major news outlet to contrast the difference in tone between how the Vatican and top U.S. bishops — notably Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez — have greeted Biden’s inauguration.

The prominent West Coast paper suggests:

The rift stems from opposition by many in the church to abortion and same-sex marriage, while others see a broader interpretation of the sanctity of life, promoted by Francis, to include climate change, immigration and fighting poverty.

Biden “keeps a picture in the Oval Office of himself with Pope Francis,” the story notes. But does that picture mean as much to Francis? The paper doesn’t say.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , ,

Now for something completely different: RNS scribe doxxed after investigating Ramsey Solutions

, , , , , , , , ,
Now for something completely different: RNS scribe doxxed after investigating Ramsey Solutions

Religion reporters don’t usually have to fear for their lives, nor wonder if someone’s going to show up at their homes to exact some kind of revenge for an unfavorable story.

But there’s always a first time.

Several weeks ago, Bob Smietana, the veteran national reporter for Religion News Service, got to experience some very weird doxxing — not at the hands of some anti-religious conspiracy, but from devout Christians.

On Jan. 15, RNS published Smietana’s 4,150-word investigative piece on the workplace at evangelical financial guru Dave Ramsey’s $42 million headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., just south of Nashville. (The Tennessean, Nashville’s hometown newspaper, finally got around to running the piece on Jan. 28.)

That piece followed a Dec. 11 story by Smietana on Ramsey’s for-profit enterprise defying COVID-19 precautions such as wearing masks.

Put all that together and you had a non-flattering description of a workplace shaped by strict controls and perhaps even a personality cult. Here is what ran Jan. 15

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Dave Ramsey has spent the past three decades trying to build what he calls the best place to work in America.

From his headquarters south of Nashville, the evangelical Christian personal finance guru runs a media and live events empire that includes a popular national talk radio show. Tickets to workshops on topics such as “EntreLeadership” run from $3,000 to $10,000.

Thousands of churches around the country, meanwhile, host Ramsey’s “Financial Peace University,” a 9-week program built around his principles for handling money “God’s way.”

Several churches I’ve attended have indeed offered this program. Finances is something most pastors know nothing about, so they kick the task over to Ramsey, who’s making millions off these referrals.

But inside Ramsey Solution’s $42 million headquarters, there appear to be some problems, according to the kind of source one normally encounters in pieces of these kinds — former employees..

Ramsey’s intolerance for dissent has created what former employees call a cult-like environment, where leaders proclaim their love for staff and then fire people at a moment’s notice.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , , ,

The role that religion played in shaping President Donald Trump's stunning last stand

, , , , , , , , , ,
The role that religion played in shaping President Donald Trump's stunning last stand

“Is it possible to be astonished and, at the same time, not surprised?”

A colleague recalled that quote — by fictional President Josiah Bartlet on a 2005 episode of the Emmy Award-winning political drama “The West Wing” — as a real-life mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

A Capitol Police officer this morning became the fifth person to die as a result of the insurrection.

How does religion figure in the tragic last stand of the nation’s conspiracy theorist-in-chief?

Let us count the ways, as highlighted by Religion Unplugged contributors:

• As thousands of protesters gathered outside the Capitol building claiming election fraud, some installed a giant wooden cross on the lawn, Hamil R. Harris notes.

• Others in the crowd carried flags and banners with Christian symbols and messages such as “Jesus Saves.” Kimberly Winston explains the history behind the array of flags.

• Christian leaders — some of whom have backed President Donald Trump because of his anti-abortion stance — condemned the pro-Trump mob and called for peace, Jillian Cheney reports.

In other noteworthy coverage, Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins explores the “two forms of faith on display” amid the chaos. The Atlantic’s Emma Green weighs in on “Storming the Capitol for God and Trump.”

Another must read: Houston Chronicle religion writer Robert Downen interviews Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler, who says he’s “genuinely shocked and horrified” by what happened Wednesday but stands by his Trump vote. (Click here for the GetReligion post and podcast about that piece and Mohler’s own podcast on the topic.)

Looking ahead, President-elect Joe Biden has invited Jesuit priest Leo O'Donovan, former president of Georgetown University, to deliver the invocation at Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, the National Catholic Reporter’s Christopher White reports.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. ‘Only in America’: Raphael Warnock’s rise from poverty to U.S. senator: Associated Press writer Russ Bynum profiles the progressive reverend who — as explained by Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks — plans to remain senior pastor of his Atlanta church.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yearenders-palooza -- Bobby Ross Jr. with positive, poignant ways to look at 2020 religion news

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Yearenders-palooza -- Bobby Ross Jr. with positive, poignant ways to look at 2020 religion news

A church shooting. Deadly twisters. Racial justice protests. And the biggest news in this tumultuous year: COVID-19.

These were among the most memorable stories that I covered in 2020.

Here is my personal year-end Top 10 list, mostly in chronological order:

• Texas church shooting: A gunman opened fire at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, killing two worshipers before an armed member fatally shot him. While the attack occurred at the end of 2019, it remained an important story in 2020. In the immediate aftermath, I covered a members-only prayer vigil, recounted minister Britt Farmer’s experience and explained why Farmer chose to talk to me. I profiled victims Richard White and Tony Wallace. Later, I moderated a panel discussion on church shootings. And I wrote about the church’s emotional return to its auditorium.

• Women in the church: My Christian Chronicle colleagues and I produced an in-depth package of stories on women’s roles in Churches of Christ. I focused on two distinct congregations: an Arlington, Texas, church that embraces traditional gender roles and a Los Angeles church that has added female elders.

• Tennessee tornadoes: On my last flight before COVID-19 grounded me, I traveled to Middle Tennessee to report on tornadoes that cut an 80-mile swath of death and destruction. I highlighted the leading role that Churches of Christ played in the disaster relief effort. I interviewed a church teen who was serving her community while grieving her 4-year-old friend, Hattie Jo Collins. I covered the funeral for a Christian family killed in the storm. And I reflected on how sadness gave way to gladness on the Sunday after the tornadoes.

• COVID-19: As of this moment, the global pandemic has killed 1.8 million people around the world.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , ,

Thoughts from a reader: What I wish my Christian friends knew about journalists (like me)

, , , , , , ,

Several weeks ago, I heard from a GetReligion reader named Rob Vaughn who wanted to get something off his chest.

I was immediately interested in what he had to say because he was a mainstream television journalist — 30-plus years as an anchor at WFMZ in Allentown, Pa. — who also happens to have two graduate degrees from a seminary.

The proposed title of his piece: “What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew About The News Media.” I told him that GetReligion has never run guest pieces — maybe one or two in 17 years — but that I would welcome a chance to look at his text and get back to him.

A day or two later I made a few suggestions and noted that I am constantly getting requests to write and speak on a related topic — how modern news consumers can seek out and find news sources that are still trying to do old-school news that attempts to be balanced, fair and accurate. I suggested that he lean that direction, perhaps with a bullet-list of some strategies about news consumption.

Vaughn ended up with a commentary fit that was a natural fit for Religion Unplugged, operated by my former colleagues at The Media Project. Here’s a crucial chunk of what he wrote:

My church friends are right: many journalists don’t “get” religious conservatives; many don’t even know any personally. Reporters, like all humans, flock together socially with like-minded people. But the reporters I know want to learn, to overcome their ignorance. …

One day an editor with whom I worked at Associated Press Radio phoned a well-known liberal group for comment on a “women’s issue” she was covering. When I told her about a conservative women’s group she didn’t know of, she was glad to call them, too — even though she was personally very liberal. She was a professional and wanted to make her story better.

The problem is what conservative (but fiercely #NeverTrump) writer David French calls the “ideological monocultures” found in many, especially elite, newsrooms. The bottom line: most journalists in those environments hold “progressive” views — especially on social issues.

That’s old news.


Please respect our Commenting Policy