Happy Fifth of July!

OK, that doesn’t have the same ring as “Happy Fourth of July!” But I’m too late for that.

I hope you enjoyed the Independence Day holiday. Perhaps you’re still celebrating it, if you have today off. That’s my plan, as soon as I finish this Friday Five post.

So let’s dive right into it:

1. Religion story of the week: The role of religion in the 2020 presidential race keeps making significant headlines.

In case you missed it because of the holiday, Richard Ostling wrote about Democratic candidates seeking a modernized faith formula that works.

Earlier in the week, Terry Mattingly reflected on this Trump-related question: “How many Democrats would back a pro-life Democrat?”

And this morning, Julia Duin posted on the battle at the border and evangelical leaders jostling for Trump-era media relevancy.

2. Most popular GetReligion story: “What we have here is another one of those stories that your GetReligionistas have written about so many times that we have crossed over into a state of frustration.”

That’s tmatt’s opening on our No. 1 post of the week.

Yes, it relates — once again — to the question of whether teachers at Catholic schools can take public actions that defy church doctrines. As always, the key questions (rarely asked, for some reason) are linked to doctrinal materials in the contracts signed by teachers. Can you save “covenants”?

3. Guilt folder fodder (and more): Here’s a story out of Lithuania by Peggy Fletcher Stack, religion writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, who reports that when the Russian police arrived, a deported American knew his Latter-day Saint mission “would never be the same.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times’ Elizabeth Dias talks to adherents formerly known as Mormons about what the church’s name change has meant for them.

4. Shameless plug: Our own Julia Duin is on a three-week trip to Mongolia. She’s there “to help an amazingly gifted woman write a book about her life and jump start an outreach to sex abuse victims.“

Some funds are still needed to help with the effort. Find details on this GoFundMe page.

5. Final thought: And all this time, I thought I was the “Bob Ross of Christian writing.” Thanks for nothing, Mr. Curmudgeon.

Happy Friday, everybody! Enjoy the weekend!