Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” features analysis, fact checking and top headlines from the world of faith. Got feedback or ideas for this column? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

(ANALYSIS) My journalist son Keaton and I were watching the vice presidential debate Wednesday night when he burst out laughing.

“Is that a fly on Mike Pence’s head?” my 23-year-old son wondered out loud.

I glanced up from the Words With Friends game on my iPad and squinted at the TV.

“It sure looks like it,” I said.

We both rushed to check Twitter. Confirmation of our suspicion came quickly. And suddenly, a nation weighted down by too much heavy news had a reason to giggle again.

The New York Times dutifully reported:

Vice President Mike Pence, his hair perfectly coiffed, never reacted to the fly’s appearance on the right side of his head. It stood out against his bright white hair, standing still for the most part but moving around slightly before, well, flying away.

A local TV news reporter from California clocked the fly’s screen time on Mr. Pence’s head at 2 minutes, 3 seconds.

Despite the buzz that it created, the fly did not respond to an interview request. However, America’s most famous insect did start a viral social media account.

Please don’t whack me with a fly swatter, but that “spiritual ramifications” title at the top of this week’s column was a bit of a stretch.

If that bugs you, though, Sojourners’ Jenna Barnett has you covered with “5 Bible verses about flies.” See, there’s always a religion angle. Even with Flygate.

Concerning the actual debate, Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris clashed briefly over religious belief. Religion Unplugged’s Timothy Nerozzi delves into the specifics.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. COVID-19 is changing how Tennessee churches reach people online as in-person attendance lags: What happens when a top religion writer and a talented data reporter collaborate?

You end up with a compelling trend story like this one by The Tennessean’s Godbeat pro Holly Meyer and USA Today numbers guru Dian Zhang.

For more insight on the pandemic’s impact on churches, check out this story by Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana. “Most congregations are doing all right during COVID-19,” the RNS article notes. “But the future is uncertain.”

2. Amy Coney Barrett’s People of Praise ties highlight charismatic Christianity: Washington Post religion writer Sarah Pulliam Bailey offers a helpful primer on “a sprawling, sometimes misunderstood movement that started in the early 20th century and continues to spread rapidly all over the world.”

Doctrine is crucial to reporting on the Supreme Court nominee’s ties to a charismatic lay community, and Bailey nails that aspect of the story.

Also, Bailey’s colleagues — including fellow Post religion writer Michelle Boorstein — aid readers’ understanding with a story on how Barrett served as a “handmaid” for the Christian group.

3. Why Trump, the prosperity gospel president, can't be honest about COVID-19: Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana makes the case that the president’s rosy assessment of his experience with the coronavirus has theological roots.

Smietana ties Trump’s response to “Norman Vincent Peale, the famed evangelist of positive thinking.”

Back in May, CNN Religion Editor Daniel Burke wrote an analysis piece on “The religious roots of Trump’s magical thinking on coronavirus.” A 2016 essay by Elizabeth Dias, now a national religion writer for the New York Times, characterizes Trump as a “longtime disciple” of Peale.

More Top Reads

• Trump and the coronavirus are dividing Black and White churches in Georgia (by Kadia Goba, BuzzFeed News)

• What if evangelical Christians don’t need Mike Pence anymore? (by Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times)

• Trump evangelical advisers exposed to COVID-19 flout CDC guidelines, preach in public (by Jack Jenkins and Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service)

• Biden said ‘inshallah.’ Many Arab Christians do too (by Jayson Casper, Christianity Today)

• In Central Florida, Latino evangelicals could give Trump a boost (by Jose A. Del Real, Washington Post)

• Inside the church at the heart of the Louisville protests (by Claire Galafaro, Associated Press)

• Freedom From Religion group sues Alabama over ‘So help me God’ voter oath (by Greg Garrison, Birmingham News)

• Trump has changed evangelical Christianity in America. But is he its 'savior' or its 'death knell'? (by Robert Downen, Houston Chronicle)

• Some Orthodox Jews bristle at NYC’s response to virus surge (by David Crary and Mariam Fam, AP)

• Harvest Crusade pastor Greg Laurie says he has COVID-19 after White House visit (by Stephanie Lai, Los Angeles Times)

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

Did you miss the Religion News Association’s recent virtual conference?

The RNA has a special deal for you.

Charging Station: In Case You Missed It

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from Religion Unplugged.

• Evangelical magazines prioritize truth in the community during Ravi Zacharias scandal (by Richard Ostling)

• ‘The Ascension’ transcends politics and grief to worship (by Jillian Cheney)

• Religious tour operators hope for a better 2021 following coronavirus travel restrictions (by Clemente Lisi)

• VinAngel CEO talks filtering content for faith-based streaming and creating ‘The Chosen’ (by Joseph Holmes)

• How South Dakota got its first rabbi in nearly 30 Years (by Khaya Himmelman)

• Are Democrats influenced by religion as much as Republicans? (by Ryan Burge)

• 'Individualism does not make us more free': Dissecting Pope Francis's encyclical (by Timothy Nerozzi)

• Journalists neglect religious coverage related to Black Lives Matter (by Richard Ostling)

• Trump's daughter-in-law joins pastors in 'call to prayer' for president's recovery (by Hamil R. Harris)

• Muslim college grads split over Jews. What makes the difference? (by Musbah Shaheen, Kevin Singer, Laura Dahl, Matthew Mayhew and Alyssa Rockenbach)

The Final Plug

Back in 2008, I traveled to Florida to do a feature on an Oklahoma preacher’s annual trek to fantasy baseball camp.

This week, that same minister — Terry Rush — was featured in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports column about his sweet, unlikely friendship with Bob Gibson, the legendary Cardinals pitcher who died last Friday at age 84.

The Post-Dispatch’s Benjamin Hochman hits a home run with this exceptional story.

Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for Religion Unplugged and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.