Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” features analysis, fact checking and top headlines from the world of faith. Subscribe now to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

(ANALYSIS) Words fail to convey the emotions in Mayfield, Kentucky, after last weekend’s devastating tornado.

Let’s try anyway, directly from the mouths of those relying on their faith in the EF4 twister’s aftermath.

“My little girl asked me, ‘Why would God let this happen?’ … I had to look at my little 8-year-old girl, who looks to me for answers, and I had to say … ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’” — the Rev. Wes Fowler, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Mayfield (via Associated Press story by Holly Meyer)

"Thanks be to God the parts of the building that came down didn’t come down on us. I realized it might be the last few moments of my life on this earth. … All I care about is the fact that the most valuable possessions in my life, my wife’s life, my children, they’re all safe. Everything else is replaceable." — the Rev. Joey Reed, lead pastor of First United Methodist Church in Mayfield (via Louisville Courier-Journal story by Christopher Kuhagen)

"As a parent, it's like there's only so much you can say or do to take the fear out of your children. The girls' room was — I say 'was' because, obviously, if you come in here and look around, there's no walls anymore; there's no ceiling. I mean, they know how much of it's in our hands and how much of it's, you know, up to the storm and up to God. ... We lost everything, but we didn't lose everything. I mean, everything that we have that is worth anything was in that closet." — Joseph Tyler, Mayfield resident who survived with his family in the closet and worships at His House, a local church (via CNN story)

“God is not in the devastation. He’s not in the destruction. He was not in the storm. But he’s in the response, and that’s where we are. That’s what we’re trying to be. We’re trying to amplify the response that is happening from the survivors and victims of the tornado.” — Susan Montalvo-Gesser, director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky (via America magazine story by Michael J. O’Loughlin)

"It's awful. It's tragic. People who have lost loved ones, there is no way to take that pain away. I think you just have to embrace the pain and pray that God will guide you as you overcome it." — the Rev. Milton West, senior minister of First Christian Church in Mayfield (via WLKY story by Marvis Herring)

See stories on the faith-based disaster relief effort by The Christian Chronicle’s Erik Tryggestad, The Tennessean’s Liam Adams, Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron, the Deseret News’ Tad Walch and Reuters’ Gabriella Borter.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. What’s your religion? In U.S., a common reply now is ‘none’: According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, religious “nones” now constitute 29% of American adults — up from 23% in 2016 and 19% in 2011.

Luis Andres Henao, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu and David Crary report this news for The Associated Press.

See additional coverage by the Deseret News’ Mya Jaradat, Lifeway Research’s Aaron Earls, the Wall Street Journal’s Ian Lovett and Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron.

2. Ex-boarding school for Native children owning up to its past: Associated Press religion writer Peter Smith and photographer Emily Leshner visit Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

It’s a compelling take on the 133-year-old school reckoning – finally — with its role “as part of a network of boarding schools across North America where generations of Indigenous children were brought to weaken their bonds to tribe and family and assimilate them into the dominant white, English-speaking, Christian culture.”

See Plug-in’s earlier reporting on this subject.

3. Welcoming the stranger: Reporting from Fredericksburg, Virginia, amid an influx of Afghan refugees, World magazine’s Sophia Lee delves into how one Christian group models building friendships with newcomers.

At The Christian Chronicle, Audrey Jackson goes behind the scenes of a Thanksgiving dinner for Afghan refugees hosted by an Oklahoma City church.

BONUS: “It’s an answer to prayer.”

“It’s amazing how God works.”

These were among the reactions to Thursday’s news that the “remaining members of a U.S. missionary group who were kidnapped two months ago in Haiti have been freed,” as reported by The Associated Press’ Even Sanon and Peter Smith.

The gang earlier had demanded a ransom of $1 million per person.

“It was unclear if any ransom was paid,” according to the Wall Street Journal’s José de Córdoba and Ingrid Arnesen. “Haitian analysts said they didn’t think the gang would have released hostages without payment.”

More Top Reads

• Kenneth Copeland is the wealthiest pastor in America. So why does he live in a tax-free Texas mansion? (by Jay Root, Houston Chronicle)

• How Pat Robertson changed television and American politics (by Miguel Petrosky, Religion and Politics)

• Despite reported pushback, Salvation Army’s kettles set record in recent challenge (by Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)

• Trump returning to Dallas on Sunday to celebrate Christmas and speak at First Baptist Church (by John Gravois, Dallas Morning News)

• Utah State police chief told football team to beware of sex with LDS women because they may claim it wasn’t consensual, lawsuit says (by Courtney Tanner and Jessica Miller, Salt Lake Tribune)

• Is a new kind of religion forming on the internet? (by Rebecca Jennings, Vox)

• Rastafari want more legal marijuana for freedom of worship (by Luis Andres Henao and Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Associated Press)

• Missing papyri professor must return $7 million to Hobby Lobby (by Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today)

• The pastor who defied the odds (by Rebecca Kiger, Washington Post)

• An evangelical icon finds salvation in West Hollywood (by David Gardner, Los Angeles Magazine)

• After Taliban return, Afghan women face old pressures from fathers, brothers (by Margherita Stancati, Wall Street Journal)

• Staunch evangelical allies of Israel upset by Trump’s outburst on Netanyahu (by Steve Hendrix and Miriam Berger, Washington Post)

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

Last week, I highlighted the first batch of stories on women in male-led religions produced in a partnership between The Associated Press and Religion News Service.

Here are the final pieces in that project, part of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, which includes The Conversation and is funded by the Lilly Endowment:

• Amid tension, Southern Baptist women lead where they can (by Bob Smietana of RNS and Holly Meyer of AP)

• Mormon women’s influence expands despite priesthood ban (by Lindsay Whitehurst and Holly Meyer, both of AP)

• In Hinduism, women creating spaces for their own leadership (by Deepti Hajela of AP)

• More Orthodox Jewish women are ordained; change is uneven (by Yonat Shimron of RNS and Ilan Ben Zion of AP)

Charging Station: In Case You Missed It

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

• Global interfaith groups protest U.S. removal of Nigeria from 'country of particular concern' list (by Lela Gilbert)

• 'Christmas with The Chosen' about Jesus' life beats box office records (by Joseph Holmes)

• COVID and politics compete to be ‘The Grinch that Stole Christmas’ in Israel (by Gil Zohar)

• How the press continues to perpetuate the Santa myth (by Clemente Lisi)

• Why Pakistan has such strict blasphemy laws: It's more about politics than religion (by Ahmet T. Kuru)

• Christian 'health share' ministry left members with millions in unpaid medical claims (by Steve Rabey)

• Is commercializing Hanukkah a good thing for Judaism? (by Terry Mattingly)

• Very few religious Americans favor a total abortion ban (by Ryan Burge)

The Final Plug

A programming note: Look for special, year-end editions of this column the next two weeks.

Next week, Plug-in will highlight some of 2021’s best reads in religion journalism (read the 2020 version). The following week, it’ll focus on Religion Unplugged’s own top content from this past year (see the 2020 edition).

Thank you for reading, and enjoy the holidays!

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.