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) Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

Among the week’s intriguing headlines: Pope Francis is hurrying to bolster his progressive legacy as his health problems increase, the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca reports.

In Israel, the political rise of ultra-Orthodox Jews is shaking the nation’s sense of identity, the WSJ’s Dov Lieber and Shayndi Raice note. A related major vote is expected as soon as Sunday.

In the U.S., a crowded field of GOP presidential candidates is vying for the Christian Zionist vote as Israel’s rightward shift spurs protests, according to The Associated Press’ Tiffany Stanley.

In other news, “the Robert F. Kennedy boomlet is over,” Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin opines. Before it ended (or not), the Democratic presidential candidate gave an exclusive, nearly 40-minute interview to Jewish News Syndicate’s Menachem Wecker.

And The King’s College in New York is canceling fall classes and laying off faculty but insists it’s not closing, as Emily Belz at Christianity Today and Meagan Saliashvili at Religion News Service explain.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with former President Donald Trump’s lingering hold on right-wing voters.

What To Know: The Big Story

More of the same: “One of former President Donald Trump’s most steadfast evangelical critics said he expects Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024, and that the years since Trump’s election in 2016 have been an ‘apocalypse.’”

“There’s a wide-open choice, and still you have a majority in the Republican primary behind Trump,” Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore tells Yahoo News’ Jon Ward. “I would be shocked if he’s not the Republican nominee.”

Moore has a new book, ”Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America,” which releases July 25.

Trump’s religious ties: “Some critics see Trump’s behavior as un-Christian,” The Associated Press’ David Crary points out in a story published this morning. “His conservative Christian backers see a hero.”

A new study looked at 807 federal judges named by seven presidents as of late 2020, the New York Times’ Adam Liptak reports.

The study found that “judges named by Trump had ‘stronger or more numerous religious affiliations’ with churches and other houses of worship, with religious schools, and with groups like Alliance Defending Freedom and First Liberty, which have won a series of major Supreme Court cases for conservative Christians.”

A twist in Iowa: But a “top man of God” — as the Wall Street Journal characterizes Bob Vander Plaats — wants a GOP nominee other than Trump.

The WSJ’s John McCormick writes:

Vander Plaats, who is contemplating an endorsement of someone other than Trump around Thanksgiving, has a record of picking winners — in Iowa, at least. He backed Ted Cruz in 2016, Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008, all of whom won the caucuses before failing to secure the GOP nomination.

Most top Republican elected officials in Iowa don’t plan to endorse before the caucuses because they want the state to be welcoming to all. So Vander Plaats is one of the biggest names for a potential endorsement in a state where Christian conservatives dominate the GOP caucuses.

In Vander Plaats’ view, “Trump can be beaten in Iowa.”

Insight into voters: The best political story I’ve read in a while is this one by the WSJ’s Aaron Zitner and Simon J. Levien.

They go in depth to explain why the 2024 election is — at its heart — a fight over America’s way of life.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Worship and tourism: “With tourism reaching or surpassing pre-pandemic records in Barcelona and across southern Europe, iconic sacred sites are struggling to accommodate the faithful who come to pray and the millions of visitors who often pay to view the art and architecture.”

Reporting from Spain, The Associated Press’ Giovanna Dell’Orto delves into the trend.

2. Suing big oil for God: Missy Sims “may be the most surprising legal figure to emerge as the world grapples with the devastating impacts of a warming planet. An Armani-and-Rolex wearing observant Catholic from a small Midwest town who talks to God as she mulls her complex legal cases, Ms. Sims is also a constant TikTok poster whose dog has more followers than some celebrities.”

In a story from Puerto Rico, the New York Times’ David Gelles profiles Sims.

3. AI meets church security: “A Southern California megachurch will use artificial intelligence to detect firearms brought to the worship center, with the goal of spotting an unauthorized weapon before it can be used and giving security personnel a chance to respond.”

That’s the lede from the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner.

Speaking of AI, Religion News Association President Ken Chitwood explores “Reporting on AI and faith: Can new tech be a blessing or a curse?”

More Top Reads

How might the death penalty phase of the Pittsburgh synagogue gunman’s trial play out? The Associated Press’ Michael Tarm explains. … In Malaysia, a mom is contesting her kids’ conversion to Islam. It’s a landmark case, NPR’s Emily Feng reports. … The story of a Florida church’s ouster shows the pitfalls facing the Southern Baptist Convention on abuse reform, The Tennessean’s Liam Adams notes. … A Yiddish haven thrives in Australia, the New York Times’ Natasha Frost writes. … An upcoming synod will meet in a different Vatican hall, which could be groundbreaking, the National Catholic Reporter’s Christopher White suggests. … A judge has ruled for the First Methodist Church of Oklahoma City in a disaffiliation dispute, The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton reports. … In Arkansas, a breakaway Methodist congregation is set to hold services at a temporary home, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank Lockwood. … A digital hymnal has met its demise, as Christianity Today’s Kelsey Kramer McGinnis points out. … The “Brigadoon” for Jewish singers is a choral festival that showcases the wonder of music, as Religion News Service’s Kathryn Post details. … A group of Christians set out on a bus tour across America to tout racial unity and peace, The Christian Chronicle’s Calvin Cockrell reports. … And looking back at history, Nori Kanashiro and Isabel Ong detail for Christianity Today the story of Margaret Ridgway’s 1940s wartime ministry to incarcerated Japanese neighbors in Canada.

Inside The Godbeat

Former Religion News Service national writer Alejandra Molina has joined the Los Angeles Times’ De Los, “a new brand and multimedia platform exploring everything Latinidad.”

Not all of her stories will relate to religion, but some — including this one on estranged Latino Catholics — will.

Charging Station: ICYMI

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.

Executive editor Paul Glader explores “Oslo’s hidden gem”:

In the center of this Scandinavian capital city, you’ll find a humble museum dedicated to the story of the Bible where a bartender gets to moonlight as a volunteer historian. 

The Nordic Bible Museum shows up as a blip on some printed tourist maps of the downtown city center but isn’t as well known as Oslo’s stunning Opera House or its fancy “Munch” museum dedicated to painter Edvard Munch. The Nordic Bible Museum is located near the historic Hansketorget square and in a gallery-like space on the ground floor of a residential apartment building. Yet it turns out the small museum is a useful way to understand Nordic history.

Check out the full story.

The Final Plug

Google is testing a new tool, known internally as “Genesis,” that can write news articles, the New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and Nico Grant report.

Perhaps the next stage, “Exodus,” will allow it to produce religion news roundups. Then I won’t have to get up so early on Fridays. (On the other hand, I need the money.)

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for ReligionUnplugged.com and serves as 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 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.