đŸ§Ș Faith And Frozen Embryos: Alabama's In Vitro Fertilization Ruling Stirs Religious Debate 🔌

 

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) Happy Friday, Weekend Plug-in readers!

Did we just leap into March or what!?

Police presence was heavy today around the Moscow church hosting dissident Alexei Navalny’s funeral, as the New York Times’ Valerie Hopkins reports. The critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin found purpose in Christianity, Maddy Fry explains here at ReligionUnplugged.com.

The United Methodist Church faces “a more than 40% cut in its four-year budget due to the exodus of thousands of congregations over policies on LGBTQ issues,” the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner notes, citing the church’s official news service.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with the religious debate stirred by the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.

What To Know: The Big Story

Does God oppose in vitro fertilization?: Religions hold differing views, according to the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein:

In an Alabama Supreme Court ruling equating IVF embryos with people, Chief Justice Tom Parker cited arguments from across the planet and the centuries, all leading to one source for the court’s judgment: “God.”

In his concurring opinion, Parker quoted the Book of Genesis, an obscure 17th-century Dutch Protestant theologian and Italian Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas, positing that Christianity, at least, is in full agreement as to when a human life starts and that God views the ending of one as a personal affront.

Yet major religious denominations actually hold varied views about IVF, as do Americans, including those in the conservative Christian circles to which Parker belongs.

“While Catholic teaching expressly forbids in vitro fertilization, Protestants tend to be more open,” the New York Times’ Elizabeth Dias points out.

Where Christians stand: The Alabama ruling “claimed to be Christian. Christians aren’t so sure.”

That’s the synopsis from Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins.

“Theological opinions on IVF, let alone political ones, are difficult to ascertain and are far from universal across denominations,” Jenkins notes.

Constitutional implications: The Alabama chief justice’s reasoning in the case has sparked alarm over church-state separation — or the lack thereof, Associated Press religion writers Peter Smith and Tiffany Stanley explain.

Even before the decision, Ericka Andersen detailed for Christianity Today earlier this year “How IVF made its way into evangelical pro-life debates.”

A final note: At least 13 states are moving legislation that considers embryos people, the Wall Street Journal’s Kara Dapena and Maureen Linke report.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Bible and border politics: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump made dueling vists to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday — a sign of the immigration debate’s prominence in the 2024 race.

A new study finds evangelical support to secure the border but also a desire for a path to citizenship for those already in the U.S., Lifeway Research’s Aaron Earls reports.

In Texas, the Republican attorney general’s lawsuit to revoke the state license of a Catholic migrant-aid center raises a religious freedom question, Bekah McNeel writes at Texas Monthly. Catholic leaders have blasted Ken Paxton’s action as an abuse of power, OSV News’ Kate Scanlon reports.

2. Israel’s best friend: “As criticism against Israel mounts and pressure for a ceasefire rises, Israeli leaders are working to shore up evangelical support,” according to Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana and Yonat Shimron.

Ramadan, set to start around March 10, looms as a flashpoint in the fight between Israel and Hamas, the Wall Street Journal’s Rory Jones explains.

For the Jewish community in Argentina, the Israel-Hamas war has brought back pain decades after a bombing attack, The Associated Press’ María Teresa Hernández notes.

3. Two Baptist leaders, two faith outlooks: “House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stood together at the annual National Prayer Breakfast — an opportunity, in the words of one introductory speaker, to ‘put our political differences aside,’” The Associated Press’ Darren Sands reports.

“Such differences are vast between Johnson, a staunchly conservative Republican, and Jeffries, a hero to liberal Democrats. But at the prayer breakfast earlier this month, they collegially took turns reading Scripture — evoking how their shared Christianity confronts evil.”

Read the rest of Sands’ profile of Jeffries.

More Top Reads

Youth With a Mission is rallying after a bus accident in Tanzania claimed 11 of its missionaries, Religion News Service’s Fredrick Nzwili writes. 
 At Milwaukee's only Catholic Mass in French, African immigrants feel the power of language and community, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Sophie Carson finds. 
 Is the pope Catholic? Then these Christians say don’t pray with him, Ken Chitwood explains for Christianity Today. 
 NBC’s “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie puts her faith on the line in a new book, the Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio shares. 
 Two daughters ran away to join Islamic State. Years later, their family’s story is an Oscar nominee, The Associated Press’ Mariam Fam reports. 
 Confusion, strategy shifts, layoffs: What’s happening at the American Bible Society? Christianity Today’s Emilz Belz investigates.

Inside The Godbeat

Francis X. Rocca, the Wall Street Journal’s Vatican and global religion correspondent, reports that his beat has been discontinued, and he has left the paper after “nine exciting years.”

His departure is a major loss for the religion writing community and particularly the Journal, a great newspaper with a lackluster commitment to the Godbeat.

Based in Los Angeles, Ian Lovett covered religion for the Journal for five years before going to Ukraine to report on the war in 2020. The Journal has not replaced him.

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

“The Chosen” Season 4 finale brought an uneven ending to one of the show’s best seasons.

That’s the takeaway from Joseph Holmes’ review.

The Final Plug

Faith-based disaster-relief groups are focusing on the Texas Panhandle, where the largest wildfire in state history is just 5% contained.

Churches of Christ and Southern Baptists are among those mobilizing help.

Stay safe, 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.

 
Weekend Plug-In, Analysis, Religion, Religion News, OpinionBobby Ross Jr.Bobby Ross Jr., IVF, in vitro fertilization, Alabama, Alabama Supreme Court, abortion, personhood