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!

After a week away, I’m excited to be back.

As anger over Gaza festers, Muslim leaders rejected a chance to break bread with President Joe Biden this Ramadan, according to The Associated Press’ Zeke Miller and Chris Megerian and the New York Times’ Erica L. Green.

In my home state of Oklahoma, justices are weighing whether tax dollars can fund the nation’s first religious charter school, as the Washington Post’s Laura Meckler, USA Today’s Murray Evans and Alia Wong and Oklahoma Watch’s Jennifer Palmer report.

And if you’ve ever wondered why Americans go to church — on Easter and throughout the year — the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas provides a few answers.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with the religious significance of Monday’s total solar eclipse.

What To Know: The Big Story

Astronomical legal action: How religious an event is the eclipse for some?

So much so that six New York inmates have sued to see it, ReligionUnplugged.com’s own Clemente Lisi notes:

The prisoners at Woodbourne Correctional Facility argue the that the natural phenomenon should “warrant gathering, celebration, worship, and prayer,” according to their federal lawsuit.

Lisi explores the spiritual and symbolic significance of such celestial events going as far back as far back as ancient Mesopotamia.

Awe and dread: “Throughout history, solar eclipses have had profound impact on adherents of various religions around the world. They were viewed as messages from God or spiritual forces, inducing emotions ranging from dread to wonder.”

For more on how religions have responded to total solar eclipses over the centuries, see coverage by The Associated Press’ Deepa Bharath, David Crary and Mariam Fam.

What it means: “A total eclipse is near. For some, it’s evidence of higher power. For others it’s a warning,” USA Today’s Marc Ramirez finds.

“Faith groups are embracing the occasion rather than dreading it, unlike their predecessors from the distant past,” the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas writes.

“Moon pies. Gospel tracts. T-shirts that say, ‘In him there is no darkness at all.’ Discussions about End Times. Evangelicals are ready for the eclipse,” according to Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman.

Popcorn and baptisms: A Baptist church in Arkansas plans to offer free eclipse glasses, solar-theme religious tracts and food, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank Lockwood reports.

"We're going to have, for lack of a better word, just a tailgate party," that church’s pastor tells Lockwood. "We're probably just going to fire up the grill and cook hamburgers and hot dogs and have popcorn and chips."

And in Ohio, five students “intend to be baptized that day as the moon briefly blots out the sun,” Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks notes.

“The purpose of holding baptisms during the eclipse is to offer a once in a lifetime opportunity for new believers, to be raised from darkness into a new life through Jesus Christ,” a church leader explains in the RNS story.

By the way, has anybody — OK, maybe a million anybodies — mentioned that you can’t stare at the sun without eclipse glasses?

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. The Church of Trump: “Ending many of his rallies with a churchlike ritual and casting his prosecutions as persecution, the former president is demanding — and receiving — new levels of devotion from Republicans.”

The New York Times’ Michael C. Bender details how former President Donald Trump is “infusing Christianity into his movement.”

Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., is calling President Joe Biden a “cafeteria Catholic,” noting his support for abortion and regular Mass attendance, the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner writes.

2. Fractured are the peacemakers: “A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance.”

Christianity Today’s Sophia Lee reports from the Middle East.

3. ‘Bless these books’: Christian fiction writer Karen Kingsbury has sold more than 25 million copies and isn’t slowing down — with an Amazon series and a wide-distribution film marking a new phase, according to the New York Times’ Alexis Soloski.

“I’m not John Grisham,” Kingsbury tells the Times. “I’m not Nicholas Sparks.”

But that may change, Soloski suggests.

More Top Reads

Ministers are aiding seafarers caught in Baltimore’s bridge crisis, Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks reports. … Some state lawmakers want school chaplains as part of a “rescue mission” for public education, The Associated Press’ Hannah Fingerhut writes. … Bruce Frank, a former Southern Baptist Convention abuse task force leader, has joined the crowded SBC presidential race, according to RNS’ Bob Smietana. … Places of worship are taking steps to be more inclusive of people with disabilities, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Shelia Poole explains. … And what is the true cost of the churchgoing bust? In a think piece at The Atlantic, agnostic Derek Thompson shares his perspective.

Inside The Godbeat

In two weeks, the nation’s Godbeat pros will gather in Pittsburgh for the 75th anniversary conference of the Religion News Association.

Holly Meyer, an RNA board member and news editor for The Associated Press’ global religion team, wants to know: “Who is coming?”

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

“Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark is a lot of things to many people. To fans, she’s known for breaking NCAA records. To her teammates, she’s the one they are looking at to spearhead a national title run after getting Iowa to the Final Four. And to those in the sports marketing business, she’s a budding star who will be playing in the WNBA next season.

“To her friends and family, the 6-foot tall guard is also a practicing Catholic.”

Read the full story by Clemente Lisi.

The Final Plug

What do you get when you mix a nationally syndicated radio comedy show with a puppet skit by Christian teens?

I’m glad you asked.

Read my feature from Nashville, Tennessee.

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.