This week’s Weekend Plug-in explores news coverage of churches as superspreaders of the coronavirus, plus top reads on a megachurch investigation, a Washington, D.C., church’s history and the faith angle on Kanye West’s potential White House bid.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For all the fallout caused by the virus (and how various states have handled it) and the divisions in this country around issues like race, the presidential election could — once again — be decided by a handful of majority Catholic counties in four states by voters who care about abortion and religious liberty.
Read More(OPINION) Pope Francis, who has consistently drawn the ire of Catholic media on the doctrinal right, gave his view of what the religious press should look like in the United States.
Read MoreIn an interview with Religion Unplugged, baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew — author of the new memoir “One Tough Out” — talked about his complicated faith, protests in his home city of Minneapolis and why he’s not a fan of baseball returning before there’s a coronavirus vaccine.
Read More(OPINION) As Italians gained in power, Columbus Day officially became a U.S. federal holiday starting in 1968. Amerigo Vespucci, however, is barely mentioned in American classrooms.
Read MoreAs Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, Weekend Plug-in marks its six-month anniversary and offers its usual lineup of insight, analysis and top headlines from the world of religion news.
Read More(REVIEW) What former baseball star Rod Carew has done is put together an all-star book to tell his story of sacrifice and hard work. But, above all, he writes about his complicated faith and the intersection of Judaism and Christianity, two religions near to his spiritual awakening.
Read MoreWith Election Day four-plus months away, religion angles abound on the race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Find links to some of the week’s most interesting faith-and-politics news in the latest Plug-in.
Read More(OPINION) As the national debate surrounding law-enforcement practices and the Black Lives Matter movement continues, journalists need to go beyond covering the obvious.
Read MoreProgressive Catholics like Martin Gugino see it as their role to help the United States achieve racial equality. Traditional Catholics, however, see Black Lives Matter as part of a sinister force that wants to spread Marxist ideology. While Catholics agree that racism is an issue in American society, the proposed remedies for those ills differ wildly.
Read More(OPINION) Was this the equivalent of hearing Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville’s impressions of America in the 19th century, except we are hearing from a Nigerian man about his impressions in 21st-century America? And does it offer any lessons for retaining rule of law and good governance even as we rethink policing and racial inequality in America?
Read MoreIn the latest “Weekend Plug-in,” columnist Bobby Ross Jr. interviews an all-star panel of religion journalists about the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on LGBT employment rights.
Read MoreIn this Friday’s Weekend Plug-in, a tie-in between the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957 and a Houston teen who stood up for a friend called the N-word. The teen is the great-grandson of the Arkansas mayor who asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to send federal troops to allow the school’s desegregation.
Read More(OPINION) Journalists needed to give readers both sides of a debate so that they had some chance to fully understood and assess what is happening. Otherwise, they’re only telling half the story. Right?
Read MoreLocked and loaded parishioners acting like John Wayne of the church pews may be a new chapter in church history. Historically, Christians were hesitant to deploy violence for self-protection. While the Bible and church history illustrate tension around violence, armed resistance isn’t completely foreign to Christendom.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in includes a pop quiz on President Trump’s photo op at St. John’s Episcopal Church and other top headlines in a busy week of religion-related protest and pandemic news.
Read MoreScores of African-American players have called the Israeli Basketball Premier League home, drawn there for a chance to play professionally and earn decent money. In the process, these players have become ambassadors for the Jewish state — some marrying Israeli women, serving in the country’s army and converting to Judaism.
Read More(OPINION) Black Lives Matter is a departure from past social justice movements. It is not attached to any religious institution, and it is anonymous with no defined leadership. Unlike past civil rights movements spearheaded by ministers and laypeople, in the Black Lives Matter movement, the church has been relegated to the back seat.
Read MoreWeekend Plug-in looks at the faith of George Floyd, houses of worship reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic and other top headlines from the religious world.
Read More(OPINION) Like secular news outlets, Catholic media also face financial hardships created by the pandemic. This is a trend that has, of course, affected all news media and across many other industries, such as hospitality and tourism to name just two.
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