This 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.
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(OPINION) A young black Christian woman in New York had not attended previous protests because she thought revenge, anger and bitterness characterized the Black Lives Matter movement. Then Brooklyn churches organized a “prayerful protest.”
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(OPINION) Although President Trump exploited the Bible as a symbol of peace, throughout the gospels Jesus displays righteous anger against unethical money changers and societies who alienated strangers. Trump invoked the Bible to divert attention to the economy, but God always sides with the oppressed.
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Dr. Syra Madad, the senior director for the System Wide Special Pathogens Program for New York City Health and Hospitals, has been on the front line preparing for pandemics before the novel coronavirus hit. Now she's a leader in the response to COVID-19 in New York. Religion Unplugged sat down on Zoom with Dr. Madad to talk about the role her Muslim faith and religion overall plays in her medical mission to fight the spread of disease.
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St. John’s Episcopal Church, where Trump posed with a Bible on June 1, is known as the “Church of the Presidents.” Here are five facts about the historic church that you probably didn’t know, involving Abraham Lincoln, a marriage record of both enslaved and free African Americans, a presidential pew and more.
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After four nights of violent clashes between police and protesters and looting in New York City, more than 100 congregations organized a peaceful protest march in Brooklyn against police brutality and racism.
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(OPINION) When the Georgia legislature reconvenes in mid-June, there is a chance that a bill with enhanced penalties for bias or hate crimes will make its way to the governor. In the grand scope of things, putting a hate crimes law on the books in Georgia should be important on a level with, say, reopening massage and tattoo parlors, nail salons and bowling alleys.
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A Virginia church’s building, in the heart of downtown Richmond, was just one of many structures damaged by rioters and protesters over the weekend. “We’re more concerned with the personal damage than the physical damage — the souls of those who did the damage,” said James Nesmith, minister for the West Broad Church of Christ, a predominantly black congregation.
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Tension between protesters demanding justice for George Floyd’s death and New York police officers fizzled out for a time when a church van playing gospel music strategically inserted itself into the mix. The crisis response team is led by Jamaican immigrants with a passion for Jesus and a history of social justice and community outreach.
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A church in the historically black neighborhood of St. Paul reopened this weekend after loosened coronavirus guidelines and days of violent protests nearby after the death of George Floyd. Pastor Dwight Buckner remembers the riots in the sixties and conjures Martin Luther King Jr.’s calming words, while a 22-year-old church member whose mother is recovering with COVID-19 tells how a white man stopped him at gunpoint on Saturday.
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Scores 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.
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(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.
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Weekend 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.
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After George Floyd’s death in police custody May 25, his Houston pastor and ministry friends recall his role in their neighborhood outreach.
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(OPINION) A Nigerian Christian recounts her experiences struggling with mental illness and letting go of the idea that if she had enough faith, God would heal her.
Read MoreResearchers have grown concerned over the China-based app’s reach and the possibility of it bringing Chinese-style censorship to mainstream U.S audiences. After pro-life accounts were disabled and reinstated, now Christian TikTokers say their accounts and videos are being censored without explanation.
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(OPINION) A young evangelical writes about what God is teaching us during a global pandemic about our responsibility to care for other people and the environment.
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(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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The newly ordained must take everything they learned and adapt it to serve their communities during a pandemic. New chaplains in particular are jumping into virtual pastoral care and may have to wait on certifications that lockdowns have delayed.
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(OPINION) As the world begins to cautiously emerge from lockdown, it has begun to look beyond its own borders. For most, the lockdown has confined us to the four walls of our homes. Yet for some terrorist organizations, COVID-19 has provided an opportunity to consolidate and expand. This is particularly visible in the case of Boko Haram and Daesh.
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