Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” features analysis, fact checking and top headlines from the world of faith. Got feedback or ideas for this column? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

(ANALYSIS) Hang on for a wild ride.

Try to avoid whiplash.

Yes, it was another crazy week in the world of religion news — and we’re going to cover the highlights in a hurry.

Starting with the obvious: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s selection of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate brings plenty of faith angles.

Elana Schor, the national religion and politics writer for The Associated Press, notes that the 55-year-old Harris “attended services at both a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple growing up — an interfaith background that reflects her historic status as the first Black woman and woman of South Asian descent on a major-party presidential ticket.”

Bob Smietana, editor-in-chief of Religion News Service, dubs Harris “the interfaith candidate,” and RNS national correspondent Yonat Shimron offers “five faith facts about Biden’s VP choice.” In a separate story, Shimron suggests that Harris “is also the future of American religion.”

But the crucial angles related to Harris and religion aren’t all positive, even if some news coverage is.

Her selection prompted the National Review’s Alexandra DeSanctis to write about what DeSanctis’ article called “Kamala Harris’s Anti-Catholic Bigotry.” Even before the Harris pick, Kelsey Dallas, the Deseret News’ national religion writer, had reported last week on Biden’s “tough road ahead on religious freedom.”

At the Washington Post, columnist Michael Gerson opines that the Harris pick “exacerbates Biden’s existing problem with religious voters. He must work to reassure them.”

What is the problem? Gerson outlines it this way:

Whether Biden understands it — and whether he cares — the selection of Harris contributes to a Catholic problem that already existed because of Biden’s pro-choice views and his newly discovered support for federal funding of abortions. And this, by extension, is also an evangelical problem.

In 2018, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Harris strongly suggested that being a member of the Knights of Columbus — a nearly 2 million-member Catholic social and charitable organization — was disqualifying for the federal bench. She posed a series of inappropriate questions to federal district court nominee Brian Buescher, who had joined the Knights at the age of 18: “Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization? . . . Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when you joined the organization? . . . Have you ever, in any way, assisted with or contributed to advocacy against women’s reproductive rights?”

Harris was effectively treating membership in a distinctly Catholic organization as if it were allegiance to a hate group. The full Senate eventually repudiated Harris’s attempt to apply a religious test for office.

Concerning Biden’s own Catholic faith, my Religion Unplugged colleague Timothy Nerozzi has an interesting analysis this week focusing on “Is Joe Biden Catholic? It depends on who you ask.” Meanwhile, our own Clemente Lisi discusses how Biden’s faith has become “a campaign issue as anti-Catholic attacks rise.”

Did you catch all that? I warned you to hang on for a wild ride. And we’re just getting started.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. ‘Christianity will have power’: “If there is one question people ask me over and over, it is this: Why do evangelicals support Donald Trump?” tweeted New York Times national religion writer Elizabeth Dias. “This story, told through devout families in Iowa, is our answer to that question.”

Dias’ in-depth piece, datelined Sioux Center, Iowa, and running on Sunday’s front page, definitely ranks as the week’s most talked-about religion story. Some loved it.

Others raised questions about it, including Lee Pitts, a Dordt University journalism professor who lives in Sioux Center. In a viral Religion Unplugged op-ed, Pitts argues that the Times narrative relies on stereotypes about his community.

2. Across faiths, pandemic alters worship, rites: As a writer, I hate to acknowledge this, but sometimes, pictures tell the story much better than words.

With that in check, be sure to check out Associated Press photographer Elizabeth Dalziel’s compelling photo feature on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected religious groups in England.

3. Sojourners pulls article about Catholic Church and race from website: There’s some major internal drama happening at the progressive Christian magazine, and Christopher White reports adeptly on the controversy for the National Catholic Reporter.

Did I mention whiplash earlier? Here’s White’s lede:

An article alleging that the Catholic Church has a white power faction was unpublished by Sojourners magazine, prompting backlash from other Catholics over the decision, the public resignation of two of the magazine's editors, four public statements from the editor-in-chief attempting to provide clarification, and ultimately an apology, for the magazine's decision, and a temporary suspension from publishing new articles from outside contributors.

(Insert a deep breath, everyone.)

More Top Reads

• Trump, Biden seek Latter-day Saint voters in battleground states (Taylor Stevens, Salt Lake Tribune)

• Valley megachurch and LA County trade lawsuits in battle over indoor worship services (by Deepa Bharath, Orange County Register)

• Hospitals’ COVID-19 policies face religious-rights checks by Trump administration (by Stephanie Armour, Wall Street Journal)

• After Falwell stumbles, his hometown sees a leader in need of redemption (by Aishvarya Kavi and Rick Rojas, New York Times)

• ‘Can you bless our quarantine room?’ In a city scarred by the coronavirus, a priest revives a nervous parish (Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times)

• The crisis evangelist (by Ruth Graham, Slate)

• The anti-abortion-rights movement prepares to build a post-Roe world (by Emma Green, The Atlantic)

• Portland is still protesting: Where is the church? (by Andrew Shaughnessy, Christianity Today)

• Kodak insider makes well-timed stock gift of $116 million to religious charity he started (by Theo Francis, Mark Maremont and Geoffrey Rogow, Wall Street Journal)

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

Holly Meyer, The Tennessean’s religion writer, has a new gig: She’s the new editor of ReligionLink, which offers ideas and resources for journalists. Meyer succeeds Kelsey Dallas in that role.

The good news: This is a part-time position. That means Meyer will keep covering religion full time for The Tennessean and USA Today’s national network.

More good news this week from the religion beat: “Religion News Association members who are experiencing financial distress are invited to apply for aid from the Religion News Foundation’s (RNF) new Religion Journalist Relief Fund. The program, in partnership with RNA, will provide each grantee with up to $1,000 for their religion reporting projects.”

Charging Station: In Case You Missed It

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from Religion Unplugged.

• Gun-toting church safety enthusiasts say regular training is essential (by Michael Ray Smith)

• Interest in prayer continues to grow as COVID-19 realities set in (by Rebecca Toscano)

• Americans support COVID-19 restrictions on churches: Pew Research (by Jillian Cheney)

• Downtown Beirut church hit by blast is a symbol of hope, unity and grit (by Zainab Chamoun)

• This Sikh family performed last rites for unclaimed COVID-19 patients. Then they caught the virus (by Zaffar Iqbal)

• Catholic news outlets lead the way on church vandalism trend (by Clemente Lisi)

• Jewish Democrat's movel from slave era stirs racial controversy (by Dave Schechter)

• What Is ‘Jewish Privilege?’ Well, it's complicated (by Dave Schechter)

• Liberty names Jerry Prevo as president with Falwell on leave (by Sarah Rankin)

The Final Plug

Forgive me for a shameless plug for one of my own articles, but I really enjoyed reporting this one.

It’s a profile of Tennessee state Rep. John DeBerry Jr., a Black Democrat kicked out of the party because of his conservative positions on issues such as abortion, gay rights and school choice.

A preacher and a politician, the 69-year-old DeBerry talked to me about his experiences integrating an all-White high school and witnessing civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech before his 1968 assassination.

Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for Religion Unplugged and 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 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.