From Ida To Afghanistan To Abortion, The Best Religion Reads In A Gigantic News Week
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.
WAVERLY, Tenn. — I was in Tennessee reporting on the aftermath of historic flooding that claimed 20 lives as Hurricane Ida — “one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S.” — made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday.
On Monday afternoon, as I was boarding a flight in Atlanta to return home to Oklahoma City, The Associated Press sent a “flash” — its designation for “a breaking story of transcendent importance” — about the chaotic end of America’s 20 years of war in Afghanistan.
And guess what?
The big news week was just getting started.
By midnight Wednesday, a divided U.S. Supreme Court had provided “a momentous development in the decades-long judicial battle over abortion rights.” The court declined, at least for now, to overrule a new Texas law that bans most abortions in the state, raising hope among abortion opponents and concern among abortion-rights supporters that Roe v. Wade could be jeopardy.
Also, Ida’s “weakened remnants tore into the Northeast and claimed at least 43 lives across New York, New Jersey and two other states in an onslaught that ended Thursday and served as an ominous sign of climate change’s capacity to wreak new kinds of havoc.”
The news just keeps coming, and I haven’t even mentioned COVID-19 — which continues to rage with cases and hospitalizations “at their highest level since last winter.”
Mercy.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Afghanistan’s arc from 9/11 to today: once hopeful, now sad: This is a powerful read by Kathy Gannon, Afghanistan and Pakistan news director for The Associated Press.
“A country of 36 million, Afghanistan is filled with conservative people, many of whom live in the countryside,” Gannon explains. “But even they do not adhere to the strict interpretation of Islam that the Taliban imposed when last they ruled.”
AP religion writers Luis Andres Henao, Peter Smith and Mariam Fam report on U.S. faith groups working to help refugees after the war, while World’s Mindy Belz highlights new Taliban clampdowns “as U.S. officials make it harder for vulnerable Afghans to escape.”
At The Christian Chronicle, Cheryl Mann Bacon and I interview a retired Air Force general and his wife, who have worked for years to build schools and improve life for Afghan girls.
2. What Texas abortion foes want next: Journalists tend to favor abortion-rights supporters (this bias is not new) in news coverage. The Houston Chronicle’s banner front-page headline today (“Abortion rights groups: ‘We need action now’”) is a typical example.
That’s one reason I appreciated this insightful interview by The Atlantic’s Emma Green with John Seago, Texas Right to Life’s legislative director, who “shepherded and supported the passage of this law.” Green dares to talk to the anti-abortion side.
Give credit, too, to the team that produced the New York Times’ front-page abortion story today — including Texas-based national religion writer Ruth Graham — for reflecting both sides.
3. Faith-based disaster relief groups balance COVID safety with speedy response to Hurricane Ida: “The surge in COVID-19 rates makes responding to disasters like Ida more complicated,” notes this timely story by Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana.
The damage from Ida has overwhelmed Indigenous communities in Louisiana’s Delta, according to RNS’ Emily McFarlan Miller.
See additional coverage on faith-based disaster relief from The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton, Christianity Today bloggers Jamie Aten and Kent Annan, Baptist Press’ Diana Chandler and The Christian Chronicle’s Erik Tryggestad.
More Top Reads
• After scandals, is evangelical Christianity’s image damaged? (by Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)
• On death row in Texas, a last request: a prayer and ‘human contact’ (by Ruth Graham, New York Times)
• Dallas fund avoids companies involved with abortion, porn to cater to religious investors (by Natalie Walters, Dallas Morning News)
• How Houston's Church Space is building Airbnb for religious institutions (by Chris Matthews, Houston Business Journal)
• Religious exemptions from coronavirus vaccines are expected to become a legal battleground (by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post)
• Mormon vaccine push ratchets up, dividing faith’s members (by Sophia Eppolito, Associated Press)
• On Kanye West’s ‘Donda,’ faith is the message — or a metaphor (by Jillian Cheney, Religion News Service)
• David Klingler’s 30-year path from Heisman candidate to Bible scholar (by Kelly Dearmore, Texas Monthly)
• Tim Tebow joins Samaritan’s Purse response team for flight to aid Afghan refugees (by Anne Stych, MinistryWatch.com)
• More Lord Kingdom hopes to make America godly again, one T-shirt at a time (by Bob Smietana, RNS)
• Teaching beside the sea: Boat church draws a crowd at state park in Virginia Beach (by Stacey Parker, Virginian Pilot)
• Religion-beat flashback, car of the legendary Lou Grant (by Terry Mattingly, Syndicated Columnist)
• Baltimore opens 1st new Catholic school in about 60 years (by David McFadden, AP)
Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines
I’m excited about two new hires for prominent Godbeat positions — one a relative newcomer to religion journalism and the other a seasoned veteran.
The first: Liam Adams, a Colorado newspaper journalist who has written for Christianity Today and networked with Religion News Association members, will be the new religion writer for The Tennessean in Nashville. He succeeds Holly Meyer, who left to serve as a news editor on the The Associated Press’ global religion team.
The second: Julia Duin, whose award-winning religion reporting career began in the 1980s with the Houston Chronicle and later took her to the Washington Times for 15 years, is joining Newsweek as a contributing editor focused on religion coverage.
Duin, a finalist in this year’s Religion News Association’s annual awards for work at Politico.com and ReligionUnplugged.com, said she plans to keep writing her weekly column for GetReligion.
By the way, Duin’s new role at Newsweek is separate from the magazine’s search for a religion and culture editor.
Charging Station: In Case You Missed It
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.
• United Methodist prelude: small denomination faces its own split over Bible and sex (by Richard Ostling)
• When facing vaccine doubters in the pews, trust instead of shame is crucial (by Terry Mattingly)
• India setting up ‘anti-terrorism’ squads after Taliban’s Afghanistan takeover (by Shuriah Niazi)
• Where to go after war: an interview with Afghanistan, Iraq veteran Fernando Arroyo (by Jewels Tauzin)
• Jesus show ‘The Chosen’ is inviting fans to be extras (by Joseph Holmes)
• In Russia, religious minorities face curfews, movement restrictions, job bans after jail (by Victoria Arnold)
• What is an ‘evangelical?’ (by Richard Ostling)
• Church offers physical, spiritual help after historic flooding (by Bobby Ross Jr.)
• Kabul airport attacks strand Afghan contacts of Christian humanitarians (by Cheryl Mann Bacon)
• Are UFOs a threat to traditional religious belief? (by Terry Mattingly)
The Final Plug
In a week with so much heavy news, enjoy this feature on Major League Baseball umpires pursuing spiritual solace.
The story by the New York Times’ Alan Blinder is a home run, as Blinder’s colleague Elizabeth Dias notes. Even if it neglects to mention Ryan Burge by name.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the holiday weekend.
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.