đşđ¸ No Separation Of Church And State? New York City Mayor Sparks A Furor đ
Weekend Plug-in đ
Editorâs note: Every Friday, âWeekend Plug-inâ 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!
Among the religion news happening now, Catholics in Los Angeles are remembering slain Auxiliary Bishop David G. OâConnell. See photos by Los Angeles Times staff photographer Francine Orr from Thursdayâs vigil Mass. A funeral Mass is scheduled for today.
As always, we have a bunch of best reads and top headlines in the world of faith to highlight.
Letâs jump right in!
What To Know: The Big Story
Big Apple, big controversy: âDonât tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies.â
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that at an interfaith breakfast this week â remarks called âunhinged and dangerousâ by a rabbi quoted by the New York Timesâ Dana Rubinstein.
More from the New York Times:
He went on to suggest that his path to the mayoralty was divinely ordained, saying that when he implements policies, he does so in a âgodlike approach.â
At another point, Mr. Adams seemed to suggest that it was a mistake for the Supreme Court to ban mandated prayer in public schools, as it did in 1962. âWhen we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools,â he said.
The phrase âseparation of church and stateâ is not in the Constitution, but the First Amendmentâs statement that âCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereofâ has been widely interpreted to dictate such a separation.
âGod bless Mayor Adamsâ: But not everyone criticized the comments.
In fact, Adams won âa new group of fans: Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians, whose leaders lauded the liberal Democrat,â according to the Washington Timesâ Mark A. Kellner.
âI believe much of the chaos weâre seeing in our country today results from trying to be good without God, and such a thing is totally impossible,â Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, told Kellner.
The setting: The mayor delivered the remarks in front of âhundreds of representatives from a multitude of religions,â Adams spokesman Fabien Levy emphasized in a story by the New York Daily Newsâ Chris Sommerfeldt.
âWhile everyone in the room immediately understood what the mayor meant, itâs unfortunate that some have immediately attempted to hijack the narrative in an effort to misrepresent the mayorâs comments,â Levy said.
Power Up: The Weekâs Best Reads
1. Hate or mistake?: The Washington Postâs Laura Meckler explores what happened when a public school teacher pushed back a Muslim studentâs hijab.
âEvidence of antisemitism competed against allegations of Islamophobia as an online debate divided this suburban community along racial and religious lines,â Meckler reports from Maplewood, New Jersey.
2. âI have to do thisâ: A Sikh motorcycle club made a weeklong ride across the country to raise awareness about their culture and faith â and pay tribute to seven Sikhs killed in a mass shooting in Wisconsin in 2012.
Reporter Ruben Vines and photographer Irfan Khan detail the emotional journey in a Los Angeles Times Column One feature.
3. The Kingâs Collegeâs in peril: âOne of the few evangelical colleges in New York City is in sudden financial crisis, and students are planning for a possible shutdown,â Christianity Todayâs Emily Belz explains.
Here at ReligionUnplugged.com, executive editor Paul Glader â who teaches at Kingâs â advises that journalists should âdig more into Canadian businessman Peter Chung and his involvement with Kingâs in the past two years as well as his other business ventures through Primacorp Ventures Inc. and the Emanata Group.â
More Top Reads
After its ouster by the Southern Baptist Convention, Saddleback Church is doubling down on its support for female pastors, The Associated Pressâ Deepa Bharath and Peter Smith write. ⌠Who will pay for the SBCâs abuse reforms over the long term? No one knows, according to Religion News Serviceâs Bob Smietana. ⌠A Christian health nonprofit saddled thousands with debt as it built a family empire, ProPublicaâs Ryan Gabrielson and J. David McSwane reveal. ⌠A sinking holy town in India faces a grim future, as detailed by APâs Krutika Pathi and Shonal Ganguly. ⌠Multiple federal lawsuits allege the International Churches of Christ concealed sexual abuse of young children, Ngai Yeung and Sam Moskow report for the Los Angeles Times. ⌠For many congregations, wiping out medical debt has become a popular calling, according to Yonat Shimron of RNS. ⌠In East Africa, a Christian ministry serves the most vulnerable of the vulnerable â babies and the mothers who lose them, The Christian Chronicleâs Erik Tryggestad writes. ⌠The Jewish world has largely forgiven Meyers Leonard. Why canât everyone else? Thatâs Louis Keeneâs question at The Forward. ⌠And finally, hereâs something to think about: Places with high religious participation have fewer deaths of despair, The Economist suggests.
Inside The Godbeat
In a touching piece, Mindy Belz, former senior editor at World magazine, reflects on her family and her husbandâs cancer fight.
Meanwhile, Ed Briggs, a former Religion News Association president, wrote his own obituary. Give it a read.
Charging Station: ICYMI
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.
âFrom Catholicism to âJew-ishâ: How George Santos pulled off his religiously intersectional fraudâ â thatâs the peg for a think piece by Paul Glader.
The Final Plug
Here in my home state of Oklahoma, people of faith are divided on a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana.
A shameless plug: I wrote about the debate for ReligionUnplugged.com.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.
Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for ReligionUnplugged.com 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.