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.

(ANALYSIS) Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

My beloved Texas Rangers just won the World Series for the first time. You knew I’d write a column about it, right?

In shocking news, actor Matthew Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on TV’s “Friends,” was found dead Saturday at age 54. Perry “did not speak about faith often, but the stories he did share highlighted religion’s pivotal role in his life and career,” the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas explains.

Meanwhile, a day of prayer and reflection followed last week’s mass shooting that claimed 18 lives in Maine, The Associated Press’ Jake Bleiberg, David Sharp and Robert F. Bukaty report.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with the role of religion in the politics of the new U.S. House speaker.

What To Know: The Big Story

One of their own: “Evangelical Christian conservatives have long had allies in top Republican leadership in Congress. But never before have they had one so thoroughly embedded in their movement as new House Speaker Mike Johnson, a longtime culture warrior in the courthouse, in the classroom and in Congress.”

That’s the lede from The Associated Press’ Peter Smith.

The veteran religion writer notes:

Religious conservatives cheered Johnson’s election (Oct. 25), after which he brought his Bible to the rostrum before taking the oath of office. “The Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority ... each of you, all of us,” he said.

“Someone asked me today in the media, ‘People are curious, what does Mike Johnson think about any issue?’” Johnson said (Oct. 26) in a Fox News interview. “I said, ’Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.’”

But progressive faith leaders are sounding the alarm about Johnson’s opposition to LGBTQ rights and his rallying of Republicans around former President Donald Trump’s legal effort to overturn the 2020 election results. And, more broadly, they are concerned about Johnson’s “desire to impose his narrow religious vision upon the rest of us,” in the words of Paul Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance, a broad coalition of progressive religious groups.

Johnson’s Louisiana hometown: The new speaker is from Shreveport, a “small town masquerading as a city” that is guided by faith and family, according to the Washington Post’s Molly Hennessy-Fiske.

The Post writer interviews Johnson’s mother in this piece that characterizes the area this way:

The Ark-La-Tex region in northwest Louisiana that includes Johnson’s hometown is full of historic Black and White churches, more like neighboring Arkansas, Texas and the rest of the Bible Belt than the rest of the state. It’s often overshadowed by flashier cities to the south: New Orleans and the state capital, Baton Rouge. The idea that one of its sons is now second in line to the presidency has been met with joyous surprise in many quarters. But views are mixed about whether his ascension will benefit all residents, who remain divided, like much of the country, along ideological and racial lines.

Politics and policy: “The new House speaker has put his faith at the center of his political career, and aligned himself with a newer cohort of conservative Christianity that some describe as Christian nationalism.”

That’s the synopsis from the New York Times’ Annie Karni, Ruth Graham and Steve Eder.

More from the Times:

Mr. Johnson, 51, the son of a firefighter and the first in his family to attend college, has deep roots in the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. For years, Mr. Johnson and his wife, Kelly, a licensed pastoral counselor, belonged to First Bossier, whose pastor, Brad Jurkovich, is the spokesman for the Conservative Baptist Network, an organization working to move the denomination to the right.

Mr. Johnson also played a leading role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and has expressed skepticism about some definitions of the separation of church and state, placing himself in a newer cohort of conservative Christianity that aligns more closely with former President Donald J. Trump and that some describe as Christian nationalism.

See additional coverage by Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins and Baptist Press’ Brandon Porter.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Slow, painful process: Israel is still struggling to identify many of the 1,400 victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.

“Nearly a month on, the sickly smell of death lingers,” ReligionUnplugged.com’s Gil Zohar writes in his latest dispatch from the Middle East.

2. Campus tensions: Colleges are plagued by antisemitism as the Israel-Hamas war rages on, ReligionUnplugged.com’s Clemente Lisi explains.

See related coverage:

• Jewish students feel threatened and scared amid the antisemitic spike, Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron reports.

• Jewish and Muslim chaplains are helping students roiled by the war, according to The Associated Press’ Mariam Fam.

• As campus threats rise, college ministries are looking for way to help, as Christianity Today’s Emily Belz details.

3. Tree of Life massacre anniversary: Five years after 11 people were killed at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the Israel-Hamas war has compounded the trauma, The Associated Press’ Peter Smith and the New York Times’ Ruth Graham report.

Meanwhile, “Psalm 121, which gave Rabbi Jeffrey Myers solace in the wake of the tragedy, has been set to music in a piece commissioned by the Tree of Life congregation and composed by Gerald Cohen,” Religion News Service’s Kathryn Post writes.

More Top Reads

For decades, controversy over why Pope Pius XII didn’t speak out against the Nazi Holocaust has troubled the Catholic Church. New evidence sheds light on his silence, the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca reports. … The White House is working on a strategy to combat Islamophobia, but many Muslim Americans are skeptical, The Associated Press’ Aamer Madhani, Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller note. … One Christian is on a quest to change how fellow believers see immigration, according to a Christianity Today cover story by Sophia Lee. … With flowers, altars and candles, Mexicans honor deceased relatives on the day of the dead, AP’s María Teresa Hernández reports. … And 250 years later, “Amazing Grace” has filled churches, concerts, even commercials, Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks writes.

Inside The Godbeat

Wednesday marked the official launch of ReligionUnplugged.com’s NewsMatch campaign — one of its biggest fundraisers of the year.

Melissa Harrison offers details on the campaign and how to support our reporting and international faith coverage.

Check out, too, Harrison’s podcast interview with executive editor Clemente Lisi.

Charging Station: ICYMI

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.

“The Vatican’s meeting of bishops — the second phase of a multi-year effort that began in 2021 known as the Synod on Synodality — concluded this past weekend amid a growing debate regarding a number of key issues,” Clemente Lisi reports.

Lisi outlines “three things we learned” from the synod.

The Final Plug

Did I mention the Rangers winning the World Series? 😂

Baptist Press’ Tim Ellsworth has an interesting profile of Texas rookie Evan Carter, who wore a “Jesus Won” T-shirt on his first day with the team in early September.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for ReligionUnplugged.com and serves as 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 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.