Weekly Roundup: Feb. 13
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a report on the latest government worship service that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a look at controversies roiling the White House’s so-called “Religious Liberty Commission.”
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Michael W. Smith Worshipwashes Trump’s Profanity and Lies. Brian Kaylor reflected on the special music at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast.
Review: Under Her Wings. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Under Her Wings: Mothers and Motherhood in the New Testament by Jennifer Houston McNeel.
Charges Dropped Against Some Clergy Arrested for Protesting DHS in Chicago. Jack Jenkins reported on the latest legal development for several pastors (including Michael Woolf).
Oklahoma Board Rejects Jewish Charter School, Braces for a Court Battle. Nuria Martinez-Keel reported on the latest effort to create a sectarian public school.
New Christian Artists Push Genre Boundaries With Rap, Afrobeats, and R&B. Charlotte Kramon reported on a new generation of Christian musicians finding audiences on social media.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
I love watching the Winter Olympics, so I feel extra busy right now while trying to cram in as much viewing as I can. My favorite events are the sledding ones — bobsled, luge, and skeleton. Despite that, I’m not feeling very Olympic today.
The International Olympic Committee yesterday banned Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from competing because his helmet features portraits of athletes killed by Russia. Heraskevych, who was the Ukrainian flag bearer during the opening ceremony, was considered a medal contender. The IOC claims the helmet, which is just portraits and includes no words, is political messaging and therefore not allowed.
This isn’t Heraskevych’s first brush with the IOC. He almost got in trouble four years ago when, after completing a run, he held up a sign declaring, “No War in Ukraine.” The IOC ultimately said it was “a general call for peace” and so was okay. He proved prophetic in trying to warn about Russian aggression since just four days after the Olympics, Russia invaded Ukraine.
It doesn’t make sense that the sign would be allowed but not a simple memorial to athletes. Russia and Belarus have rightly been banned from the games because the invasion of Ukraine violates the Olympic spirit. When you’re killing your competitors, you shouldn’t be allowed to compete. But surely the Olympics can allow the remembrance of athletes who had their opportunity to compete stolen from them. While Heraskevych’s been in Italy representing his nation, his people back home have faced daily attacks from Russia.
So here’s to Heraskevych, a prophet who tried to warn the world four years ago and who now refuses to forget the dead. Sometimes the work of a lamenting prophet is to force people to stop and see the suffering. As he wrote on Instagram after being disqualified, “This is the price of our dignity.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has praised Heraskevych’s stance, put it well in his criticism of the IOC. After naming some of the athletes on Heraskevych’s helmet who competed in Winter Olympic sports, Zelenskyy added, “This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate, or called a ‘political demonstration at a sporting event.’” If honoring the dead is political, so is ignoring them.
Other News of Note
Brian Kaylor appeared on two video episodes of the Faithful Politics podcast with hosts Josh Burtram and Will Wright to discuss the use of Bible verses by government social media accounts. The first episode unpacked Bible videos and posts by the Department of Homeland Security, while the second episode looked at those from the Department of Defense.
FFRF Action Fund named Brian Kaylor its “Secularist of the Week” for A Public Witness coverage of government worship services.
WTHR reported on Beau Underwood and other clergy in Indiana urging state lawmakers to reject legislation that would limit SNAP benefits and criminalize homelessness.
Oklahoma’s governor signed a new law — his first of this legislative session — that would increase the penalties for disrupting worship services. Similar legislation is being considered in other states, including Alabama, Ohio, South Dakota, and Tennessee.
Watch: Brian Kaylor testified against legislation in Missouri that would create a religious exemption from pandemic public health rules. Similar legislation is also advancing in the Iowa legislature.
“School sports should be an opportunity for students to learn, grow and realize their potential. Keeping school-sponsored religion out of public school sports costs nothing, harms no one and welcomes all students — regardless of their belief or nonbelief.” —Sammi Lawrence in a Kansas City Star column about a Missouri public school district stopping softball coaches from directing students to pray at team events.
During a meeting with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, clergy challenged and criticized her for not joining efforts to abolish ICE.
Madison McVan of the Minnesota Reformer wrote about how churches in Minneapolis have been supporting immigrants.
A federal judge ruled that ICE must allow Catholic priests to enter a detention center in Illinois on Ash Wednesday next week to minister to immigrants there.
An airstrike by the military junta in Myanmar killed local Mennonite church leaders, following a pattern of attacks on civilians.
For an alternative Super Bowl halftime show, Kid Rock sang on Trinity Broadcasting Network. Leah Payne explained for MS NOW why that move wasn’t so surprising for the network popular with Pentecostal and charismatic Christians.
Photo of the Week
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