Weekly Roundup: July 11
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. This week, we published a report on the biennial mission summit of the American Baptist Churches USA.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
The Gilded Salesman of Idolatrous Excess. Rodney Kennedy considered the moral dangers of a White House where everything seems to be for sale.
Review: Kingdom Racial Change. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Kingdom Racial Change: Overcoming Inequality, Injustice, and Indifference by Michael A. Evans, David L. McFadden, and Michael O. Emerson.
New York’s Episcopal Diocese Launches $1M Racial Reparations Fund. Fiona André reported on a new effort toward racial justice in a place that was once “the center of the slave trade in the United States.”
Faith-Based Camps Like Those Hit by Texas Floods Are Rite of Passage for Many. They’re Now Grieving. Giovanna Dell’Orto and Mariam Fam wrote about the tradition and value of religious camps amid the tragic news of a Christian summer camp where 27 people were killed in a flash flood.
A Century After a Man Was Convicted of Teaching Evolution, the Debate on Religion in Schools Rages. Holly Meyer wrote about the legacy of the “Scopes Monkey Trial” that occurred 100 years ago this week.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
In a court filing this week, the IRS claimed churches can endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status. The IRS doesn’t actually have the authority to make that change since it’s in the tax code and was twice passed by Congress (and then signed by Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan). But this does show that at least under the Trump administration, churches can break the rules without any tax consequences.
This move is dangerous. It’s a problematic religious exemption to a generic rule that rightly applies to all 501(c)(3) nonprofits. If one wants to engage in political campaigns, then such funds should be taxed.
But in addition to creating a fair system, the IRS’s political campaign activity ban (also known as the “Johnson amendment”) protects houses of worship. Pastors will now face pressures from members and outsiders who want them to endorse candidates. Will a deacon or elder or top giver threaten a pastor’s job if the desired endorsement doesn’t come? Will local politicians try to cut deals to gain a pastor’s backing? Will we need to start renaming our churches to make sure people find the First Republican Methodist Church or the Community Democratic Church of Christ?
Turning houses of worship into just another place for partisan politics will further harm our Christian witness. We should say “no” to the IRS’s attempt to put a bushel over our light.
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Other News of Note
Ché Ahn, a New Apostolic Reformation leader who was part of the rallies in Washington, D.C., to overturn the 2020 presidential election, announced he is running for governor of California. He doesn’t have a prayer of winning.
Texas State Sen. Angela Paxton announced she was divorcing her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, on “biblical grounds.” Ken Paxton has long been embroiled in controversy amid bribery allegations that included obtaining favors for his mistress, but he has maintained support from conservative Christian churches.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law a bill pushing schools to hire spiritual “chaplains,” but without any actual chaplaincy standards.
United Methodist leaders in Florida condemned the opening of the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in their state. They also expressed support for “peaceful, non-violent protests” against the detention center.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (mis)used Isaiah 6 in a video to suggest the prophetic call from God means using militarized force to hunt immigrants.
“When religious institutions like ours enjoy easy coexistence with earthly power, our traditions and inherited systems can become useless for interpreting what is happening around us.” —Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe in a column arguing that while the Episcopal Church was “once the church of the Founding Fathers and presidents,” it now must be part of the “resistance to the rising tide of authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism.”
The biennial convention of the Mennonite Church USA opened in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a call for “a little bit of that 16th-century Anabaptist risk-taking right now.” The convention also featured a service promoting inclusion for people with disabilities.
Baylor University in Texas accepted and then declined a $643,00 grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation to support LGBTQIA+ inclusion in congregations. The reversal came after online criticism from conservative Christians. (Full disclosure: Word&Way receives support from the Baugh Foundation.)
Jill Nelson of Christianity Today reported on Christian documentarians working to tell stories of Russia’s persecution of Christians in Ukraine.
Yanan Rahim Navarez Melo wrote for Sojourners about the new Superman movie and how the immigrant character reminds him of Jesus.
Photo of the Week
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