Weekly Roundup: July 24
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. This week we published a review of a new book about the world of homeschooling.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Susannah Crockford Traces How Protestant Themes Frame Discourse Around Climate Change. Kenneth Ethan Frantz spoke with anthropologist Susannah Crockford about her new book A Perturbed System: Religion and Climate Change from the End of a World and more.
Review: Biblical Outlaws. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Biblical Outlaws: What the Bible’s Most Despised Characters Can Teach Us by Anthony B. Pinn.
With Voting Rights in Mind, Progressive National Baptists Head to Capitol Hill. Adelle M. Banks reported from the annual session of the denominational home of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Inside a Brooklyn Church Where Immigration Activism Is the Gospel. Fiona André reported on the advocacy and ministry efforts of an ELCA Lutheran church challenging ICE and helping immigrants.
‘This Isn’t a Peacekeeping Initiative — This Is a Terror Campaign’: Texas Faith Leaders Condemn ICE Deaths. Ellie Ashby reported on United Methodist, Episcopal, United Church of Christ, and other faith leaders challenging ICE terror in the Lone Star State.
by Jeremy Fuzy, Word&Way Digital Editor
I will admit it — I have The Odyssey fever. After being lucky enough to see a 70mm projection of Christopher Nolan’s new film at my local independent theater, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Partially because of its cinematic accomplishments through incredible cinematography and practical effects, but even more so due to the simple but powerful message it offers us today.
It feels odd to say I won’t spoil anything from a story that is almost 3,000 years old, but I promise not to reveal any of the substantial changes Nolan makes to the source material. Instead, I want to reflect on the film’s broader interest in foregrounding Zeus’s Law (ξενία), the ancient Greek concept of sacred hospitality. Within this framework, hosts must offer food and shelter to travelers and “beggars,” because any stranger might secretly be a god in disguise.
We Christians certainly have a version of this embedded in core biblical principles regarding welcoming and caring for the vulnerable. The most direct parallel is probably found in Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” And there’s also the famous Judgment of the Nations in Matthew 25, where Jesus says: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”
So what happens when this fundamental ethical and religious principle is broken? The various trials and tribulations of Odysseus serve as a warning about the toll this can take on an individual soul and a society facing decline. We can also see echoes of this morality tale in our current era, as Christian Nationalism encourages adherents to reject “toxic empathy” and instead work toward amassing earthly power in order to crush perceived enemies. But that sounds much more like the brutal warrior king Agamemnon than the Prince of Peace.
Other News of Note
Risa Cromer wrote for PRRI about how mainline Protestant clergy support abortion rights, often in ways outside the pulpit.
A group of Catholic nuns is suing New York, making a religious liberty claim against a new law allowing some terminally ill adults to obtain prescription medicine to end their lives.
Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global reported on clergy in Tennessee urging the governor to postpone an upcoming execution after a botched lethal injection in May.
Andy Burnham became the first lifelong Roman Catholic prime minister of Britain. The prime minister technically has a say in bishop appointments in the Anglican Church (though in modern times it’s just been ceremonial), but Catholics are barred from doing so.
The Church of England voted to stand in solidarity with Palestinian Christians.
“Forgiveness without accountability is not healing. … And you can’t pray away a crime.” —Sandy Stevens, executive director of North East Wyoming Advocacy Resource Center, in a ProPublica report about a culture of sexual abuse in an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church in Minnesota.
Rick Melson, who assumed the presidency of Southwest Baptist University in Missouri amid institutional woes caused by trustee decisions, is leaving that school after five years to become president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois.
Jack Panyard of Christianity Today reported on an Episcopal church in Texas that wants to construct its new building via 3D printed construction.
A group of Catholic nuns wants to start a new order with the mission of helping survivors of clergy abuse.
Calvin Manika reported for Religion Unplugged on how Mennonites in Zimbabwe are working to address climate change.
A Florida pastor is suing ChatGPT after it used Christian language to give him bad medical advice that nearly killed him.
A journalist in the Philippines has been arrested after publishing a piece critical of a powerful Christian church.
Photo of the Week
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