Word&Way News: Jan. 12
Here’s the weekly roundup from Word&Way. In addition to an analysis of prayers at Trump rallies that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a piece reflecting on Mike Pence signing his name to an Israeli artillery shell.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Sitting at the Adult Table. Sarah Blackwell wrote about “hidden” stories in the Apocrypha she has found insightful.
Review: Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies by David P. Gushee.
Christians Against Christian Nationalism Translates TikTok Activism to Local Politics. Kathryn Post reported on the success of some digital advocacy against Christian Nationalism.
The SBC Will Sell Insurance, Retirement to Women Pastors — If They Aren’t Southern Baptists. Bob Smietana reported on a new partnership between Southern Baptists and conservative Methodists that left the United Methodist Church.
US Pastors Struggle With Post-Pandemic Burnout. Survey Shows Half Considered Quitting Since 2020. Peter Smith reported on research showing more than 4 in 10 clergy thinking about quitting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dangerous Dogma
This week: Ryan Andrew Newson on the End of Civility
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
On Wednesday (Jan. 10), former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson showed up at a church in Davenport, Iowa, to convince people there to vote for Donald Trump next week in the Iowa caucuses. Although long known for his Christian faith appeals, Carson’s remarks cut against a biblical teaching as he defended Trump against criticism for speaking in ugly and profane ways.
“I lot of people don’t like [Trump]. They say the things that he says and he’s so course and mean,” Carson said. “Well, there’s actually a reason that God gave us eyes and ears and a brain. Because would you rather have somebody whose tongue is maybe a little wild but has incredibly good policies that make your life better or somebody who has a silver tongue and says all the right things and has terrible policies which ruin your life and those of your children and grandchildren?”
Of course, there’s another option: someone with a tame tongue and good policies. But Carson’s dismissing of concerns about a wild tongue shows he needs to spend less time campaigning in churches and more time reading the Bible.
“Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell,” James warned us in his biblical letter. “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”
It turns out we can’t just ignore the tongue. It actually reveals who someone is. Jesus also taught us that: “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Only by ignoring James and Jesus can we suggest it’s okay to ignore what someone says. If we do that, we might find someone who almost burns down our democracy with their wild tongue.
Other News of Note
Samuel Benson of Deseret News wrote about some pastors in Iowa criticizing the “God Made Trump” video.
Benjamin Wallace-Wells of The New Yorker reported on Iowa pastors supporting Trump as they see a battle between good and evil.
Sarah Posner wrote for MSNBC about Donald Trump’s false claims that President Joe Biden is persecuting Christians.
Liam Adams of the Nashville Tennessean reported on a “Faith and State” panel by conservative Christian politicians and pastors in the Tennessee Capitol.
“We gather again as people of faith to remind ourselves of the need to stand for the nonviolent resolution of political differences in this country and of the need to improve our democratic system to ensure that all voices are heard and all disputes can be resolved.” —Michele Dunne, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, during an interfaith vigil to reflect on the third anniversary of the Capitol insurrection.
Danny Hakim of the New York Times reported on how a conservative Christian college in Michigan became part of the plot to overturn the 2020 election.
Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post spoke with producer Rob Reiner and director Dan Partland about their upcoming film on Christian Nationalism.
Catholic bishops in Africa are rejecting a recent move by Pope Francis that allows priests to bless same-sex couples.
After the Southern Baptist Convention settled a case involving sexual abuse claims against SBC icon Paul Pressler, the legal firm for a man who alleged Pressler raped him said they had discovered “smoking gun documents” that sparked the settlement.
Photo of the Week
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