Word&Way News: June 23
Here’s the weekly roundup from Word&Way. This week at A Public Witness, we published a report on a lecture by Diana Butler Bass.
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Review: Ancient Echoes. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Ancient Echoes: Refusing the Fear-Filled, Greed-Driven Toxicity of the Far Right by Walter Brueggemann.
For Church Worship Teams, Auto-Tune Covers a Multitude of Sins. Especially Online. Bob Smietana reported on a technological development in church worship and the debate about if it’s a good thing.
William Barber Departs Pulpit of Greenleaf Church with an Ode to the Power of Disability. Yonat Shimron reported on the farewell sermon by a civil rights leader at the Disciples of Christ church he has pastored for 30 years.
The Family Leader President Calls for Ouster of Iowa Supreme Court Justices After Abortion Decision. Robin Opsahl reported on the controversy after an abortion ban was stopped in the Hawkeye State.
In Church Remains, German Archaeologists Discover the Truth of ‘Atlantis of the North Sea.’ David Klein reported on the discovery of a church at the heart of a legendary morality tale.
Dangerous Dogma
This week: Daniel Cooperrider on Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You
Other noteworthy podcasts this week:
On the Slate podcast What Next, Beth Allison Barr talked about the recent Southern Baptist Convention meeting and women in church leadership.
Adam Clark appeared on Homebrewed Christianity to talk about faith, slavery, and Black theology.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
Two recent incidents in the seas highlighted gross inequalities on land.
After a submersible vanished in the North Atlantic with five wealthy individuals on a sightseeing trip to the sunken Titanic, a massive search operation kicked off that cost several million dollars. And much of that bill will likely be footed by taxpayers in the U.S., Canada, and France. Unfortunately, the efforts were for naught as reports suggest the small craft had imploded days earlier.
But while governments raced to find the Titanic tourists, another tragedy at sea a few days earlier garnered much less attention.
A shipwreck off the coast of Greece left hundreds of people dead. Migrants from Pakistan, Syria, and elsewhere in the Middle East were hoping to find a better life in Europe. But as their ship sank, a Greek coast guard vessel simply watched.
In death, as in life, some lives were treated as if worth more.
But we know that’s not true. We know everyone is made in the image of God and should receive our love. By ignoring the plight of the thousands of migrants who have died in the Mediterranean in recent years, we try to deny the reality of their plight. But their blood cries from the waters.
We must not overlook such titanic injustices.
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Other News of Note
Molly Racsko wrote in Report from the Capital about a webinar on Christian Nationalism and public schools that included comments from Brian Kaylor and Maggie Siddiqi (director of the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Education).
Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post spoke with Ellery Schempp, who was the high school student at the heart of the landmark 1963 Supreme Court ruling Abington School District v. Schempp that stopped school-sponsored Bible readings.
Frederick Clarkson reported for Salon on political prayer calls held by leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation movement. And Stephanie McCrummen of The Atlantic wrote about a woman in the movement who “bought a mountain for God.”
Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico wrote about lawsuits across the country challenging abortion bans on religious grounds (including a suit in Missouri previously covered by A Public Witness).
Terri Rupar at The 19th spoke with Melissa Deckman of the Public Religion Research Institute about Sen. Josh Hawley’s vision of manhood.
“In the Catholic church, we do believe in contrition. But first, it starts with recognizing a wrong being done.” —Wendi Williams of the Archdioceses of Washington in a Washington Post article about a service on Sunday as Catholic Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the first African American cardinal, presided over a special Mass as Black Catholics celebrated Juneteenth and reckon with church’s history of slavery.
Mary Elizabeth Lange, the founder of the first Black Catholic religious order in the U.S., has been declared as venerable by Pope Francis, a key step toward sainthood.
During the recent general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, the conservative denomination backed a measure denouncing transgender procedures for minors but voted down multiple efforts to prevent clergy sexual abuse.
The Church of England is divesting from oil and gas companies, which will result in moving millions of pounds from companies like Shell, BP, and Total.
Rebecca Randall reported for Sojourners about churches in West Virginia installing solar panels.
A 400-year-old Catholic Church in Mexico that was abandoned and then flooded due to a dam in 1966 has now completely reemerged due to a severe drought.
Obit: Russell Dilday, a Baptist statesman who was fired by fundamentalists during the rightward shift of the Southern Baptist Convention, died this week at 92.
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