Word&Way News: June 28
Here’s the weekly roundup from Word&Way. In addition to a piece on Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Methodist statements about Christian Nationalism that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received an analysis of a recent Donald Trump speech to evangelicals.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
The National Council of Churches Highlights Overlooked Global Conflicts. Jeremy Fuzy reported on a conversation about ongoing tragedies in Armenia, Haiti, and Sudan.
Why Forced Posting of the Ten Commandments Weakens Both Church and State. Greg Mamula explored various biblical, theological, and civic concerns raised by Louisiana’s attempt to mandate display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.
Review: The Scandal of Leadership. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church by JR Woodward.
Pennsylvania Bishop Sean Rowe Elected New Leader of Episcopal Church. He’s the Youngest Since 1789. Peter Smith and David Crary reported on the big decision at the Episcopal Church’s general convention.
Christian Reformed Synod Tells LGBTQ-Affirming Churches to Repent or Disaffiliate. Ethan Meyers reported on the national meeting of one of the nation’s oldest denominations.
Dangerous Dogma
This week: Andrew Garnett on Christians and the Roman Army
Other noteworthy podcasts this week:
Brian Kaylor appeared on That Makes Total Sense! with host Alexis Busetti to talk about Baptizing America.
Brian Zahnd spoke with host Tripp Fuller on Homebrewed Christianity.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
Last night’s presidential debate was arguably the worst since such campaign moments started in 1960 — a claim I make as one who has watched them all and studied them in graduate school. President Joe Biden’s struggling performance amplified concerns about his age as he seeks another four years in a stressful job. Former President Donald Trump was much stronger in voice and nonverbals but likely set a record for the number of false statements uttered in one debate and repeatedly refused to say if he would accept the election’s results. Who knew watching democracy die could involve two old men arguing about their golf handicap?
There’s an overshadowed moment that deserves attention: Trump used the word “Palestinian” as a slur. Attacking Biden for supposedly not being pro-Israel enough, Trump declared, “He’s become like a Palestinian.” Imagine the outrage if a candidate had attacked an opponent for having “become like a Jew” or “become like an Asian.” This racist attack by Trump follows his campaign rhetoric attacking migrants.
Ironically, Trump made this attack against a person who has armed the Israeli government as it has killed over 37,000 Palestinians in less than nine months, including close to 15,000 children. Defending the slaughter of civilians, aid workers, and journalists is bad enough; turning “Palestinian” into a slur compounds the moral disaster. We can debate foreign policy and what should happen after last night’s performances, but we should all condemn dehumanizing rhetoric and actions.
Other News of Note
Anne Nelson reported for the Washington Spectator on the Courage Tour, a Trumpian revival by figures in the New Apostolic Reformation.
David Fahrenthold and Alexandra Berzon of the New York Times reported on how Michael Flynn and his family are profiting from pushing conspiracy theories — including in churches (as previously reported by A Public Witness).
Mark Chancey wrote for The Hill about how Louisiana’s law requiring the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is based on a fake quote and a dangerous ideology.
Oklahoma’s attempt to create the first publicly funded religious charter school was blocked by the state’s Supreme Court. (A Public Witness previously reported on the school and the legal opposition.)
“A prophetic cry in past tense is an oxymoron. If we cannot issue a moral cry in the present sense, I am not sure what we are for.” —Episcopal Bishop Alan Gates of Massachusetts while criticizing efforts by other bishops at the Episcopal Church’s general convention to remove the word “genocide” from a resolution on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Marv Knox of Baptist News Global reported from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s general assembly on a Baptist Women in Ministry event, as well as a panel conversation featuring journalist Sarah McCammon.
On PBS News Hour, Judy Woodruff traveled to Illinois to profile an American Baptist Church that’s closing and a United Methodist Church that’s thriving amid challenges for mainline denominations.
After 124 years, Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts is closing due to declining enrollment and financial struggles.
A Catholic church in St. Louis, Missouri, apologized after running a full-page worship bulletin insert advertising the formation of a militia “to protect the Holy Eucharist, congregation, clergy, and church grounds from violent and non-violent attacks.” The church claims it’s not associated with the group and ran the announcement by “mistake.”
The Archdiocese of St. Louis released an 84-page report documenting the bishops, priests, and other clergy in the archdiocese who enslaved other humans. The report names 99 of the enslaved persons and notes at least 30 other unknown persons were also enslaved.
Lisa Needham wrote for the Substack newsletter Public Notice how the Louisiana Ten Commandments case was crafted in hopes of sparking a U.S. Supreme Court decision against church-state separation:
Photo of the Week
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