Word&Way News: March 18
Discover more from A Public Witness
Here’s the weekly roundup from Word&Way. In addition to an essay on ecumenical relations in light of the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for the war on Ukraine that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a profile of political science professor and American Baptist pastor Ryan Burge.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Mo. Baptist Convention Hit with Lien for Unpaid Construction Bills. Brian Kaylor reports on a new legal filing by a contractor seeking payment of more than $319,000.
Of Messages & Memes. Sarah Blackwell examines how the technology that rests at our fingertips can be used as a spiritual practice.
I Hate Group Projects. Darron LaMonte Edwards argues that our responses to the murder of George Floyd and the ongoing global pandemic show how we failed our societal group project.
When a Journalist Becomes the News Subject. Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab, who has written multiple pieces for Word&Way, details his recent experience of being detained in Jordan because of his reporting.
Grove City College Caught in Crossfire of Evangelical CRT Battles. Kathryn Post reports on the “woke war” at a conservative Christian college in Pennsylvania.
Other News of Note
ABC News looked at the religious faith of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Andrew Manis wrote at Baptist News Global about the late Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, an important civil rights leader in Birmingham, Alabama, on what would have been his 100th birthday (March 18).
An Episcopal church in Williamsburg, Virginia, is working to contextualize a Confederate plaque in its sanctuary.
An anti-immigration sign at a Catholic church in Omaha, Nebraska, sparked quick backlash and an apology.
Oklahoma Christian University is being accused of discrimination after firing a graphic design professor for inviting a gay alumnus as a guest lecturer.
Emily Belz reported for Christianity Today about how “Russian American pastors combat propaganda in their churches.”
Dangerous Dogma
This week: Ryan Burge on 20 Myths About Religion & Politics
Quick Take
by Beau Underwood, Word&Way Senior Editor
I could not have admired Mark Galli more. Back in December of 2019, as Donald Trump faced his first impeachment, the then-editor-in-chief of Christianity Today used his perch to call for the president’s removal from office. (You’ll recall the charges against Trump were related to withholding military support from Ukraine as he inappropriately pressured its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to do his political bidding.)
The blowback from Trump’s evangelical defenders was fierce. Staying quiet would have been easier, but Galli’s Christian beliefs compelled him to say what he knew to be true regardless of the consequences.
My admiration of him has waned. A recent CT investigation detailed multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Galli that the magazine’s leadership failed to appropriately address. He is the latest example of a privileged White man sheltered from consequences by his own power and influential friends. To CT’s credit, they allowed the story to be reported without editorial interference.
Galli, now retired, finds a permanent shadow cast over his career. He posted a statement acknowledging that elements of the story are “accurate,” for which he is “distressed” and “regretful.” He denied the more salacious details and, unfortunately, spent more time dwelling on CT’s process for addressing the issues than he did the substance of what occurred.
Kristin Kobes Du Mez, the historian who wrote Jesus and John Wayne, rightly described his response as “textbook denial & deflection, down to invoking Matt. 18.” Galli proved quite capable of naming the sins of others but couldn’t see the log in his own eye. That is tragic for those who suffered from his hands.
Photo of the Week
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