News, Opinion, Research, Books

July 27, 2020

News

1. "The Supreme Court’s surprising decision on churches and the pandemic, explained: Nevada churches brought an unusually strong challenge to the state’s public health rules, but they lost anyway." 

 

Calvary Chapel involved a Nevada public health order governing which businesses and institutions are able to remain open during the pandemic, and under what terms these institutions may do so. According to that order, churches may not admit more than 50 people at the same time. Yet other institutions, such as casinos, breweries, bowling allies, and gyms, may operate at 50 percent capacity.

...

As Justice Samuel Alito writes in an unusually persuasive dissenting opinion, “for Las Vegas casinos, 50% capacity often means thousands of patrons, and the activities that occur in casinos frequently involve far less physical distancing and other safety measures than the worship services that Calvary Chapel proposes to conduct.” Significantly, it also appears that casinos are allowed to host auditorium-style events with a greater capacity than the 50-person limit imposed on churches. According to Alito, some casinos currently feature “not only gambling but live circus acts and shows.”

... 

The five justices in the majority, moreover, did not explain their votes in Calvary Chapel. Rather, the majority disposed of this case in a one-sentence order: “The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is denied.”

...

Unlike his fellow Republican justices, in other words, Roberts appears to believe that courts have a particularly strong duty to defer to democratically accountable officials during an historic public health crisis.

 

Related: "John MacArthur Defies State Restrictions on Worship; Says Compliance is 'Disobedience'"

 

2. "Christian abortion critics urge Dems to change platform" 

 

A group of more than 100 Christian pastors, religion professors and other advocates is urging the Democratic National Committee to adopt a party platform that’s friendlier to abortion opponents.

...

Among the signatories of the letter are the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and a member of former President Barack Obama’s faith-based advisory council; and John DeBerry, a longtime Tennessee state representative and pastor who was recently removed from the Democratic primary ballot due in part to votes against the party’s position.

 

3. "Ted Yoho resigns from board of Christian organization after clash with AOC"

 

In a statement, Bread for the World said it sought Yoho's resignation "as an action that reaffirms our commitment to coming alongside women and people of color, nationally and globally, as they continue to lead us to a more racially inclusive and equitable world." The organization thanked him for his commitment "to expanding opportunity for men, women, and children around the world," according to the Associated Press.

 

4. "These Evangelical Women Are Abandoning Trump and Their Churches: The #MeToo movement, pandemic, and protests for racial justice have divided the evangelical community from their strongman"

 

On November 2, 2016, Loveland was among the minority of evangelical voters who did not vote for Donald Trump. That election result was cataclysmic for her. It “ground me into dust spiritually,” she says. Loveland saw clearly an underlying assumption among her congregation that men should be in charge, that they would protect the women. She realized evangelicalism was no longer the place for her.

 

Loveland and her family left their evangelical church and spent months looking for another congregation in Helena — one with female leadership. In the interim, when she posted on Facebook about immigration or the Trump administration’s immorality, she noticed her old youth pastor from her Baptist church in Wyoming would comment on her posts, castigating her. “He has no interest in my spirituality. His whole role in my life is to be my Facebook troll,” she said.

 

5. "The Washington Post settles lawsuit with Nick Sandmann after viral March for Life controversy"

Opinion

1. "Biden should talk to evangelical voters about abortion and gay rights. Here's why and how. Evangelicals need Biden to show he understands and respects our concerns on abortion, LGBTQ issues and religious freedom, although we don't fully agree."

 

There are millions of evangelicals (and Catholics) in swing states who want to vote for Biden. We agree much more with Biden than with Trump on numerous issues: racial justice, economic justice, the environment and climate change, tax policy that demands more of the rich, health care for all — and much more. We want to vote for Joe Biden! 

 

But on two issues — abortion and religious freedom — we need to hear that Biden’s campaign understands, respects and can talk to us about our concerns, even though they do not fully agree.

 

2. "Closed America: The Decline of Christian Refugees: A Lament for the Rejection of Persecuted Christian Refugees and the Hardening of the American Soul" 

 

As I traveled and worked with churches welcoming refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers the past few years, I saw incredible vitality, diversity, and cooperation in their communities. Sadly, much of that welcoming ministry has halted because refugees have been kept from coming.

 

The World Relief and Open Doors report chronicles this shift.

 

Seeing a 90 percent reduction in the admission of persecuted Christians through the refugee program is jarring. While the United States is not the church and we are under no obligation to give priority to Christian refugees, to see our nation close the door on so many desperate people causes me to wonder about the soul of our country.

 

3. "Racism is a sin. Here’s what we do about it." 

 

We are an African-American, progressive Christian woman and a white, conservative evangelical man. We join the outpouring of grief and calls for change following the senseless murders and killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubrey, Rayshard Brooks, and Breonna Taylor, and so many other unarmed black Americans. Peaceful protesters are still marching in cities across the country, and Americans from all walks are engaging in conversations about history and policy. Many are asking how American Christians can respond and participate.

Research

1. "Before Trump, College Students Were Growing Fonder of Conservatives" 

 

Why was there this shift? Notably, student’s first-year growth in appreciation for political conservatives occurred during the final year of Obama’s presidency, before declining considerably during Trump’s first term. Trump’s rise was accompanied by heightened political polarization and spikes in hate crimes against minorities—including religious-based hate crimes on college campuses—a phenomenon that many observers are calling “The Trump Effect.”

...

Though conservatives fear that higher education may be antithetical to their views, IDEALS found that students of all faiths in the class of 2019 were warming up to political conservatives at the end of their first year in college, which was during the final year of Obama’s presidency. Now, three years into Trump’s presidency, conservatives can only wonder what could have been.

 

2. "Culture Wars and COVID‐19 Conduct: Christian Nationalism, Religiosity, and Americans’ Behavior During the Coronavirus Pandemic" 

 

Analyzing panel data collected in the thick of the COVID‐19 crisis, we find Christian nationalism was the leading predictor that Americans engaged in incautious behavior like eating in restaurants, visiting family/friends, or gathering with 10+ persons (though not attending church), and was the second strongest predictor that Americans took fewer precautions like wearing a mask or sanitizing/washing one's hands. Religiosity, in contrast, was the leading predictor that Americans engaged in more frequent precautionary behaviors. Findings document that Christian nationalism, not religious commitment per se, undergirded the far‐right response to COVID‐19 that disregarded precautionary recommendations, thus potentially worsening the pandemic.

 

Odds & Ends

1. Holy Post podcast: "Religious Power vs. Religious Liberty with David French" 

 

2. YouTube: "God and Guns in America: With Mike Austin" 

 

3. YouTube: "Dr. Robert Jeffress: Why Evangelicals Will Vote For Trump" 

 

4. Video: "Deconstructing White Privilege: General Commission on Religion and Race of The United Methodist Church" 

 

Dr. Robin DiAngelo is the author of "What Does it Mean to Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy" and has been an anti-racist educator, and has heard justifications of racism by white men and women in her workshops for over two decades. This justification, which she calls “white fragility,” is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation.

Events

Aspen Institute, "Race and Religion: Cultivating Anti-Racist Faith Communities," July 27, 7-8pm, virtual

Books

"Book Review: The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump" 

 

Indeed, one of the merits of Spiritual Danger is its appeal to the best impulses of American political and religious conservatism. But it also shows—though more implicitly than explicitly—why caricatures by the political and/or religious left against all those who have hitherto supported Trump are not only simplistic but self-defeating, for they tend to alienate the very people they should be persuading with sweet reasonableness and hard facts. 

 

That is just what makes Spiritual Danger such a timely and important contribution to our current religious and political debates: it abounds in sweet reasonableness and hard facts, while breathing the warm, gracious spirit of American evangelical piety at its best.

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