Greetings from the Zagreb, Croatia, airport!
I’m headed home after a Christian Chronicle reporting trip to this Central European nation.
My confession is this: I haven’t had time to pay a lot of attention to the news this week (many thanks to my colleague Julia Duin for producing several extra posts in my absence).
So, if I fail to mention something important, please help me out with details and links in the comments section. In the meantime, let’s dive into the distracted-by-international-travel edition of Friday Five:
New York Times finally profiles pro-life Democrats but forgets to add what religion they might be https://t.co/0aFScIIhED
— GetReligion (@GetReligion) June 17, 2019
1. Religion story of the week: With the caveat above, let’s just say that I was intrigued by a bunch of the topics I found scrolling through this week’s GetReligion posts.
Terry Mattingly’s piece on the New York Times going neo-tabloid over Jerry Falwell Jr., Donald Trump, South Florida real estate and a colorful array of supporting characters particularly intrigued me. Then there were pieces by tmatt (here) and Duin (here) on the haunted news coverage of pro-life Democrats. That tmatt piece followed up on a key theme in Julia’s post, pointing readers to coverage noting that journalists know where to find pro-life Democrats in the Bible Belt. Just look in church pews, especially in African-American congregations.
The Falwell-Trump story in the Times ignited liberal Twitter — look for the hashtag #Falwellpoolboy — but didn’t inspire significant coverage elsewhere. Stay tuned, and check out the GetReligion podcast on this topic — which will come out shortly.
Matt Chandler’s Southern Baptist Convention ‘interview’ shows how not to deal with bad press https://t.co/x6h55LxhwJ
— GetReligion (@GetReligion) June 14, 2019
2. Most popular GetReligion post: It was a great week for Julia, who had two pieces that ran neck-and-neck this week, in terms of getting the most clicks from readers.
The first was a look at a strong religion-news angle the massive demonstrations in Hong Kong, protesting legal changes sought by the government of China. See this headline: “American media ignore ‘Sing Hallelujah to the Lord,’ the anthem of Hong Kong’s protests.”
Want a how-to (not!) lesson on dealing with bad press? In her other highly popular post this week, Duin offered a case study on the recent Matt Chandler “interview” at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.
At Jimmy Carter’s small Plains church, new pastor Tony Lowden looks to expand Maranatha’s reach. via @ajc @CarterLibrary @CarterCenter https://t.co/jgLGPsPwJs
— Ernie Suggs (@erniesuggs) June 17, 2019
3. Guilt folder fodder (and more): The little church in Plains, Ga., where former President Jimmy Carter still teaches Sunday schools always makes a lot of headlines.
Count me as one who can’t stop clicking such news. The latest, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, concerns the Maranatha Baptist Church hiring its first black pastor.
“As melodramatic as it sounds, if we could make more families the way God designed them, it would fix about 90% of the problems in our country.” https://t.co/YnItMaj9mH
— Facts & Trends (@FactsAndTrends) June 18, 2019
4. Shameless plug: I wrote a feature for Facts & Trends magazine on how churches can bridge the marriage divide between rich and poor.
I’d be honored if you’d give it a click.
The latest gelato news from #Croatia. pic.twitter.com/WI4fzTQfR6
— Bobby Ross Jr. (@bobbyross) June 18, 2019
5. Final thought: How have I spent my free time in Croatia? Eating gelato. Lots and lots of gelato.
Happy Friday, everybody! Enjoy the weekend!
ybvdadminuser
