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Click-bait headlines about Pope Francis and coronavirus nothing to sneeze at

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The coronavirus has brought with it concern and panic across the world, especially after cases were detected outside of China the past two weeks. Aside from China, the other country severely impacted by the outbreak has been Italy.

During his weekly general audience that coincided with Ash Wednesday, the pope reduced his contact with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, shaking hands with only a few people. The pope then circled the square in the popemobile, blessing them from a distance.

At the end of his audience, the pope assured all those affected by the coronavirus of his closeness and prayers. He said his prayers were also with the health care professionals and public officials who were working hard to help patients and stop the spread of the disease.

This is where the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, stops being solely a health story and crosses into religion reporting, especially when you throw in the Vatican, Pope Francis and the Lenten season. Paramount here on the part of journalists is not to incite fear — but to report the facts.

Here’s a fact: Pope Francis, a day after shaking hands with the faithful on Ash Wednesday, did not get coronavirus, something the Vatican confirmed on Tuesday. The latest is that he is recovering from what the Vatican is calling a cold, forcing him to bail on a prescheduled week-long Lenten retreat.

You wouldn’t necessarily know all this from reading Twitter or Reddit, forums where conspiracy theories run amok.

People posted all kinds of misinformation the following day once the Vatican announced the pope had a cold and was altering his public schedule.


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Family, faith, sickness and fame: Volunteer Trey Smith fights to keep his many commitments

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Family, faith, sickness and fame: Volunteer Trey Smith fights to keep his many commitments

As a teen-ager, Trey Smith kept praying that he would reach 6-foot-5 -- the right height for a blue-chip lineman coming out of high school and then a college star who would rise high in the National Football League draft.

His mother Dorsetta -- a preacher's daughter -- had dreams of her own, including that her son would honor his academic commitments and, after picking a good university, earn his degree. This was something they talked about while young Trey watched his mother wrestle with congestive heart failure and then die at age 51.

All of that was on Smith's mind when he won the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award. The NCAA version of the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award, it goes to a student leader who has exhibited "exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field."

Smith apologized and asked the audience at the Dallas Cowboys practice facility in Frisco, Texas, to give him a moment as he wrestled with his emotions. Then he thanked God, his family, teammates, coaches, academic advisors and the medical specialists who -- literally -- have helped keep him alive, as well as in the University of Tennessee offensive line.

There was a moment last year, he said, when doctors treating him for blood clots in his lungs told him, "You know man, hang it up, hang it up. You're done playing football. This is it.' …

"Something you dream about as a kid. A promise you made to your mom on her deathbed. Hearing that it's done? You know, it's devastating … I kept thinking … it's not over yet. God put a vision inside of me that night and that whole week, saying, 'I don't care what they say, I've got more glory, I have more honor for you.' God had a bigger purpose for me."

The spotlight on Smith's fight to keep playing has allowed fans everywhere a chance to watch a dramatic case of the mental, physical, emotional and, often, spiritual challenges student athletes face season after season, said Chris Walker, a former Volunteer defensive end who is the UT campus director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.


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About that rich young Seattle millionaire: Wasn't there some Bible in there somewhere?

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Remember the rich young entrepreneur in Seattle who took a drastic pay cut so that all his employees could make at least $70K and then buy houses and start families and things like that?

Odds are good that you do. Now, do you remember how a ton of media outlets did stories on this guy and nearly all of them somehow never got around to mentioning that this benevolent entrepreneur is an evangelical Christian?

Well the pros at BBC just did an update on the man that was thorough and entertaining. But guess what part of the story the Beeb team barely mentioned?

In 2015, the boss of a card payments company in Seattle introduced a $70,000 minimum salary for all of his 120 staff — and personally took a pay cut of $1m. Five years later he's still on the minimum salary, and says the gamble has paid off…

Raised in deeply Christian, rural Idaho, Dan Price is upbeat and positive, generous in his praise of others and impeccably polite, but he has become a crusader against inequality in the US.

"People are starving or being laid off or being taken advantage of, so that somebody can have a penthouse at the top of a tower in New York with gold chairs.

"We're glorifying greed all the time as a society, in our culture. And, you know, the Forbes list is the worst example — 'Bill Gates has passed Jeff Bezos as the richest man.' Who cares!?"

It would help if this BBC reporter looked at a map.

Price attended a Christian high school in Nampa, Idaho, which is right on I-84. It’s right next to Boise and hardly a rural outpost like, say, places like Caldwell, Sandpoint or Stanley.


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Super Tuesday thinking: When will press get the religion factor among moderate Democrats?

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So what did we learn, as the Democratic Party roadshow passed through South Carolina?

What can reporters look for, during Super Tuesday, in terms of factual details that point to the dividing line between Sen. Bernie Sanders and the rest of the party faithful? Here’s another way of stating that question: What is it, precisely, that makes a ‘moderate’ Democrat a ‘moderate Democrat’?

Catching up with my reading after a busy weekend (my family, as Orthodox Christians, just headed into Lent), I think there are two think pieces that will help journalists and news consumers see part of the big picture.

Consider this dramatic double-decker headline from New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow:

Warnings From South Carolina

With Biden’s victory, minority and religious voters demand attention.

Here’s a key passage to think about:

… (W)ith Biden’s blowout victory in South Carolina, he breathed new life into his limping campaign, offering new hope not only to his campaign but also to moderate Democrats who have yet to settle on a primary champion.

But, aside from Biden’s victory, exit poll data from the state offers a number of warnings and signals for Democrats moving forward.

Once again, that question: What is a “moderate” Democrat in this context?

Among other things, a “moderate” Democrat is someone who frequents a sanctuary pew (#SURPRISE). Here is Blow’s take on that, as Democrats continue to — yes — pray for Barack Obama 2.0.

Look at the numbers here!


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Plug-In: Godtalk is on the rise, as the 2020 White House race sends Democrats to the South

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Americans don’t consider Democratic presidential candidates to be particularly religious, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. But at the end of Tuesday night’s two-hour debate in Charleston, S.C., guess what?

Faith took center stage.

When CBS News co-moderator Gayle King asked each candidate to offer a personal motto, belief or favorite quote, at least three of the seven made specific religious references.

“Every day, I write a cross on my hand to remind myself to tell the truth and do what’s right, no matter what,” said Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmentalist who touts “creation care.” An Episcopalian, he previously has explained his motivation for the daily drawing of the Jerusalem cross.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren tied her motto directly to the New Testament, quoting from the King James Version: “It's Mathew 25, and that is, ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these, the least of thy brethren, ye have done it unto me.’

“For me, this is about how we treat other people and how we lift them up,” added the Massachusetts senator, who was raised Methodist.

As reported by Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins, Warren told a group of faith leaders Wednesday morning: “I will let you in on a little secret: If you think I do all right in the debates, it’s because Rev. Culpepper prays over me before I go out.” She was referring to the Rev. Miniard Culpepper, her pastor at Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Boston.

Back at the debate, Pete Buttigieg said that while he’d never impose his religion on anybody (like Steyer, he’s an Episcopalian), scripture guides him.

“I seek to live by the teachings that say if you would be a leader, you must first be a servant,” said Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind. “And, of course, the teaching, not unique to the Christian tradition, but a big part of it, that holds that we are to treat others as we would be treated.”

Buttigieg, who is married to a man, faces a challenge in South Carolina’s Saturday primary: black Christians who may be wary of a gay candidate.


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Memory eternal: Religion-beat pro Roy Larson escaped stereotypes and became a pioneer

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During the 1981-82, I spent most of my time at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign — taking graduate seminars, teaching reporting labs, writing my weekly column on rock music for the local daily and burying myself in graduate-project research.

The topic of that thesis — a condensed version ended up on the cover of The Quill — was the beleaguered status of religion writing in most American newsrooms. Over and over again, I heard editors give two reasons (in one form of another) for why they avoided covering religion: (1) Religion news was boring and (2) religion news was too controversial.

That’s the ticket. There were just too many boring and controversial religion stories out there.

Then a story broke in The Chicago Sun-Times that had everyone talking. It certainly was controversial, but no one thought that it was boring. The opening was a blockbuster, focusing on the most powerful leader in America’s largest Roman Catholic archdiocese:

A federal grand jury in Chicago is investigating whether Cardinal John P. Cody illegally diverted as much as $1 million in tax-exempt church funds to enrich a lifelong friend from St. Louis.” It went on to report: “The grand jury has issued a subpoena for Cody’s personal banking records as well as one seeking financial documents of the Archdiocese of Chicago dating back to the mid-1960’s.

Church officials were not amused. A member of Cody’s legal team said that the “Cardinal is answerable to Rome and to God, not to the Sun-Times.”

The religion writer on that investigative team was Roy Larson, a former Methodist minister who became a newspaper reporter.

On one level, he fit a religion-beat stereotype that was common when I first started considering this line of work: That of the tired liberal Protestant minister who retired from his pulpit to run a newspaper religion-news section. In the case of Larson, the problem with this stereotype is that his skills as a mainstream hard-news journalist were real and immediately obvious.


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Demographics are destiny: How bad could U.S. Protestants’ money woes become?

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THE QUESTION:

Are U.S. Protestant congregations facing a dangerous plunge in income?

THE GUY’S ANSWER:

Note the subtitle of this recent book release: “The Coming Revolution in Church Economics: Why Tithes and Offerings Are No Longer Enough and What You Can Do About It” (published by Baker). Will many churchgoers no longer be able to keep the doors of their churches open? How bad will it get?

Authors Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li are evangelicals who lead the Mosaix Global Network based in Little Rock, Ark., which promotes and aids multi-ethnic churches. In addition to the book, they discussed their scenario and solutions in an article for www.christianitytoday.com. Their analysis pertains to Protestant congregations, so this Q & A article will do the same.

When offering-plate proceeds do not cover the budget, the authors advocate leveraging of any available assets, for instance creating profit-making business sidelines, renting facilities, and developing any excess land. The Guy will leave aside those ideas and discuss only the debate over how bad future finances may become.

One lethal financial threat seems to be off the table — for the moment.

During his failed presidential campaign, Democrat “Beto” O’Rourke drew jeers when he advocated ending federal tax exemption for religious congregations if they oppose same-sex marriage. Even gay candidate Pete Buttigieg, among others, said targeting houses of worship went too far — though he does want to deny tax exemption to religious colleges and agencies that hold such traditional belief. DeYmaz and Li also warn that cash-hungry local governments “may someday” demand property taxes.

The authors see four reasons church planners need to worry.


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Podcast: Ashes make nice photos: but there is always news linked to Lent

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Sarah Pulliam Bailey of the Washington Post did a logical thing early this week as the Coronavirus headlines jumped into stun mode. She put out a message on Twitter asking readers and other journalists for input on some logical story ideas linking the arrival of Great Lent during what some are saying could turn into a plague season.

We are, of course, talking about story angles other than that Ash Wednesday statement that is so familiar to Catholics and others in Western rites: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Bailey produced a story that includes several of the major themes discussed in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (click here to tune that in). Here’s that headline: “Sip from the common cup? On Ash Wednesday, coronavirus and the flu have religious leaders tweaking rituals.” And here’s a crucial chunk of material from that story:

The outbreak that began in China has since spread to other countries. In the Philippines, Catholic priests were urged to sprinkle ashes on parishioners instead of marking their foreheads through direct contact. In Italy, several churches closed for Ash Wednesday. …

Spokespeople for many of the largest Christian denominations in the United States said this week that they have not issued special directives for their churches but are closely monitoring guidance from government officials. The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey told clergy and lay leaders Tuesday that anyone administering Communion should wash their hands, preferably with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and keep their distance during the greeting ritual known as the “passing of the peace.” …

Houses of worship are one of the few places in American life where people of all ages and backgrounds intermingle on a regular basis. And many churches are on the front lines of assisting people who are sick, hosting clinics to provide flu shots or other health services and posting signs encouraging hand-washing.

Year after year, the penitential season of Lent — which leads to Holy Week and Easter (Pascha in the Christian East) -- does receive some attention from the press. After all, Ash Wednesday offers poignant images and it’s always easy to cover a religious event with a feature photo (and often little more). Editors seem to have a special fondness for images of Democrats with ashes on their foreheads (Hello Joe Biden).


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UPDATE: CNN sort of repents on 'fetus' language in story about Senate born-alive bill

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Year after year, debates about abortion continue to raise questions about ethics, politics, morality and science — as well as arguments about language and style in journalism.

The latest, of course, focuses on the legal status of a baby that is born accidentally — perhaps during a botched abortion — as opposed to being delivered intentionally. If you think that is a relatively black-and-white issue, then talk to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Meanwhile, what role should the beliefs of doctors and parents, secular or religious, play in this discussion?

Some readers may flinch because I used the term “baby” in that previous paragraph. However, in this case we are discussing the status of a human being who has already been born. Meanwhile, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary continues to define “fetus” as:

[Click to the next page for update on this post.]


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