George Floyd has become the latest symbol of injustice in America.
Since video footage captured the black man’s death in police custody, violent protests have erupted in Minneapolis and the governor has called on the National Guard to help maintain order.
But loved ones stress that Floyd — who complained that he couldn’t breathe as a white police officer pressed his knee against the suspect’s neck — should be remembered as more than a symbol. He was a man of peace — a man of faith — those who knew him told both Religion Unplugged’s Liza Vandenboom and Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt.
I interviewed a group of black ministers about Floyd’s death Thursday for The Christian Chronicle.
“As a person, I’m outraged,” Russell Pointer Sr., who preaches for the Minneapolis Central Church of Christ, told me. “As a city, we’re trying to grieve.”
The Rev. Jesse Jackson arranged to meet with elected officials and faith leaders at the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis “to stand in solidarity and demand justice in the death of George Floyd,” the Star-Tribune reported.
Floyd’s killing exposes a blind spot on racism, Catholic advocates told Crux.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. America’s churches weigh coronavirus danger against need to worship: “State rules and personal feelings among the faithful vary widely, while experts say houses of worship are prime spots for the spread of the virus,” according to this informative report by Ian Lovett, the Wall Street Journal’s national religion writer, and his colleague Rebecca Elliott.
While reporting the piece, Lovett visited a nondenominational church southeast of Los Angeles that met Sunday when “churches weren’t legally allowed to be open in California.”
“I was the only person in a mask,” Lovett said on Twitter.
California unveiled rules this week for houses of worship to reopen, but the guidelines haven’t ended the battle over certain restrictions, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Read more coverage concerning churches resuming in-person services — or not — via the New York Times’ Rick Rojas and Elizabeth Dias, The Associated Press’ Gary Fields and Sally Stapleton, the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein (and colleagues) and the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas.
2. For top U.S. virus experts, faith and science work together: “While tensions over public worship’s effect on public health arise amid the pandemic — with President Donald Trump declaring religious services ‘essential’ — personal spirituality, in all of its forms, remains an unquestioned guidepost for some scientists guiding the U.S. response,” reports The Associated Press’ Elana Schor.
In a related story, America magazine’s Michael J. O’Loughlin interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, who urged churches to use masks, limit singing and wait to resume Communion.
3. Christian TikTok videos censored, deleted in US, creators say: I’ll admit that I don’t know the difference between TikTok and tic tac toe.
But Religion Unplugged’s Liza Vandenboom does. She describes TikTok as a “China-based social media app (that) hosts short, snippy videos ranging from inspirational mini-speeches to musical and dance performances and is popular with teenagers and young adults.”
More to the point: Vandenboom interviews several sources who make alarming claims concerning the app’s alleged censorship of Christian videos.
Continue reading “As Violence Jolts Minneapolis, George Floyd Recalled As Man Of Peace, Faith,” by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.