I’ve never visited Walt Disney World, but I did make it to Disney church one Sunday.
Mickey, Minnie and friends are, as you might have noticed, key actors in the nation’s latest culture war skirmish.
Over the last week, the fight over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill — or, as critics call it, the “Don’t Say Gay” law — has made front-page headlines in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.
Call it Disney déjà vu.
The Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Faughnder asserts:
It’s a battle that, to people who have followed Disney’s history, has a familiar ring. The current conflict is just the latest clash to reveal underlying tensions that have existed between Disney and religious conservatives for decades as the company has increasingly embraced the LGBTQ community.
It has strong echoes of the anti-Disney protests of the late 1990s, when religious leaders criticized the extension of health benefits to the partners of LGBTQ Disney employees, the coming out of Ellen DeGeneres on her sitcom on Disney-owned ABC and unofficial “Gay Day” celebrations at the theme parks.
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, host of “The 700 Club,” warned the city of Orlando that it risked hurricanes by tolerating Gay Days. The Southern Baptist Convention in 1997 called for a Disney boycott after the nondenominational American Family Assn. campaigned against the Burbank entertainment giant by sending thousands of protest packets to pastors. The difference now is that, instead of brochures, there’s Fox News and Twitter.
A major development in the current brawl came Thursday, as the Wall Street Journal’s Arian Campo-Flores and Robbie Whelan report:
Florida lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that would end a special tax district that allows Walt Disney Co. DIS 0.07% ▲ to govern the land housing its theme parks, escalating a weekslong dispute with Disney over its public opposition to a Florida bill that limits classroom instruction on gender and sexuality.
The measure now goes to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made clear he would sign it.
In a twist, Southern Baptists have been “offering discounted Disneyland tickets for families traveling to Anaheim this June for the denomination's big annual meeting,” as the Tennessean’s Liam Adams reported earlier this month.
Given the latest news, might the Wonderful World of SBC Resolutions get even more interesting this summer? Stay tuned.
Finally, Paul Glader of Religion Unplugged has a fascinating take on Disney (hint: he’s not a fan). His question: “Will more Americans turn agnostic on the gospel of Disney?” Among its many revealing details, Glader’s column references longtime religion reporter Mark Pinsky’s 2004 book “The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust.” The book, as Glader explains, “explores the moral and spiritual development role that Disney” has played for generations of children.
Be sure to check out Glader’s piece.
Power up: the week’s best reads
1. A praying football coach makes his case: The Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas, who truly owns the religious freedom beat, delves into what’s at stake next week as the U.S. Supreme Court revisits “the thorny issue of prayer in schools.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times’ Ruth Graham offers a surprising update in the case of Texas death-row inmate John Henry Ramirez. Earlier, the high court granted Ramirez the right to have a pastor pray out loud and lay hands on him during his execution.
More on the religious liberty front: Here’s a shameless plug for my Christian Chronicle profile of Becket attorney Lori Windham.
2. The evolution of Greg Locke: How a controversial Tennessee pastor wants to save America from its demons: “From viral social posts to his presence in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, many see Greg Locke as a heretic who promotes dangerous ideas,” the Tennessean’s Andy Humbles and Liam Adams report. “But in his view, he's a revivalist set on a new awakening.”
A key angle of this in-depth piece: Locke’s split from the independent fundamental Baptists.
CONTINUE READING: “Disney Déjà Vu — Religion Plays A Role In Fight Over So-Called ‘Don't Say Gay’ Law” by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.