Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!
Among the stories we’re following this week: A South Carolina church held a prayer vigil after two members of its community were abducted and killed by a Mexican drug cartel, as WPDE-TV’s Jenna Herazo reports.
Here in my home state of Oklahoma, voters trounced — somewhat surprisingly — a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. Given the millions of dollars spent by the pro-marijuana side, a faith coalition leader who fought the initiative calls the outcome a “David beats Goliath” victory. I report that story at ReligionUnplugged.com.
Every weekend, Plug-in rounds up the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
We start this edition with tragic news out of Germany.
What to Know: The Big Story
Mass shooting at house of worship: “A former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses shot dead six people at a hall belonging to the congregation in the German city of Hamburg before killing himself after police arrived, authorities said Friday. Police said an unborn baby also died, without clarifying whether the baby’s mother was among the dead. Eight people were wounded, four of them seriously.”
That’s the lede at this hour from The Associated Press’ Pietro de Cristofaro and Geir Moulson.
The shooting is “a rare kind of attack in a country where gun ownership is severely restricted,” the Wall Street Journal’s Georgi Kantchev notes.
More from the Journal:
The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany association said the community was “deeply saddened by the horrific attack on its members.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination, have some 175,000 members in Germany, including 3,800 in the state of Hamburg, according to the organization.
The attack took place around 9 p.m. on Thursday at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall building in the northern part of the city after a service.
Motive emerging: Authorities are investigating the background of the shooting, according to news reports.
A BBC News team quotes police:
They say the gunman acted alone in Thursday's attack, and later took his own life. His motives are unknown.
The suspect, named only as Philipp F, 35, is a former member of the religious community, who had "ill-feelings".
Dramatic footage has now emerged that appears to show the suspect firing many rounds through a window of the hall.
Past shootings: While rare, shootings in Germany are not unheard of, as Reuters’ Fabian Bimmer explains:
Germany has been shaken by a number of shootings in the last few years. In February 2020, a gunman with suspected far-right links shot dead nine people, including migrants from Turkey, in the western town of Hanau before killing himself and his mother.
In October 2019, a gunman killed two people when he opened fire outside a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
Stay tuned for more developments.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Faith in the round barn: With so much depressing news, the world could use more stories like this one by the Los Angeles Times’ Hailey Branson-Potts.
“He calls it his round barn, but it’s more of a prairie cathedral,” Branson-Potts writes about the structure her great-uncle is building in his backyard in Oklahoma.
Round barns have a long history in the U.S., the writer points out. She also notes: “Religious folks liked them because, it was said, the devil couldn’t hide in the corners.”
2. Tracking gay priests: “A group of philanthropists poured money into a Denver nonprofit that obtained dating and hookup app data and shared it with bishops around the country,” the Washington Post reports.
Religion reporter Michelle Boorstein teamed with technology reporter Heather Kelly to investigate this story.
On a quasi-related note, “a group of lay U.S. Roman Catholics has launched a mass-mailing campaign to persuade clergy to deny Communion for pro-abortion politicians,” according to the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner.
CONTINUE READING: “At Least Six Dead, Plus Unborn Baby And Gunman, In Jehovah’s Witnesses Shooting In Germany” by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.