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☆ After their son came out as gay, these conservative Christian parents went into a closet of their own
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-03 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +37 min

But that’s not what happened to Greg Jr. That’s what happened to his parents, Greg Sr. and Lynn McDonald. One of them is a portrait of their son, Greg Jr., around the time his parents confronted him about his secret. An undated family photo shows Greg Jr., Greg Sr., Lynn and Connie McDonald. Courtesy Greg Sr. and Lynn McDonaldEven so, Greg Jr. learned to be quiet and blend in. They didn’t know how to answer this question: Can you still love God, the Bible and your gay son?

Persons: Greg McDonald Jr, “, you’re, ” Greg Jr, Betsy, Greg Jr, he’d, He’d, ”, that’s, Greg Sr, Lynn McDonald, Greg, ’, Austin Steele, ” Rob Bell’s, Charles Swindoll’s “, Ali Forney, –, PFLAG –, Lynn, ‘, McDonald, Hodges, Jon Cherry, Kahlib Barton, Barton, they’re, ” Barton, Connie, Grace ’, ” Greg Sr, He’ll, Connie McDonald, ” Lynn, James Dobson, ” Dobson, Jeff Fusco, ” Lynn McDonald, Abraham, Isaac, “ Wanna, Karen, David Gushee, ethicists, Gushee, ” Gushee, Gushee’s, Jesus, —, Lynn’s, ’ ’ ’ Lynn, David Quinones, Quinones, Deb, Josh, ” Quinones, David Quinones Quinones, ” David Quinones, Andy Stanley, Stanley, Sterling Graves, Albert Mohler, podcaster, Mohler, ” “, ” Mohler, Dominic Gwinn, ” Stanley, Andy, “ Greg Jr, ” Greg McDonald, ‘ We’re, Greg McDonald, They’ve, Patrick Potulski, Potulski, ” Potulski, Standing, he’s Greg Jr, Jon, doesn’t, John Blake Organizations: CNN, McDonalds, Christian, Ali, Supreme, Kentucky State Capitol, DePaul University in, DePaul, Fashion Institute of Technology, ”, Episcopal, North Point Community Church, North, “, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, National Conservative Conference, Washington D.C, McDonald Locations: Grand Rapids , Michigan, America, Chattahoochee, Atlanta, Christian, Frankfort , Kentucky, DePaul University in Chicago, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City, Duluth , Georgia, New Zealand, Georgia, North Point, Atlanta ., North, Washington, AFP, England, South Africa, Australia, Ethiopia, Poland

☆ Why some women stay in religious groups that don’t let them become leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“It hurt,” says Muse, the executive pastor of Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Nikki Hardeman, of Atlanta, an advocacy director for Baptist Women in Ministry, left, Meredith Stone, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, center, and Christa Brown, an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and a supporter of the Baptist Women in Ministry, protest outside the venue of a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting on June 11, 2024, in Indianapolis. Some Southern Baptist leaders, for example, say they do not oppose women running for political office. And yet millions of women still give their time and money to church groups that won’t allow them to lead men. Meredith Stone, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, a group that works with the SBC and other Baptist groups.

Persons: Kristen Muse, Muse, Paul, Timothy, ”, Hayes Barton, “, –, Clint Pressley, Nikki Hardeman, Meredith Stone, Christa Brown, Doug McSchooler, Albert Mohler Jr, Kamala Harris, Shelby Tauber, ” Muse, Christ, Mary Kassian, Beth Allison Barr, Barr, Jesus, Pope Francis, lectors, Beth Moore, Terry Wyatt, Moore, Infants, ” Barr, it’s, they’re, Rick Warren, Peter Smith, that’s, she’s, Rabbi Nachman, Rosh Hashana, Sergei Supinsky, don’t, ‘, Bishop Teresa Jefferson, Jay Reeves, Deborah, Lydia, Priscilla, Dorcas, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Luke, hasn’t, John Blake Organizations: CNN, National Public Radio, Southern Baptist Convention, Hayes Barton Baptist Church, SBC, Baptist Women, Ministry, Southern Baptist, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Roman Catholic Church, of God, Reuters, complementarianism, Children, Baylor University, Research, Saddleback Church, Saddleback, Getty, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Moody Temple CME Church, Jefferson Locations: manila, Raleigh , North Carolina, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Indiana, Dallas , Texas, Nashville , Tennessee, Texas, Saddleback, Southern California, New Orleans, Uman, Ukraine, AFP, Raleigh, Moody, Fairfield , Alabama, Israel

☆ He wore a toga and spoke Latin. This ancient philosopher can help you survive the anxiety of the 2024 election
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-22 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

They offered three pieces of Stoic advice for handling the anxiety of this year’s election. Many Stoic leaders would never be labeled as “idiotai.” They were passionately involved in politics and the pursuit of justice. Holiday says Aurelius wrote constantly about justice in his classic book, “Meditations.”Epictetus, the ancient Greek Stoic and philosopher. But the Stoic leaders were known for their courage in standing up to political tyrants. Stoic leaders may seem like distant figures encased in marble, but we can learn from them, Holiday says.

Persons: Biden, Trump, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Ryan Holiday, ”, Zeno, Citium, “, Aurelius, grappled, Donald Trump, Angela Weiss, “ Aurelius, Massimo Pigliucci, Don’t, “ Julius Caesar ”, Stoicism, don’t, Dominik Bindl, Holiday, ” Holiday, Pigliucci, Reinhold Niebuhr, ” Pigliucci, you’ve, ” Epictetus, Priscus, Vespasian, It’s, Marcus, chastising, unkind, he’s, He’s, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Police, Trump, Getty, ” CNN Locations: Greece, Rome, togas, Athens, New York City, Stoicism

☆ ‘Civil War’ sends a message that’s more dangerous than the violence it depicts onscreen
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

In “Civil War,” tanks trample democracy. But the messages they send may be more dangerous than the violence depicted onscreen: The collapse of democracy is inevitable. In the film, Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, the cynical owner of a Moroccan nightclub at the onset of World War II. John Springer Collection/Corbis Historical/Getty ImagesOther World War II-era films like “Don’t be a Sucker,” which emphasized racial and religious tolerance in America, emphasized the same message. The box office success of “Civil War” ensures, though, that more “American carnage” stories are likely headed our way .

Persons: Yuval Noah Harari, Harari, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Alex Garland’s “, Donald Trump, Casablanca ’, Humphrey Bogart, Rick, “ We’ll, Dooley Wilson, Ingrid Bergman, Everett, Rick —, Adolf Hitler’s, Democracy’s, Cristóbal, Berry, “, Frank Capra, Frank Sinatra, Sinatra, ” Frank Sinatra, John Springer, Kermit Roosevelt III, Roosevelt, ” Roosevelt, Reagan, Obama, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama —, Diana Walker, ” Reagan, Reagan’s, Barack Obama, Chuck Kennedy, Trump, hasn’t, Walt Whitman, Whitman, ” Whitman, ” Read Whitman, ” Walt Whitman, Ian Beacock, ” Beacock, Beacock, Ivan Illich, ” Kirsten Dunst, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Casablanca, paragon, Library of Congress, Nazi, Convention, Former, Lions, Hulton, “ Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russian, America, United States, “, Casablanca, Moroccan, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi, Nazi, Charlottesville , Virginia, Vietnam, Kansas, Kenya, Denver , Colorado, Austrian, China

☆ How evangelical leader Jim Wallis uses the Bible to expose the ‘False White Gospel’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Some may already be tired of the debate over White Christian nationalism, whose followers blend sexism, racism and hostility to non-White immigrants in a quest to create a White Christian America. But Wallis has been warning people about the dangers of White Christian nationalist beliefs long before the term became popular. You write that White Christian nationalism is not new, and that it’s a form of heresy. This [White Christian nationalism] is an old idea from the Doctrine of Discovery, which says that this country was for people who were White Americans. Tom Brenner/ReutersWhat’s the difference between patriotism — believing that the US is an exceptional country — and White Christian nationalism?

Persons: Jim Wallis, Marx, Wallis, ” Wallis, “, Obama, White, ” Wallis ’, Jesus, You’ve, Donald Trump, Tom Brenner, Pete Seeger’s, It’s, Trump, that’s, it’s, don’t, they’re, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Adolf Hitler, Michael Gonzalez, haven’t, Let’s, I’ve, Martin Luther, King didn’t, he’s, King, Michael Nigro, Mark Twain, Hitler, —, didn’t, you’ll, John Blake, ” Organizations: CNN, ”, White, Christian America, New York Times, Macmillan “, MAGA, Faith, Justice, Georgetown University, Commission, White Americans, Reuters, Pastors, Candler, Emory University’s Candler, of Theology, Cornerstone, Justice Department Locations: Vietnam, Detroit, America, Washington, Circleville , Ohio, Atlanta , Georgia, German, Germany, Quemado , Texas, Southern, That’s, Pittsburgh, Blacks, White, Hungary, Turkey, Black

☆ O.J. Simpson helped create the America we live in today
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Many Black Americans cheered, pumped their fists and exchanged high-fives, while many White Americans gasped in disbelief and anger. Some say America is a nation of immigrants who bolster the economy and reinvigorate the country. Kent Nishimura/Getty ImagesPoliticians have adopted the Simpson trial playbookThere was a surreal moment during the Simpson trial that could have been easily missed. Critics say Simpson spent years running away from his Blackness with as much vigor as he eluded NFL defenders. Simpson may have died this week, but he helped give birth to the America we now live in.

Persons: O.J, Simpson, Nicole Brown Simpson, Ronald Goldman, Ford Bronco, Elise Amendola, what’s, Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump, Conway, Sean Spicer, Kent Nishimura, “ I’m, Johnnie Cochran, Simpson’s, Al Sharpton, Brother Simpson, Johnnie, ” Sharpton, “, ” , White, Trump, Paul Blumenthal, “ Donald Trump, ” Blumenthal, Jabin, Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, “ Trump, ’, ” Obama, John Blake, ” Organizations: CNN, White Americans, of Fame NFL, America —, O.J, NBC, Getty, NFL, White, Trump, Fulton County Sheriff's, Republican, Trump National Doral, Washington Post Locations: America, Los Angeles, Washington , DC, ”, Fulton County , Georgia, Fulton County, U.S, Doral , Florida

☆ Was Jesus a man of color? Why this question matters more than ever
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

But the question over the color of Jesus’ skin is a serious one this Easter, for two reasons. But there are some who say Jesus’ color should stay the same, or that it doesn’t matter at all. He concedes that there are barriers to worshipping a White Jesus that he, a White man, may not understand. Jesus didn’t simply care about the poor, he was poor.”Cleveland tells CNN that people who say Jesus’ color wasn’t important ignore history. She says the experience taught her how much White Christian nationalism and the White Jesus have merged.

Persons: CNN — Christena Cleveland, Thomas ”, Jesus, —, Cleveland, Thor, ”, Jesus didn’t, Megyn Kelly, “, Trump, Donald Trump, Al Drago, Gentile, Warner, he’s, Sallman, Edward J, Blum, Jesus Christ, Mario Tama, Christina L, Barr, ” Barr, he’d, coon, ” Antony Pinol, Pinol, God, Jesus doesn’t, ” Pino, Jeff Hutchens, Albert Cleage, George Floyd, Black, Dante Stewart, ” “, ” Stewart, James Cone, Toni Morrison, White, ‘ ’ Blum, MAGA, White MAGA Jesus, Paul Weaver, Drew Angerer, Jesus ’, Frederick Buechner, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Cleveland, TSA, Fox News, Bloomberg, Getty, CARE, New York Times, Christ, America, Communist Party, Warner, Republican Party, Black Tea News, Pennsylvania State Capitol, Christianity Locations: Cleveland, Hollywood, barbershops, Santa Claus, America, White, Avoca , Pennsylvania, Israel, Port, Prince, Haiti, Africa, Dillon , South Carolina, Asia, Southern, Eastern Europe, Rome, Harrisburg , Pennsylvania, Gaza, New York City

☆ A controversial Supreme Court decision could hurt Biden in November
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —A Supreme Court decision related to the election could determine the presidential victor this November, but it has nothing to do with former President Donald Trump. The study also said the “narrow” racial-turnout disparity that the high court heavily relied upon in its Shelby decision was based in part on the 2012 presidential election. Yet the study’s conclusion bolsters critics of the Shelby decision. They ignored it although they knew their decision would hurt Black voters, who tend to vote for the Democratic Party, he says. The bloody history behind the Voting Rights ActThe law was passed in 1965 after King led an epic voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump, Brennan, —, Holder, John Roberts, Barack Obama, Shelby, Jim Crow, Alabama —, Lawrence Goldstone, ” Goldstone, Sonia Sotomayor, Joe Biden, Shawn Thew, Biden, Goldstone, Black, George W, Bush, preclearance, “, ”, Elijah Nouvelage, Horace Cooper, Martin Luther King Jr, Cooper, “ That’s, Martin Luther King, that’s, ” Cooper, King, Edmund Pettus, Obama, Lyndon B, Johnson, Jr, Ralph Abernathy, Clarence Mitchell, Corbis, Roberts, Reagan, Brett Kavanaugh, tortuously, it’s, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Brennan Center for Justice, Supreme Court, Southern GOP, GOP, State of, Getty, Black, Democratic Party, George Mason University in, US Justice Department, Edmund, White, Congress, Black voters, North Carolina — Locations: Shelby, Southern, America, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, State, Washington, Alabama’s Shelby County, Atlanta , Georgia, AFP, George Mason University in Virginia, Selma , Alabama, White Alabama, “ Shelby

☆ The deep Biblical spirituality of Bob Marley’s music is being overlooked
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

They hiked, jet-skied and spent much of the time listening to Scott’s favorite musician, reggae superstar Bob Marley. He found refuge, though, in Marley’s music. “But Bob Marley’s music is what got us through. These Marley fans and scholars say it’s time to stop glossing over or editing out Marley’s “subversive spirituality.”“The Bible was as important to Marley’s music as his guitar,” MacNeil says. Actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Marley in "Bob Marley: One Love," attends the movie's premiere on January 23, 2024, in Kingston, Jamaica.

Persons: CNN — Dean MacNeil couldn’t, “, MacNeil, Scott, Bob Marley, ”, Marley, ” MacNeil, Bob Marley’s, Rita Marley, Kingsley Ben, Adir, Marcus Ingram, Matthew, Jesus, Luke, Vivien Goldman, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Goldman, King James Bible, Judah, Haile Selassie I, Selassie, “ Jah, it’s, “ He’s, ” Rastafarians, Collin Reid, Adam Hochschild, ” Hochschild, Deepak Sarma, ” Marley, Marcus Garvey, Marley’s, didn’t, White, ” Marley didn’t, Jamaicia, Angela Weiss, Gibson Les Paul, John Lennon, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Time, BBC, Getty, Case Western Reserve University, National, Forbes Locations: Connecticut, Vermont, Jamaica, Kingston , Jamaica, America, Jerusalem, British, Ethiopia, “ Bury, United Kingdom, Jamacia, Ohio, ganja, Jamaican, Africa, Miami, Trench, Hollywood, Kingston

☆ How Rick Beato struck YouTube gold with his ‘Everything Music’ channel
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

I first heard about Beato after stumbling onto his YouTube channel. During the pandemic, for example, many music fans migrated to the internet to watch various forms of music because live music was off-limits. “I still feel at 60 the same way I did when I was 14,” he said recently in a YouTube video. His face lights up when he talks about his family on his YouTube channel. “My YouTube Channel was a way to honor my parents and leave something for my kids.

Persons: Rick Beato, Instagram, Beato, ”, Pat Metheny, Sting, Jimi Hendrix, he’s, it’s, “, you’re, He’s, Rick, —, Mike Rowe, Jobs, ” Rowe, I’ve, I’m, “ Woo, Bach, Brad Mehldau, Keith Williams, Williams, ” Beato, Dick Cavett, Keith Jarrett, Jarrett, John Coltrane, Beato regaled Jarrett, awestruck, ” Jarrett, Steve Gadd, Chuck Mangione, Oscar Peterson, Music —, Nina, Dylan, Lennon, Layla, Eric Clapton, polychords, Taylor Swift’s “, Paul Allen, Everybody, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Rick Beato's, Melissa Golden, John Blake Organizations: CNN, YouTube, Costco, Twitter, Facebook, Berklee College of Music, Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, New, Conservatory, Music, Ithaca, Microsoft, Intelligence Locations: Atlanta , Georgia, London, Berlin, New Jersey, Fairport, Rochester , New York, Italian, New York, Ithaca, Atlanta, Silicon Valley

☆ The relentless focus on White Christian nationalism is spreading a racist myth
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

That’s how critics have described White Christian nationalism, a deviant strain of religion that has infected the political mainstream. But there is another cost to the spread of White Christian nationalism that no one mentions. The relentless coverage of White Christian nationalism is spreading a racist myth: that Whiteness is the default setting for evangelical Christianity. In a February 2023 survey, nearly two-thirds of White evangelical Protestants qualified as sympathizers or adherents to Christian nationalism. However, he rejects the political beliefs associated with White Christian nationalism.

Persons: CNN — It’s, ”, Pastor Peter Lim, ” Lim, he’s, “ It’s, It’s, White, Carolyn Chen, Ella Sophie Bessette, you’re, “, Walter Kim, Tom Lin, William Barber II, Chen, Trump, John Minchillo, browning, — it’s, John C, Richards, Jr, Jim Crow, Mark Noll, ” Richards, “ I’m, John Onwuchekwa, Lyndon B, Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Edward Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Onwuchekwa, ” Maria Antonetty, Tina Fineberg, don’t, Lim, William J, Barber, Oliver Contreras, We’re, John Blake Organizations: CNN, White, Christianity, of Atlanta, Berkeley Center, Republican, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Oral Roberts University, National Association of Evangelicals, InterVarsity, USA, Christian, MLK, Saint Mark Baptist Church, White Americans, Liberty, New, Southern Baptist Convention, Cornerstone Church, Primitive Christian, Washington Post, Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative Locations: America, White, American, Korean, Taiwanese, Asian, Africa, Silicon Valley, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, Little Rock , Arkansas, Georgia, New York, New York City, Crete, Atlanta, Asia, Washington , DC

☆ Obama shared his vision of America at his first inauguration. Some still believe
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

It went across all visual types.”Elizabeth Alexander recites a poem during President Obama's swearing-in ceremonies at the US Capitol on January 20, 2009. She had grown up in DC, and that inauguration day was a homecoming for her. “I’m sure that some people expected too much,” says Wear, the former Obama campaign worker, of Obama’s vision. The fact of the matter is, that (inauguration) day happened, and millions of people were there. We will have a better idea on another inauguration day — in January of 2025.

Persons: Elizabeth Alexander, Barack Hussein Obama, Alexander, ” Alexander, Muhammad Ali, Aretha Franklin, Elie Wiesel, John Lewis, Colin Powell, ”, “, …, Obama's, Ron Edmonds, Obama, Obama’s, Martin Luther King Jr, Donald Trump’s, —, Trump's, Joe Biden, Jon Cherry, Ed Wolf, Wolf, Barack Hussein Obama —, Barack Obama, Alex Wong, ‘ Hussein, “ Wolf, Clifford L, Alexander Jr, George W, Bush, Laura, Michelle, Tannen Maury, Ronald Reagan, Trump, ” Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Thomas Sowell, speck, it’s, Shepard, Robert Daemmrich, ” Obama, Michael Wear, John McCain, McCain, ” McCain, we’ve, Mandel Ngan, ” Trump, Nehisi Coates, Coates, Hope ’, ” Coates, ’, didn’t, ” Wolf, Emmanuel Dunand, “ We’re, hasn’t, Obama — we’re, Rebecca Solnit, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Yale University, Capitol, AP, Confederate, Trump, Rochester Institute of Technology, Metro, Washington, Army, Getty, United, White, Whites, GOP, Republican, Obama, Democratic, Mellon Foundation Locations: Washington ,, America, Russia, Japan, Kenya, American, New York, United States, AFP, Kansas, New York City, Balkans, Minnesota, Arizona, Washington, San Francisco, Michigan, Norfolk , Virginia, Hope

☆ Bayard Rustin biopic spotlights organizer of the March on Washington
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“Rustin,” a biopic that depicts how Rustin navigated a gantlet of personal and political hurdles to pull off the March on Washington, debuts on Netflix today. Rustin was the “glue guy” leader for the civil rights movement. Colman Domingo, center, as Bayard Rustin in "Rustin," which premiered Nov. 17 on Netflix after a brief run in theaters. Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin exhorts young civil rights volunteers in a scene from "Rustin." Some of that patriotism may seem naïve now, but it furnished the civil rights movement with tremendous vitality.

Persons: Bayard Rustin, Clark, Rustin, Martin Luther, “, Puddington, “ He’d, ” Puddington, “ Rustin, ”, Michelle Obama’s, “ Bayard Rustin, Michael G, George C, Wolfe, Colman Domingo, Martin Luther King Jr, ” Rustin, it’s, Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm, Philip Randolph, Glynn Turman, Randolph, King, King —, Gandhi, ” Bayard Rustin, Donaldson, Michael Ochs, King he’s, Black, Omar Bradley, Parrish Lewis, Netflix Rustin, Ella Baker, Ying, Yang, Martin, Rebecca Solnit, “ Hope, ” Solnit, Bayard Rustin exhorts, David Lee, President’s, Obama’s, “ Bayard, Martin Luther King's, American Gandhi, Mr, Cathy Young, ” John Blake Organizations: CNN, Washington, Netflix, Rustin, Lincoln Memorial, Denver Post, of Prisons, Michael Ochs Archives, Getty, NBA, “, Society, Freedom, Quaker Locations: Washington, Inside Ashland, ”, Islam, Vietnam, India, Pennsylvania's Lewisburg, American, America, Europe, New York City

☆ The Social Gospel movement is changing our politics and reshaping our perspectives
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Fain’s sermonette underscores a trend that has largely gone unnoticed: The Social Gospel movement is making a comeback. Jemal Countess/Getty ImagesIt might sound like hyperbole to say that this resurgent form of the Social Gospel is changing our politics. He reached deep into the Social Gospel throughout the UAW strike, routinely deploying what one commentator called “strikingly Christian rhetoric.”Christopher H. Evans, author of “The Social Gospel in American Religion: A History,” said he heard the Social Gospel in Fain’s UAW speeches. “It (The Social Gospel) won’t have the institutional muscle it had before, but you could still have these voices and followers.”The climate in contemporary America seems ripe for the Social Gospel message. And the soaring optimism of old Social Gospel reformers may now seem as outdated as wobbly black-and-white silent films.

Persons: CNN —, Shawn Fain, Fain, ” Fain, Matthew, Jesus, ”, Moses, Paul, Stellantis, Fain’s sermonette, don’t, Frederic J . Brown, John D, Rockefeller, “, pulpits, didn’t, Charles Sheldon, Fain’s, that’s, Democratic Sen, Raphael Warnock, Cornel West, William Barber II, Liz Theoharis, Matthew Desmond, Martin Luther King, William Barber, Jemal Countess, ” Christopher H, Evans, Heath W, Carter, Luke, Sen, Warnock, Barber, Desmond, Amir Levy, it’s, ” It’s, you’re, ” Evans, Dom Helder Camara, Rebecca Cook, Reuters “ There’s, won’t, —, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Big Three, United Auto Workers, UAW, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, Writers Guild of America, UPS Teamsters, UPS, Getty, Democratic, US, Big Tech, Boston University, ” Mining, Library, “, Princeton Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School‘s Center, Public Theology, Ivy League, The New York Times, Social, Reuters, Teamsters, Screen Actors Guild Locations: Jerusalem, America, Los Angeles, AFP, Washington, Kingston , Pennsylvania, Chicago, ”, American City, American, Lower Manhattan, New York City, Brazilian, Detroit

☆ White Christian evangelicals: What it would take for them to leave the bubble
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —If you don’t realize how powerful White Christian evangelicals have become, consider this:A White Christian evangelical, who has been described as “the embodiment of White Christian nationalism in a tailored suit,” is now second in line to the presidency. White evangelical Protestants make up only about 14% of Americans, and that number has been steadily shrinking. The media tends to depict White evangelicals as foaming-at-the-mouth Christian insurrectionists like some of those who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The new speaker of the house is a White Christian evangelical and is second in the line for the presidency. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesYou seem leery of using the term ‘White Christian nationalism.’ Am I correct?

Persons: Mike Johnson, Roe, Wade, Trump, Jon Ward, Ward, George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, “, ”, ” Ward, White, Ward’s, there’s, Johnson, Chip Somodevilla, ’, I’m, it’s, George Brich, You’ve, ‘, It’s, Joe Raedle, Nikki Haley, Haley, that’s, we’ve Organizations: CNN, Capitol, Yahoo, Air Force, Trump, ” CNN, White Christian, Jesus, South, Democrat, Republican Locations: White, America, Los Angeles, Miami , Florida, South Carolina, Trump, evangelicalism

☆ Barney and Betty Hill’s UFO abduction story was more about racism than aliens, a new book says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

That sound of unimaginable terror is what a psychiatrist recorded when he put a man named Barney Hill under hypnosis in his office one day in 1964. Estelle Parsons and James Earl Jones in a scene from "The UFO Incident," a 1975 television movie based on the Hills' alleged encounter. Both Hills recalled the encounter under hypnosis, but Barney Hill grew terrified reliving the event. … God, I’m scared!”The Hills’ story changed the way people regarded alien encounters. Barney Hill died of a stroke in 1969, and Betty continued to claim that the abduction occurred.

Persons: Barney Hill, Hill, Darth Vader, Betty, Adam, James Earl Jones, Matthew Bowman, Estelle Parsons, Shutterstock Bowman, Barney Hill’s, ”, ” Bowman, Betty Hill, ” Christopher Bader, ” Margalit Fox, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Civil Rights, ”, NAACP, Hills, California’s Chapman University, The New York Times Locations: New Hampshire, America, United States

☆ Analysis: The affirmative action battle shifts to a new front
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The lawsuits against the US Navy and West Point suggest that opponents of affirmative action are serious about eliminating any policy of diversity based on race. It’s not surprising that the US Armed Forces have drawn criticism from affirmative action foes. As the country heads into the presidential election year, more lawsuits invoking the Voting Rights Act are expected to follow. Many Black workers historically used auto jobs to build careers, but advancement opportunities have diminished since the early aughts. “But the decline in US auto jobs and the erosion of unions have hit Black workers hardest,” he wrote.

Persons: CNN —, “, ” SFFA, It’s, Henry C, Harris , Jr, Rogers H, Beardon, Frank Frederick Doughton, Elmer B, Edward Blum, Blum, Alabama’s, —, Blum —, Holder, Shelby, you’ve, CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn, Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters Meyersohn, ”, John Blake Organizations: CNN, US Naval Academy, Harvard, University of North, Fair, US Military Academy, West, US Navy, US Armed Forces, Defense Department, Black US Army, Military, Fort, US Supreme, Republican, Alabama’s GOP, UAW, United Auto Workers, Detroit’s Big, Reuters Locations: University of North Carolina, America, Fort Benning, Georgia, Alabama, Florida , Louisiana, County, Detroit, Belleville , Michigan

☆ Deion Sanders’ ‘audacious Blackness’ makes him the hero African Americans want right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —After his team’s first victory earlier this month, University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders said something remarkable. He has entered one of the Whitest and most conservative institutions in America — college football — and excelled. It’s no secret the league has had a poor record of hiring Black coaches. Ron Jenkins/Getty ImagesHe’s brought an “audacious Blackness” to college football that’s revolutionary, one commentator says. In many ways, the profession at this level has become welfare for white coaches.

Persons: CNN —, Deion Sanders, “, ” Sanders, Sanders, He’s, Muhammad Ali, Lil Wayne, Kawhi Leonard, Dwayne “, ” Johnson, ” Deion Sanders, Dwayne, Johnson, Andrew Wevers, ”, ” Clinton Yates, Obama, George Floyd, White, —, It’s, Colin Kaepernick, Carmen Mandato, He’ll, ‘, ” Greg Moore, Al Campanis, weren’t, Doug Williams, Rick Stewart, “ I’m, That’s, he’s, Shedeur Sanders, Ron Jenkins, ’, ” Vaughn Wilson, Ted Johnson, Deion, “ Sanders, Bakari K, Lumumba, cornerbacks, John Blake Organizations: CNN, University of Colorado, LA Clippers, Colorado, USC, BET, Colorado Buffaloes, Colorado State Rams, USA, Sports, Reuters, Buffaloes, Georgetown Hoyas men’s, University of Miami football, UNLV, Michigan, US Supreme Court, America —, NFL, White, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Redskins, Super, Blacks, of Famer, Jackson State University, TCU, Fort Worth , Texas . Colorado, Jackson State, Washington Post, that’s, Pan, Oregon Ducks, Black Locations: Boulder, Boulder , Colorado, Black America, America, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Arizona, White America, Colorado, Mississippi, Fort Worth , Texas, White

☆ Analysis: Here’s why many Black people despise Clarence Thomas. (It’s not because he’s a conservative.)
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

CNN —Long before he became a Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas told a story at a public gathering that still sounds shocking years later. Justice Clarence Thomas jokes with his clerks in his chambers at the Supreme Court building in Washington in 2016. AP“His entire judicial philosophy is at war with his own biography,” Michael Fletcher, co-author of “Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas,”. “He’s arguably benefited from affirmative action every step of the way.”Thomas has admitted that he was accepted at Yale Law School under an affirmative action policy. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas looks at the displays inside the Pin Point Heritage Museum.

Persons: CNN — Long, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Ronald Reagan, ” Thomas, Diana Walker, Thomas ’, Emma Mae Martin, he’s, Harlan Crow, Crow, ”, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chip Somodevilla, “ fawning, Reagan, John L, Nikki Merritt, Merritt, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Roe, Wade, ” Sen, Alyssa Pointer, Anita Hill’s, Uncle Tom, Thomas “, Juan Williams, “, Armstrong Williams, ” Williams, Amul Thapar, Jonathan Ernst, ” Thomas ’, Thomas doesn’t, they’ve, Thurgood Marshall, ” Michael Fletcher, “ He’s, I’d, Critics, White, Malcolm X, Richard Burkhard, you’ve, pounced, “ Clarence Thomas, Black, ” Tori Otten, ” Otten, ” Juan Williams, Virginia “ Ginni ” Thomas, Trump’s, John Duricka, Williams, — Trump, Booker T, Washington, Marcus Garvey, Obama, ” “ We’ve, –, “ It’s, “ Thomas, Steven Ferdman, Jim Crow, Frederick Douglass, ” Clarence Thomas, nodded, ” Merritt Organizations: CNN, White House, Commission, Texas Republican, Republican, National Bar Association, Democrat, Georgia Senate, Georgia State Capitol, NAACP, Supreme, National Museum of, Thomas Others, Reuters, Yale Law School, Catholic, College of, Cross, AP, Yale, Heritage Museum, Savannah Morning, USA, The, New, Morehouse College, Fox News Channel Studios, Reagan Administration, Bettmann Locations: Storm, Texas, New York, Washington, Memphis, Georgia, handouts, Atlanta, American, America, Cincinnati, Pin, Savannah , Georgia, New Republic, Wisconsin, Arizona, Virginia, Black, China, India, Brazil, New York City

☆ How conservatives use ‘verbal jiu-jitsu’ to turn liberals’ language against them
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Recent years have brought numerous headlines about another liberal term that has been dismantled by the right. Some scientists believe climate change is a more accurate description of the environmental challenges facing the planet. Demonstrators march across the Brooklyn Bridge during a climate change protest in New York on March 3, 2023. Instead of acknowledging the science pointing toward a looming environmental disaster, one Republican pollster offered another phrase to mute the alarm: climate change. Two decades later, many liberal politicians and activists continue to use the phrase “climate change, the cognitive scientist George Lakoff noted.

Persons: “, ”, Joe Raedle, Lindsey Cormack, “ I’ve, ” Cormack, Cormack, Conservatives didn’t, Harry Harris, didn’t, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Robin DiAngelo, ” DiAngelo, Paulette Granberry Russell, it’s, ” “, who’s, there’s, It’s, Yuki Iwamura, pollster, Frank Luntz, Republican pollster, Luntz, George Lakoff, ” Lakoff, “ It’s, John F, Kennedy, ” John F, ’, ” Kennedy, Trump’s, won’t, – they’ll, Trump, John Blake Organizations: CNN, White House, Democrats, House, Republicans, Stevens Institute of Technology, Conservatives, Democratic, Republican, New York City, Getty, Diversity, Equity, National Association of Diversity Officers, Higher Education, Bloomberg, AFP, Capitol Locations: Milwaukee, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, AFP, Brooklyn, ”

☆ Analysis: Tony Bennett sang in a key that Jason Aldean’s song can’t reach
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

White jazz artists were antiracists before the term was inventedMany of the tributes to Bennett mentioned his disdain for bigotry. Many White jazz artists were antiracists, long before the word was invented. Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s musical mentor, recorded with and relentlessly championed Black jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. He hired a Black jazz bassist, Eugene Wright, and refused to play in segregated venues. There are countless photos of a beaming Bennett hanging out with Black jazz artists.

Persons: Tony Bennett, Ed Sullivan’s, Bennett, ”, Duke Ellington, “, ’ ” Bennett, there’s, Jason Aldean, Aldean, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Rick Diamond, Bennett —, ” Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck, Eugene Wright, Benny Goodman, Jim Crow, Ellington, Louis Armstrong, don’t, It’s, that’s, Lionel Hampton, Goodman, Michael Ochs, Amy Winehouse, Winehouse, fidgety, “ We’ll, “ You’re, ” Winehouse, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, Bennett’s unflappability, Bennett wasn’t, Brubeck, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Evans, Mark Allan, Greg Thomas, ” Thomas, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas, Wynton Marsalis, Bennett –, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, –, Thomas, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Toronto Star, MLK, Atlanta Civic Center, US Army, Carnegie Hall, Michael Ochs Archives, Jazz, Studios Locations: New York, Tennessee, America, Atlanta, Nazi, African, British, Turkey, Japan, London, Aldean, American, Europe, United States

☆ Analysis: As the nation celebrates Juneteenth, it's time to get rid of these three myths about slavery
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

It marks the moment in June of 1865 when Union troops arrived in Texas to inform enslaved African Americans that they were free by executive decree. Though it commemorates a moment when enslaved African Americans were freed, the US is still held captive by several myths about slavery and people like Cummins. 1: African Americans were ‘freed’ after the Civil War endedThere is a popular conception that the formerly enslaved were freed after the Civil War ended. It is what historians call a “Slave Bible.” It is a copy of a Bible that was used by British missionaries to convert enslaved African Americans. Kin Cheung/APThe historical record shows that enslaved African Americans revitalized Christianity in other ways, historians say.

Persons: Tempie ” Cummins stoically, Cummins, “, ‘, ’ ” Cummins, gainst, Tempie Cummins, Congress Juneteenth, ” Abraham Lincoln, ” “ There’s, ”, Tobin Miller Shearer, ” Albert J, Raboteau, ’, Clint Smith, ” Smith, Smith, Susan Merritt, …, ” Merritt, Frederick Dielman, Douglas A, Caleb McDaniel, Leslie Wilson, Wilson, ” Wilson, Bunny, Uncle Remus, Joel C, Harris, Albert Murray, ” White, ” Murray, Leon Harris, ” Malcolm X, Nat Turner, Martin Luther King Jr, ” Harris, Kin Cheung, God, ” Raboteau, Juneteenth, White, John Blake Organizations: CNN, New, Library, Congress, African American Studies, University of Montana, New York Times, Former Confederate, Rusk, District of Columbia, Colored People, Montclair State University, Getty, Museum, Biola University Locations: Jasper , Texas, eavesdrop, Texas, Antebellum, Whites, Rusk Country , Texas, Sabine, District, Washington, America, New Jersey, Southern, West Africa, United States, Washington , DC, California, Lambeth, London, Israel

☆ One of the most dangerous hours in America is now 11 o’clock on Sunday morning
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

It would also foreshadow a disturbing trend that has only worsened in subsequent years: 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is now one of the most dangerous hours of the week in America, pastors and church security officials say. Brady Boyd, senior pastor of New Life Church, the same church where Assam confronted a gunman 16 years ago. And in 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. But his church security does not have a monopoly on Sunday morning firepower. Consider this sobering Sunday morning scenario:A spiritual seeker visits a church and finds it filled with metal detectors and armed security guards carrying walkie-talkies.

Persons: Jeanne Assam, He’s, Beretta, Jake Stephens, Brian Snyder, ”, Brady Boyd, Boyd, “ That’s, Scott Olson, Rabbi Hillel Norry, Beth David, Norry, “, Kwon, Jeff Swensen, ” Norry, that’s, Shaukat Warraich, Dwayne Harris, Harris, Hope, ” Harris, Darren Hauck, Tim Russell, ‘ I’m, David Swanson, Pastors, Jesus ’, ” Boyd, Jesus, Tommy Mason, Mason, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Saint Joseph, Beau Biden, Brendan Smialowski, Jerilee Bennett, George W . Bush, “ You’re Organizations: CNN, New, Church, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Reuters Churches, New Life, White, Texas Church of Christ, Baptist, Security, Police, House Church, Geneva Presbyterian, Colorado Springs, Marion County Baptist Association, Service, Brandywine Catholic, “ Police, AP, Minneapolis Police Department Locations: Colorado, Assam, Colorado Springs, America, Charleston , South Carolina, Sutherland Springs , Texas, Texas, Orange County , California, Oak Creek , Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Georgia, Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, That’s, New Zealand, Missouri, ”, Geneva, Laguna Woods , California, Marion, Alabama, Saint, Brandywine, Brandywine Catholic Church, Wilmington , Delaware, AFP, AP Assam

☆ John Blake: The story about race I didn't know how to tell
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

John Blake, seen here in a second-grade photo, grew up as the son of a White mother and Black father. What I didn’t know was that my community had died long before the Freddie Gray protests. That’s the story I wanted to tell, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how to tell Harlow any of that because my story doesn’t fit traditional narratives about race or identity. My white family members didn’t change because I shamed them with an impressive lecture on systemic racism.

☆ What John Blake discovered when he met the White mother he never knew
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +25 min

It’s a story about my mother, and the White relatives who shunned me at birth—and still somehow became family. I now know one of the reasons my family didn’t tell me about my mom’s illness is because they didn’t know how. I vividly recall thinking as I looked at my mom: I didn’t know a White person could suffer like this. I saw White, Black, and brown people hug and call each other “brother” and “sister” after worship service. John Blake is a Senior Writer at CNN and the author of “More Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew.”

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