NEWS STORY
RNS-SBC-ExecCommittee: SBC Executive Committee rejects request for system-wide abuse inquiry
(RNS) — The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee rejected a request from one of its members to broaden a just-announced independent inquiry of whether it mishandled sexual abuse allegations. By Adelle M. Banks. 650 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-SBC-Survivors: Sex abuse survivors call for system-wide audit of Southern Baptist Convention
(RNS) — Eight survivors of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention have issued a statement ahead of the opening session of the denomination’s 2021 meeting calling for an outside organization to oversee an audit of sexual abuse within the denomination The statement urges a more comprehensive system-wide investigation, on top of a review of the denomination’s Executive Committee that has already been announced. By Yonat Shimron. 500 words. (category: a)
NEWS BRIEF
RNS-LAArchdiocese-Opens: Archdiocese of Los Angeles issues new guidelines to fully reopen parishes
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has issued new guidelines for its more than 300 parishes, which beginning June 19, are set to fully reopen after being closed for in-person worship since COVID-19 restrictions began last March. These new instructions come just days before a California order on Tuesday (June 15) will officially lift most of the state’s coronavirus rules. By Alejandra Molina. 450 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Witches-Albama: ‘Am I the worst thing a person can be?’: Witches fight media bias
(RNS) — “Witch is a loaded term,” said Rev. Selena Fox, executive director of Lady Liberty League, a pagan religious freedom and civil rights organization. “It is a complicated term and it’s been used as a weapon as part of hate crimes around the world.” No matter how the term draws attention, reporters and editors should look at “all identity factors,” not just religious practice, she said. By Heather Greene. 1,000 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Henry-Oped: Why the attacks on critical race theory are a good sign
(RNS) — It’s tempting to see this backlash as a move from strength, but consider the conflict from the opponent’s view. If the custodians of the status quo saw themselves in a position of strength, they’d still be doing with critical race theory what they’ve been doing since the discipline emerged in the 1970s: ignoring it. By Andre Henry. 668 words. (category: k)
