RNS Morning Report: Racial Justice Worship Services; George Floyd Memorial; Activist Sentenced

People raise their fists during a rally, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Las Vegas, against police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Need to know: Tuesday, June 9, 2020

What Ministers, Rabbis and Imams Preached This Weekend About the George Floyd Protests

This weekend, people of faith joined protests against racial injustice and police brutality across the country. Many also heard about those topics in the worship services they attended.

In Los Angeles, Black Lives Matter activists and clergy denounce police brutality during George Floyd memorial service

Melina Abdullah, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, called on people of faith to challenge the system perpetuating police brutality.

Judge sentences 80-year-old Catholic activist for breaking into nuclear submarine base

Elizabeth McAlister, a former nun, was sentenced to time already served after she and six other Catholic activists broke into a Navy submarine base in 2018 as part of a symbolic nuclear disarmament action.

Vatican prelate calls fences around White House ‘unacceptable’ at vigil for George Floyd

'To see barricades around the White House is something I never experienced in all the years I lived in Washington. I don't find that acceptable. I think it's a terrible image for the United States to have,' said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, amid anti-racist vigils and protests this weekend in Rome.

When Christians won’t acknowledge racism, protest becomes church

I was told by classmates, mentors and friends in the evangelical world that my advocacy for black lives was hateful, heretical and a distraction for Christians, writes Andre Henry.

Liberty’s Jerry Falwell Jr. apologizes for tweet; director of diversity resigns

Faced with outrage from black alumni and the resignation of at least three African American staffers, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. has deleted and apologized for a two-week-old tweet that showed a face mask decorated with a photo of a person in Ku Klux Klan robes and another in blackface.

 


 

Latest news from RNS

Mitt Romney joins thousands of evangelicals marching against racial injustice in DC

The event, described as a 'Christian Response to Racial Injustice,'  drew a diverse crowd led by prominent preachers of both black and white D.C.-area churches.

Prominent pastor and author Tim Keller has pancreatic cancer

'I feel great and have no symptoms,' Keller, 69, wrote on Facebook and other social media posts. 'It was what doctors call an "incidental pickup."'

Activists call for justice, equal remembrance of Breonna Taylor on her 27th birthday

On what would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday, theologians and activists lament the insufficient response to her March murder; some see it as a symptom of the systemic devaluing of Black women.

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Justice Roberts swings away from unfettered religious liberty on church openings

(RNS) — Kavanaugh's dissent, on the other hand, is a good example of the spiritual libertarianism rampant on the right.

I’ve always suffered racism. Becoming a Christian didn’t make it easier

(RNS) — If the church is divided on race — and it is — what does that say to the world about us?

Thou shalt not be comfortable

In our time, the best life goal is to be maladjusted.