New York
Star basketball player Kyrie Irving has been suspended from NBA team Brooklyn Nets. He has refused to disavow a film widely viewed as antisemitic after endorsing the film through his Twitter account. The film is “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” Ervin is averaging 26 points and 5 rebounds a game. He is a recent convert to Islam; he is also a vegetarian.
Gettysburg
State Lawmaker Doug Mastriano lost his bid for the governorship of Pennsylvania while employing the rhetoric of Christian Nationalism. In Florida, Ron DeSantis won re-election handily in part by connecting with that same religious constituency. In Arizona, candidate Kari Lake may or may not be elected governor after thoroughly embracing Christian Nationalism. In North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont, and California, abortion supporters breathed a sigh of relief as voters provided protections and pushed back against restrictions.
Charlotte
Some Pentecostal leaders, led by Michael Brown of Charlotte, opened a web site and published a statement disavowing any connection to Christian Nationalism. Recent developments within their tradition, especially associated with the New Apostolic Reformation, have sought to embrace a radical version of church-state relations. Much of this is articulated in the document known as Watchman Decree, written by Dutch Sheets. The recent pushback affirms national identity and love of nation but rejects the specific and unique place of the United States in the current version of Christian Nationalism.
Nashville
United Methodists set the date and place of their next general conference. It will be held April 23 to May 3, 2024, at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The announcement was welcomed news after the meeting had been postponed three times due to covid travel restrictions. Waiting at the top of the agenda is a proposal to release hundreds of conservative Methodist churches who are already spinning off to form the Global Methodist Church, which launched officially this past Spring.
New York
The newest vessel in the fleet that transports passengers from the island in New York Harbor to lower Manhattan and back is named for the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. Her name is Dorothy Day. Day was received into the Catholic Church on Staten Island, lived part of her life in that New York City borough, and is buried in the island’s Resurrection Cemetery. Day is a candidate for sainthood and has the title “Servant of God.”
