News with Nuance: Jan. 10, 2025
Your Friday dose of News with Nuance: the week's biggest stories, unpacked + more ..
Hi Readers,
Happy 2025 and Welcome Back to News with Nuance. I’m so glad you’re here.
This post marks both a new beginning and a wrap-up of sorts. I took a break from this newsletter in December after writing my final election/Christian Nationalism-focused News with Nuance on Nov. 22.
I wrote in that newsletter that it marked an “end of an era” of sorts, and that when News with Nuance returned in 2025, it would be with a new focus, looking more specifically at the topics I cover in my new book: masculine identity, radicalization and violence as a threat to and from young white boys and men - and of course how those ideas overlap with my previous work and research on Christian Nationalism.
I also wrote in that newsletter about transitioning away from X, and I’m pleased to find that I’ve had a simple transition into chronicling news stories and engaging with journalists and researchers over on BlueSky. I invite you to join and follow me there for more up-to-the-minute news updates.
You should know that this newsletter is kind of a lengthy one. Even though I didn’t write a newsletter in December, there were several important stories related to Disciples of White Jesus that I wanted to highlight. I think you’ll notice a lot of through-lines when it comes to covering these overlapping topics, and you’ll also notice that some of the main actors/people pushing forward these dangerous and violent narratives for men and boys, are some of the same people at the forefront of Christian Nationalist policies/eroding the separation of church and state. (P.S.: on that topic, if you’re local to Minneapolis, you’re invited to join me next Saturday, Jan. 18, from 2-4:30 p.m., for the National Religious Freedom Day Forum, held at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis. You can also hit this link to register virtually) AND - in case you’re interested, here’s a link to all of my upcoming events. Send me a note if you’d like to book a speaking engagement, preaching date, or panel discussion for 2025!). If you’d told me several years ago that I’d be working in tandem with secularists, as an ordained Lutheran pastor, I might have told you: “no way.” But I’ve learned since then that it’s actually at the very core of my faith to support religious freedom: and that nothing undermines the Gospel more than state-sponsored, codified faith. More on this hopefully to come soon in a new column for the Star Tribune …)
Anyway - like I said - lots of stories to cover. But I always feel better once I have them out in front of me, organized, and finished with hope + great writing at the end. That’s your encouragement to read all the way through!
Now let’s get to the news - with nuance …
The Headline: Column: ‘The mountain is screaming at you’: L.A. fires become a collective trauma
Photo credit: Los Angeles Times
As the terror and destruction of massive January wildfires across the Los Angeles area continued to unfold this week, I knew I needed to start our newsletter with a story from Southern California. More specifically, I knew I needed to turn to L.A. Times columnist Anita Chabria.
I’ve written here before about my agonizing decision to unsubscribe from the L.A. Times after years of faithful readership, since living in Vegas and California from 2011-2013 and again from 2015-17 (my kids were both born in California). I’ve long admired the journalists at the L.A. Times, particularly their photography staff, columnists, and global correspondents.
Anita Chabria is one of my favorites to read from California, and so I was grateful to read this heart-rending, important piece about what’s happening in neighborhoods and communities in Los Angeles this week. One of my goals with this newsletter is always to go beyond the statistics and the headlines to tell human stories amidst the headlines, and I believe Chabria does that well in this article: identifying both the heartbreak and the hope of Angelenos in the midst of so much climate devastation.
I also want to note: if you or your loved ones have been impacted by the fires this week, please hit reply or comment on this post. I know this community is a supportive one, and I would love to find ways to support you and all who are impacted in the Los Angeles area.
Column by Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times
The Headline: Why does religion journalism matter to democracy?
As a person who is both an ordained clergy member and a journalist, it’s obvious to me that covering trends, stories, and statistics in American religion is critical to understanding what’s happening in American democracy. But one of the most destructive trends in journalism in recent years, in my opinion, has been the reluctance of major media outlets to cover religion in a substantive way (instead of just occasionally covering it as a spectacle, like sending an East Coast reporter to the middle of the country to attend a service at a megachurch, or a political rally fused with a revival … those stories are fine, but I kind of don’t give them much credence any more. It’s a lot of elitism - hey look at those crazy people - without understanding the money and political power behind this movement.)
Robert Downen, a reporter for the Texas Tribune officially covering democracy and threats to democracy, understands and covers religion (especially right-wing Christianity) as well as anyone in the business. I’ve been following his work for nearly a decade now, and he was on the pioneering team of reporters at the Houston Chronicle who broke open the story of the sexual abuse crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention back in 2019. That series published several months before my first book, Red State Christians, came out, so maybe I also find solidarity with Rob as those of us who were on the forefront covering the threat of Christian Nationalism and Trumpism before most major media outlets had any idea about how interconnected was right-wing Christianity (Evangelical and Catholic) and the major power players in the Republican Party and the Trump Administration.
All that said - this is an excellent interview and must-read for the months and years ahead, for journalists and news-readers alike.
The Quote:
“You covered religion under the metro desk rather than the features desk at the Chronicle, which means you were treating religion news as if it were akin to the machinations of business and politics, not just the human-interest stories. How did that come to be?
That actually was my decision. I pushed for that. And the reason being, there was a time when there were enough religion journalists that you had someone covering the community: potlucks and events and features stuff. And you also had a reporter who could treat it with a little bit more teeth. And religion journalism has been among the hardest hit areas of the broader collapse of many newsrooms. There just really hasn’t been room for either of those types of reporting. So when I was at the Chronicle, we were coming off of a year of doing Southern Baptist sex abuse coverage and had really cultivated a lot of trust and respect within religious communities broadly.
From the Houston Chronicle newsroom, we can see Joel Osteen’s church, we can see a billboard of Ed Young from Second Baptist Church outside, and these are people who are really shaping society. They have way more influence than a lot of people realize. Moving religion under metro allowed us to think about stories the way we would [think about] traditional news coverage. I wrote a number of stories about Joel Osteen getting PPP loans. I was covering Jerry Falwell Jr.’s yacht scandal and doing a lot more coverage than if we were approaching it from this mind of being a feature. It would have been more personality or character focused.
Obviously, there’s space to do both. You don’t treat people like they’re a zoo animal just because they happen to believe in XYZ religion. You can incorporate their faith into a story that also holds them accountable — if they need to be held accountable — or explains their influence.
Interview by Mitchell Atencio, Sojourners
A few more must-read stories since our last News with Nuance …
How the AMA Undermines Primary Care
I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quit.
As Wars Rage Around Them, Armenian Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City Feel the Walls Closing In
Infectious diseases killed Victorian children at alarming rates
Treatment failures and fraud allegations tied to double murder
Health Care Administration Wastes Half a Trillion Dollars Every Year
AI Jesus and the end days of the consumerization of American Christianity
Disciples of White Jesus: Tracking down those who are weaponizing radicalization and a masculine identity that’s dangerous for men and boys
Every edition in this section of the newsletter, we’ll look at stories from around the U.S. and the world that lift up the ways in which this trend of hawking radicalization and violence to young white men and boys (often in the guise of Christianity and conservative politics - with dog whistles of white supremacy) is leading to anger, chaos, disenfranchisement, and fear for everyone. You’ll notice that many of the storylines and main characters here overlap with my previous research (and this newsletter’s previous focus) on Christian Nationalism. You’ll also read stories of the impacts of this kind of messaging on ordinary men and boys who can’t measure up to this fabricated ideal: especially financially, in a global economy that’s emphasizing massive inequality and greed.
But don’t worry - because after this section - we’ll focus on stories of hope, ways masculine identity for young men and boys is being found in compassion, care, diversity, and - when it comes to Christianity - a story closer to the gospel of Jesus himself, rooted in truth, kindness, justice, and love.
This Edition:
Sports Betting Apps Are Even More Toxic Than You Thought (another related story - to the pressures on young men to make money, and the ways big business profits out of tech company greed and grift - targeting young men and boys most)
Car-crash deaths of two young people send Battle Lake reeling (I’m including this story from rural Minnesota - because it tells of the all-too-common tragedies and accidents that are statistically most common among young men, especially in rural areas - and the lasting trauma of those accidents and early deaths for communities and peers impacted by them - and also aggressive driving and use of substances are often promoted by messengers of radical masculinity)
A man radicalized by statistics
Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton blocks press freedom bill Trump said GOP ‘must kill’
REVEALED: THE OPERATORS BEHIND FOUR MAJOR NEO-NAZI X ACCOUNTS
Pete Hegseth and His ‘Battle Cry’ for a New Christian Crusade (Crusader imagery is big in this movement)
Ken Paxton vows to shut down Texas church's homeless ministry in new suit
Metaxas calls Bonhoeffer’s relatives ‘Jew-hating lunatics’
Trump’s defense secretary nominee has close ties to Idaho Christian nationalists
Trump taps Project 2025 co-author to lead White House budget office
Hopeful stories of a more excellent way forward for boys, men, and all of us:
Christmas on the Border, 1929 (sometimes poetry says it best)
Legislature is losing Rep. Frank Hornstein, right when he’s needed most
Macron thanks Gisèle Pelicot for courage and dignity in mass rape trial
Reversing the "weaponization of Christianity": How "religous freedom" can be used to fight Trumpism (and another reminder to join me on Saturday, 1/18 for National Religious Freedom Day and a panel discussion in Minneapolis/virtually)
Farewell words from an anti-trust judge working for economic justice in the rural Midwest (sort of counters the cynicism of all government is corrupt …)
Best of How To: The Infrastructure of Community
Words of courage for preachers and church leaders from the eminent Walter Brueggemann
‘Never thought the regime would end in our lifetime’: Syrians in Minnesota celebrate Assad’s fall
Hegseth is wrong leader for women in the military, warn women veterans and lawmakers
From Bach to Beyonce, Why a Church Orchestra Aims To Lift Up Young Musicians of Color
Giving thanks to the public workers who help us flourish — and flush
No School Choice: A Letter From a Texas Public School Teacher
Bishop Gene Robinson, First Openly Gay Episcopal Bishop, Preaches Defense of McBride
How the Ojibwe shaped the state of Minnesota (I wrote a bit about this in Disciples of White Jesus)
I’m Pretty Sure Dietrich Bonhoeffer Would Have Hated Bonhoeffer (so grateful to Bonhoeffer’s descendants for reminding me of the vision of Jesus-centered manhood that the Bonhoeffer family continues to bring forward, much to Eric Metaxas’ dismay)
Must-Reads on Substack
ICYMI, from me (wanted to make sure you saw my books of 2024 - and this really important story from CPE in the Stillwater (MN) Prison) ..
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Hope you enjoyed the new format.
News with Nuance will be back in two weeks on Jan. 24.
This was a special FREE edition of News with Nuance to help introduce readers to the new format and give everyone a taste of what this newsletter has to offer. Most editions will be paywalled for paid subscribers. Please consider supporting the independent journalism represented by this newsletter - if you don’t already!
Thanks for reading,
Angela
A Few Notes:
First, a huge THANK YOU to all subscribers. I get a little email notification every time someone signs up, and every time I get one, I feel joyful and honored that you want to spend part of your day with this community. I mean it when I say: “I’m listening,” to you as well, and please don’t hesitate to share with me your thoughts + ideas for what you’d like to read in this space.
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On free vs. paid-subscriber posts only: My plan right now is that the Friday + Sunday posts, focusing on news + spirituality, in that order, are available for subscribers only (I am going to continue sharing a sample, with a line where the paywall cuts off for our paid subscriber community). My plan is that the Tuesday blog-style posts will always be free, to enable as much access as possible, while creating a smaller and more intimate experience for paid subscribers, who are also able to comment and share in community in fuller ways.
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