The Overview (Monday, July 27)
The Supreme Court's puzzling order affecting Nevada churches, Kaitlyn Schiess on narratives and politics, and making sense of Kanye West
On Saturday our family did something we hadn't done in months. No, it wasn't a day free of conflict; we're still waiting for that magical milestone. Nor did we go to a park and watch the kids run, climb, and play with others.
Rather, we made the 45 minute drive to Bentonville to visit the local children's museum.
While there's surprisingly plenty to do in Northwest Arkansas, this has been at the top of our list since we moved here in 2016. There are rotating exhibits and activities for kids along with permanent fixtures that our kids have always enjoyed. The staff is engaged and the facility is pristine. We've visited children's museums in the past, but this one blows them out of the water.
During the first few months of the pandemic the museum was understandably closed to the public. It's hard to imagine a better way to transmit what our four-year-old son calls "the sickness" than milling around with dozens of other families in an indoor setting. And while it's by no means cramped inside, 250 people adds up quickly.
So we were intrigued when our children's museum announced its reopening plan: limited attendance by reservation only; reservations were for two hours only at specific times of day, at which point the building would close for a full cleaning; and, of course, mandatory masks for people 10 and older. I was curious about how all this would work in practice.
It worked great. Our kids kept their masks on without complaint. Almost everyone we saw inside was wearing masks (the occasional small child was without one). It wasn't crowded; we were able to maintain social distance easily. And for a while it felt as if our lives had returned to some semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy. What a blessing.
Okay, let's get into it: here's the Monday, July 27 edition of The Overview:
1) The Supreme Court recently declined to halt a Nevada order that would keep places of worship from meeting with more than 50 people, while allowing other facilities (like casinos and bowling alleys) to operate at 50 percent capacity, which could greatly exceed 50 people. Put simply, this was a wrong and problematic decision from the nation's highest court.
Churches should be expected to adhere to reasonable public health guidelines during a public health crisis, such as the one in which we are currently enmeshed. But these guidelines must be neutral and generally applicable, meaning they must apply to all entities regardless of purpose or mission. If Nevada's policy maintained that no facility could operate with more than 50 people in one room, then the church wouldn't have a good legal argument against it. But if the state's position is that a casino with a capacity of 1000 can operate with 500 people, while a church with a capacity of 1000 can operate with just 50 people, that's not generally applicable. And absent a compelling reason for the distinction, it's discriminatory.
Thankfully, this isn't the end of this story. The Court's decision only denied an injunction to Nevada's policy, which means churches will now have to fight the policy in court while obeying the order or engaging in civil disobedience. And it's entirely possible that the Court (especially Chief Justice Roberts, who voted with the majority in declining to intervene) could eventually find such an order inconsistent with the First Amendment. But as it stands now, this is a surprisingly bad decision with problematic implications for religious freedom.
2) Speaking of church gatherings, the Sacramento Bee reported on an outdoor church service in Redding, California that gathered in violation of state orders. Why? Very few of the worshippers were wearing masks. The service, which attracted hundreds of worshippers, was condemned by local health officials, while the church said that masks were made available to those who wanted them and social distancing was encouraged.
3) Writing for Christianity Today, Kaitlyn Schiess wrote about the link between politics and storytelling. Specifically, Schiess identifies the danger for Christians to be drawn to political narratives that threaten to supplant what should be the most important narrative for believers: the redeeming work of Jesus Christ for fallen people in a fallen world. Schiess pointed to good research in political science showing that people's attachment to politics can often become the most dominant part of their identity, shaping emotions and even morals. "As a people formed weekly by a grand story," Schiess wrote, "we should learn to recognize the competing narratives that threaten to unseat the story of the kingdom of God from its place as the controlling narrative in our lives."
4) What's happening in Portland? Vox's Zack Beauchamp talked to political science professors to better understand the motivation behind President Trump's decision to send in federal forces to quell the protests and riots that have last for two months now. The bottom line? Like most things in American politics these days, Trump's decision---and the support it has generated among Republicans---is all about partisanship and polarization. “I don’t even think calling it polarization is sufficient,” said Liliana Mason, an expert on polarization at the University of Maryland. “We are witnessing a crisis of democracy that is perfectly acceptable to a significant portion of the population — as long as it hurts their enemies.”
5) Remember when Kanye West was running for president? Onsi Kamel of Mere Orthodoxy remembers. Kamel reflects on what Kanye means for politics in our divided age: "He combines Bernie-style fiscal liberalism with social conservatism, Black solidarity with evangelical Christianity. It’s a potent combination."