Category: Religion News Service

In red-state Oklahoma, marijuana ballot question splits people of faith

June 6, 2018

Clergy on both sides of State Question 788, which would permit the distribution of medical marijuana, call it a moral issue.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

OKLAHOMA CITY — As Presbyterian minister Bobby Griffith sees it, legalizing medical marijuana in Oklahoma could help arthritis sufferers with chronic pain and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The 41-year-old husband and father has a personal reason, too, for supporting State Question 788 — a pro-marijuana initiative that the Bible Belt state’s voters will decide June 26.

“For myself, I would be interested in a prescription for it to see if it works better than my anxiety and depression medications,” said Griffith, co-pastor of a Presbyterian church near downtown Oklahoma City and a member of the national group Clergy for a New Drug Policy.

As Griffith characterizes it, the Oklahoma ballot measure’s potential to improve health outcomes and reduce dependence on addictive opioid painkillers makes it a “moral issue.”

Religious opponents counter that backing the issue would be immoral. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., an ordained Southern Baptist pastor, blasts the ballot measure as a “recreational marijuana vote disguised as medical marijuana.”

“The moral issue to me is really a family issue,” Lankford, who directed a Baptist youth camp before his 2010 election to Congress, told Religion News Service.

“The best thing for our state is not to get more parents and grandparents to smoke marijuana,” added the senator, who filmed a commercial urging voters to reject State Question 788. “To have our communities more drug-addicted and distracted, that doesn’t help our families. It doesn’t make us more prosperous. It doesn’t make our schools more successful.”

About 30 states have passed medical marijuana laws, starting with California in 1996, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Oklahoma would be the first to do so without listing qualifying conditions. That, assert critics, would allow doctors to issue two-year marijuana licenses to patients for any reason. The Oklahoma State Medical Association cites a lack of “evidence-based studies” to support medical marijuana.

“It’s trying to trick the people of Oklahoma into buying into it,” said the Rev. Paul Abner, an Assembly of God pastor who leads an anti-marijuana coalition called Oklahoma Faith Leaders.

Read the full story.

Religion News Service is a national wire service whose media partners include The Associated Press, USA Today and the Washington Post.

 

He’s a major-league pitcher — and a plumber — whose faith helps keep him focused

May 11, 2018

Detroit Tigers ace Michael Fulmer works as a plumber in the offseason and serves as a mentor for adults with developmental disabilities.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s not hard to stay humble when you’re unclogging a toilet.

Or when you’re throwing gopher balls to Miracle League ballplayers swinging for the fences.

At least that’s how Detroit Tigers ace Michael Fulmer, who works part-time as a plumber in the offseason and serves as a mentor to adults with developmental disabilities, describes his approach to living out his Christian faith.

“It’s a way for me to stay levelheaded,” said the 25-year-old right-hander of his part-time gig with Cyrus Wright Plumbing in his home state of Oklahoma.

Fulmer has emerged as one of baseball’s top young pitchers, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2016 and earning a spot on the AL All-Star team in 2017. He has a 3.46 ERA in 58 career starts, and his fastball regularly touches 97 mph.

If you’re not a baseball aficionado, simply consider this: Now in his third season, Fuller will earn $575,000 this year.

In a Religion News Service interview during the Tigers’ three-game series with the Texas Rangers earlier this week, Fulmer said his goal — win or lose — is “to preach the Lord’s name.”

As Fulmer stepped to the mound at Globe Life Park for his start Monday (May 7), he couldn’t help but notice a special group of fans in the right-field corner.

Wings, a Christian nonprofit, offers vocational, social and residential programs for adults with developmental disabilities. The organization, based in Edmond, Okla., chartered a bus for 43 members and parents to make the 450-mile round trip to see Fulmer — one of the ministry’s biggest supporters — pitch.

Read the full story.

Religion News Service is a national wire service whose media partners include The Associated Press, USA Today and the Washington Post.

Cult leader? ‘Sinful Messiah’? 25 years later, interest in David Koresh still strong

April 19, 2018

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

WACO, Texas — The curious keep coming.

They turn onto a gravel road 10 miles east of Waco and pass through a black gate leading to a rural complex where David Koresh — leader of an apocalyptic religious sect known as the Branch Davidians — and 75 followers perished in a firestorm on April 19, 1993.

That came after six Branch Davidians and four federal agents earlier died amid a flurry of gunfire in the government’s initial Feb. 28, 1993, raid on the 77-acre Mount Carmel property.

“I was just really curious about seeing this memorial and seeing what’s out here,” said Eric Williams, a Seattle film producer who made it a point to visit the site during a leisure trip to Texas.

Nearby, a woman snapped a picture of a monument listing the names of Koresh and the other 81 Branch Davidians — including 18 children ages 10 or younger — who lost their lives in the 51-day federal standoff that ended in a nationally televised inferno.

Twenty-five years after the siege, interest in what happened outside Waco — and who’s to blame — remains immense.

Evidence of that can be seen in the spate of recent television specials coinciding with the anniversary — from ABC’s “Truth and Lies: Waco” to the Paramount Network’s six-part miniseries “Waco” to the Smithsonian Channel’s documentary “Waco: The Longest Siege.”

Read the full story.

Related: Former FBI agent still haunted by Waco tragedy and David Koresh’s beliefs (reporting from Waco, Texas)

My 1993 story: FBI spokesman relishes comfort of home after horror of Waco (reporting from Edmond, Okla.)

Religion News Service is a national wire service whose media partners include The Associated Press, USA Today and the Washington Post.

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‘Those events will be with me for the rest of my life’

April 19, 2018

Waco tragedy and David Koresh’s beliefs still haunt former FBI agent.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

WACO, Texas — Twenty-five years ago, Oklahoman Bob Ricks was the FBI’s main spokesman during the 51-day standoff outside Waco between federal agents and an apocalyptic religious sect known as the Branch Davidians.

Ricks, 73, who earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Baylor University in Waco, has spent almost 50 years in law enforcement, first as an FBI special agent and later as the police chief in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond.

Before the deadly inferno that killed Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and 75 followers on April 19, 1993, Ricks stepped to the microphone for nearly three dozen news conferences with the national media.

Last year, the father of two and grandfather of five received the Salt & Light Award  presented by the Christian Business Men’s Connection of Oklahoma City. He’s an active member of Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, where he taught juniors and seniors in the high school ministry for more than 10 years.

As a reporter at the time for the Edmond Sun newspaper, I interviewed Ricks, then the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Oklahoma City office, in the wake of the siege.

In a new interview a quarter-century later, Ricks — now director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation — was much more willing to talk about his own Southern Baptist faith as well as Koresh’s beliefs and the FBI’s handling of the tragedy.

Read the full story.

Related: Cult leader? ‘Sinful Messiah’? 25 years later, interest in David Koresh still strong (reporting from Waco, Texas)

My 1993 story: FBI spokesman relishes comfort of home after horror of Waco (reporting from Edmond, Okla.)

Religion News Service is a national wire service whose media partners include The Associated Press, USA Today and the Washington Post.

Pompeo’s Kansas church asks God to ‘give him strength’ in Senate confirmation process

April 17, 2018

“Mike has enemies because of his faith who may try to paint him in a poor light and make it difficult for him to reach the Secretary of State position,” the pastor of nominee Mike Pompeo wrote to his congregation.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

WICHITA, Kan. — Under fire from Muslim, Jewish and human rights groups for a record of anti-Muslim remarks, Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo is receiving spiritual support from his home church in Kansas.

Eastminster Presbyterian Church, where Pompeo is a member and former deacon and Sunday school teacher, prayed Sunday (April 15) that God would “give him strength” in his uncertain confirmation process.

“This morning, we want to pray for our dear brother Mike Pompeo as he goes through the confirmation process,” the Rev. Warren Snyder, Eastminster Presbyterian’s assistant pastor, said as members bowed their heads.

“We ask that you would be glorified in his life, that you would be lifted up, that you would strengthen him and his wife (Susan) and his son (Nick) as he goes through this process,” Snyder prayed to God. “Give him strength. Help him to stand.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee began hearings Thursday on whether to confirm Pompeo — the outgoing CIA director nominated by President Trump to replace Rex Tillerson in the top diplomatic post.

In advance of Pompeo’s testimony before the Senate panel, the Rev. Stan Van Den Berg, the Wichita church’s senior pastor, issued a call to prayer Wednesday. He cited a request from Susan Pompeo for “specific prayer during this very important and stressful time.”

Read the full story.

Religion News Service is a national wire service whose media partners include The Associated Press, USA Today and the Washington Post.

Where the buffalo roam, a Passion play approaches the century mark

March 27, 2018

Oklahoma’s version of old Jerusalem provides the setting for what organizers describe as North America’s longest continuously running outdoor Passion play.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

WICHITA MOUNTAINS WILDLIFE REFUGE, Okla. — Before the sun sets at a remote mountain attraction called Holy City of the Wichitas, Jesus and a band of white-winged angels walk through a crowd gathering on the hillside.

Nobody seems fazed.

But a few hours later, a different visitor — this one an uninvited guest at the 93rd annual “Prince of Peace” Easter pageant — causes a stir among the men, women and children seated under the stars on blankets, lawn chairs and pickup beds.

An enormous buffalo wanders uncomfortably close to a group of spectators from the First Baptist Church of Olustee, diverting their attention from the donkey accompanying Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem on the living stage before them.

“Hopefully, there’s not a herd,” Morgan Adams, the southwestern Oklahoma congregation’s pastor, quips as he lifts his young daughter into his truck.

Oklahoma’s version of old Jerusalem — mixing rough stone structures resembling those in the Holy Land with occasional sightings of buffalo and longhorn — provides the setting for what organizers describe as North America’s longest-running outdoor Passion play. Although the public is welcome to tour the grounds and visit the gift shop year-round, the yearly performances draw enough of a crowd to disrupt the wildlife.

Read the full story.

Religion News Service is a national wire service whose media partners include The Associated Press, USA Today and the Washington Post.

When adoption agencies can turn away gay prospective parents, what happens to the kids?

March 23, 2018

Those who study the issue say it’s hard to tell exactly how such rules governing adoption affect the numbers of children placed in “forever” homes. 

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma lawmakers may soon sanction private adoption agencies turning away same-sex couples and other prospective parents who don’t meet their religious criteria, a possibility cheered by the Roman Catholic Church and many evangelical Christians and lambasted as discriminatory by gay rights groups.

It’s a conflict playing out across the nation, and both sides say that if the other wins, the number of children placed in loving homes will fall.

Seven states have passed laws — including Alabama, South Dakota and Texas last year — like the one proposed in Oklahoma. A bill with comparable language also has been introduced in Congress, according to The Associated Press. At least two other states — Georgia and Kansas — are debating similar legislation. At the same time, some local governments are withholding support from agencies that won’t serve gay prospective parents.

The LGBT community says the Oklahoma measure would result in fewer adoptions as prospective gay parents are turned away by agencies. Conservative Christians say failing to protect the right of adoption agencies to follow their faith would result in fewer adoptions, because those agencies would close before they act against their beliefs.

Those who study the issue say it’s hard to tell exactly how such rules governing adoption affect the numbers of children placed in “forever” homes. Still, the assertions from both sides on the matter have been definitive.

Passage of Oklahoma’s Senate Bill 1140 would “result in a disastrous reduction in adoption and foster placements and put 9,000 young people — currently in the system — in jeopardy,” said Troy Stevenson, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, as the LGBT advocacy organization launched a statewide media campaign this month against the bill.

The numbers may not be there to back him up.

“I don’t know of any empirical evidence on the topic,” said Elizabeth Bartholet, faculty director of the Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass.

“In general, any barriers to adoption are likely to decrease numbers of homes for kids in need,” Bartholet added in an email. “But, of course, it’s possible that religious agencies would shut down rather than put their religious principles aside.”

Read the full story.

Religion News Service is a national wire service whose media partners include The Associated Press, USA Today and the Washington Post.

Related: Under new Texas law, faith-based adoption agencies win protections (reporting from Abilene, Texas)