Category Archives: Kate Johnson

Ice cream name offends religious groups

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By KATE JOHNSON

Canadian ice cream chain “Sweet Jesus” is being boycotted by Christians as it tries to expand across the United States. Some Christians claim the chain is blasphemous, uses the Lord’s name in vain and mocks the Christian faith.

A petition has been made on Change.org to urge the Toronto-based company’s founder Andrew Richmond to change the name of the ice cream chain.  It has more than 7,600 signatures.

“We, as Christians, are deeply offended by the name of a new ice cream chain of stores calling themselves ‘Sweet Jesus.’  This is a mockery of taking the Lord’s name in vain and also highly offensive to Christians,” reads the petition.

The ice cream chain uses upside down crosses on the labels of the ice cream cups and various ads for the company use well-known Christian symbols and language.

“One ad on the company’s website shows a Nativity scene, but instead of Baby Jesus, there’s an ice cream cone,” reads the online petition.  “Many of their ads are replete with cherished Christian and Catholic symbols that are used to mock faith, including a rosary, a crucifix with a corpus, and angels.”

One ad for the ice cream company reads: “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain, but God [expletive] that’s delicious.”

Two Sweet Jesus advertisements (Photo courtesy of vigilantcitizen.com).

The ice cream company has 19 locations in Canada.  The company has a store at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport and is planning to open in other U.S. locations, such as the Mall of America in Minnesota, according to LifeSiteNews.

In covering the controversy, the Christian Post wrote an article condemning the ice cream chain and advocating for the cause of the petitioners. Their article included multiple quotes from various petitions calling for a name change.

“If anything could qualify as ‘hate speech,’ this is it! . . . Even if this were some innocent faux-pas, it would still be unacceptable!  However, this is anything but a mere mistake.  Both in their promotional materials and menu selection, it is plain to see that [owners] Richmond and Todai have every intention of mocking Christ and Christianity,” reads another petition on the Canadian site CitizenGo.

The Christian Post does not give equal coverage to both sides of the story. LifeSiteNews, another Christian news outlet, even launched its own petition condemning the company and demanding a name change. The end of the article includes contact information for the Sweet Jesus company founders.

“Faithful Christians follow the Second Commandment about not taking the name of God in vain. This means that God’s name should be used respectfully, as in prayer or in blessing. Anything else is misusing his name. Christians believe that Jesus is God and his name is holy.  St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians put it this way: ‘At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow,’” wrote Dorothy Cummings McLean and Pete Baklinski for LifeSiteNews.

“I wonder what might have happened had the company been named ‘Sweet Muhammad’ and employed the same kind of plays on Islamic religious symbols as it does on Christian ones.  Mohammed Mud Pie anyone?  It would never have been tolerated.”

Secular news outlets have given much more equal coverage of the story.  The Toronto Star provided mainly facts in their article about who was opposing the ice cream chain and why.

“There are few things that feel more care-free than enjoying an ice cream cone, and Toronto-based chain Sweet Jesus servers up gigantic, Instagram-worthy soft serve cones – or blasphemy, depending on who you ask,” wrote Jenna Moon for the Toronto Star.

Along with several fiery quotes from petitioners against the company, the Toronto Star article also included the disclaimer issued on the Sweet Jesus’ company website.

“Our name was created from the popular phrase that people use as an expression of enjoyment, surprise or disbelief.  Our aim is not to offer commentary on anyone’s religion or belief systems, our own organization is made up of amazing people that represent a wide range of cultural and religious beliefs.”

CBC News, another Canadian news organization, wrote a short Web article that included many of the main quotes from the online petitions that the other stories have used.

Like the Toronto Star, CBC gave a very factual and much more equal account of the controversy surrounding the company name and advertisements.  CBC reached out to Richmond for a statement.

“We are conscious of the fact that, to some, our name can be off-putting,” Richmond told CBC.  “That fact is something we struggle with, because we sincerely do not wish to give offense or show disrespect in any way toward anyone’s personal beliefs.”

“After a lot of thought, we have decided that we will not make a change. Sweet Jesus is an honest reflection of our experiences and that of our customers and how they react when they try our product. In our experience, the majority of people understand that we’re not trying to make a statement about religion.”

The Huffington Post article about the petitions against Sweet Jesus focused on the variety of reasons the company was facing backlash.  They included quotations from many online petitioners, religious groups and YouTubers that spoke out against the company.

Sweet Jesus ad poster (Photo courtesy of LifeSiteNews).

“The first S in the word Jesus is a lightning strike, reminiscent of the Nazi style used by the SS, and the T in ‘SWEET’ is often shown as an inverted Cross on the company’s various products . . . We cannot remain silent while Our Lord is blasphemed,” wrote the Christian site Return To Order.

The Huffington Post also mentioned some non-religious reasons the company is facing condemnation and controversy.

“Others took issue with one of Sweet Jesus’ advertisements, because the child posing with ice cream running down her face looks similar to Jonbenét Ramsey, a child beauty pageant contestant who was murdered at age 6,” wrote Emma Paling for the Huffington Post.

Catholics to discuss Church, Francis

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By KATE JOHNSON

On April 7, a Catholic group, the “Friends of Cardinal Carlo Caffarra,” will be holding a conference in Rome in order to address the concerns they have about the direction the Catholic Church is heading under Pope Francis.

The group is named after recently deceased Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, who opposed the new ideas expressed by the Catholic Church and the way it was being led under Pope Francis.  The conference in April is called “The Catholic Church: Where Are You Heading?”

The focus of the conference is to address the confusion in the Catholic Church.  “Its subtitle, ‘Only a blind man can deny that there is great confusion in the Church,’ is taken from comments Cardinal Caffarra made in an interview with the Italian newspaper II Foglio in January 2017,” wrote the National Catholic Register.

A main issue that the organizers of the conference are hoping to find clarity around is interpretation of Pope Francis’ exhortation Amoris Laetitia, or “Joy of love.”  The Pope broke down barriers and relaxed many of the previous principles for divorced and remarried couples within the Catholic Church in the exhortation.

“It is important that the divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the Church,” wrote Pope Francis in the exhortation. “The Christian community’s care of such persons is not to be considered a weakening of its faith and testimony to the indissolubility of marriage; rather, such care is a particular expression of its charity.”

The story has been covered among an array of Christian publications, some specifically Catholic and other’s nondenominational.  The overall tone and language of the coverage of the upcoming conference varies greatly depending on if the news outlet is Catholic or nondenominational.

The Christian Post gave a very factual account of the conference and the issues it is aiming to address without inserting any opinion or biased language.

The first line of the article on the Christian Post reads, “A group of Catholics are planning to hold a conference in Rome next month in response to concerns they have about the direction of the Church under Pope Francis.”

The article on the Christian Post then follows with a series of quotes from Pope Francis’ exhortation and Cardinal Caffarra’s letter to Francis in response to the exhortation.  Their article concludes, with results from a research study interviewing members of the Catholic Church.

“The Roman conference is coming not long after Pew Research Center released a poll finding that, five years since Francis became pope, a growing number of American Catholics have concluded that he is, among other things, ‘too liberal’ and ‘naïve,’” wrote Michael Gryboski for the Christian Post.

The National Catholic Register’s coverage of the story seemed biased against Pope Francis and focused mainly on why Catholics are disillusioned by the current pope.

The first line of the article on the National Catholic Register reads, “Lay faithful as well as members of the hierarchy, clergy and religious are being invited to participate in a Rome conference aimed at helping the Church find its way after the uncertainties of the past five years of Pope Francis’ pontificate.”

“The conference was one of Cardinal Caffarra’s last wishes after he had become deeply disillusioned by the crisis of confusion, most notably regarding the issue of giving the Eucharist to Catholics engaging in sexual relations outside marriage, such as remarried Catholic divorcees and cohabitating couples,” wrote Edward Pentin for the National Catholic Registrar.

LifeSiteNews is a Christian news outlet that offers a “Standard Edition” and a “Catholic Edition.” The story of the conference was covered in the Catholic Edition and contains much biased language against Pope Francis.

The first line of the article on LifeSiteNews reads, “It’s confirmed.  On April 7, 2018 – the Saturday after Easter – a very special conference will be held in Rome whose aim is to indicate the path forward for the Catholic Church after the uncertain journey of the first five years of Pope Francis’ pontificate.”

Unlike all nondenominational coverage of the story, the LifeSiteNews article covers and explains ways in which some Catholics are seeking to reduce and limit papal authority after the exhortations of Pope Francis.

“In a Church seemingly in disarray, the key issue the conference will seek to address is the redefinition of leadership roles for the ‘people of God,’ the character and limits of papal authority, and forms of consulting the faithful on matters of doctrine,” according to LifeSiteNews.

Disney’s ‘Wrinkle in Time’ omits Christ

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By KATE JOHNSON

Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time” film is facing backlash and controversy for the blatant omission of the Christian ideals and various Biblical passages that are prevalent throughout Madeleine L’Engle’s original novel.

L’Engle passed away in 2007.  The writer was a devout Christian who used her book, A Wrinkle in Time, to express her thoughts about God.

“If I’ve ever written a book that says what I feel about God and the universe, that is it,”  L’Engle wrote in her journal about the book.  “This is my psalm of praise to life, my stand for life against death.”

After the release of the film adaption of the story, many noted the omission of the Christian themes of the book.  The screenwriter for the film, Jennifer Lee, gave an interview with Uproxx in which she explained why she decided to remove the Biblical references and Christian values.

“What I looked at, one of the reasons Madeleine L’Engle’s . . . had that strong Christian element to it wasn’t just because she was Christian, but because she was frustrated with things that needed to be said to her in the world and she wasn’t finding a way to say it and she wanted to stay true to her faith,” said Lee.

Lee noted that there are Christian themes central to the book, A Wrinkle in Time, but she opted to omit or alter these for the move in order to portray a more inclusive and secular message.

“That’s what inclusiveness is to me in this film, is really looking at all of us have a role to play in this no matter where we come from or what we look like,” Lee told Uproxx.

In an article discussing the controversy, CBN emphasized L’Engle’s deep faith and how the author said her book spurred from her personal relationship with God.  CBN, in a covert manner, expressed that Lee’s adaption of the story was an attack on the Christian faith.

“It appears Lee believes espousing such Biblical truths are somewhat irrelevant and outdated in today’s modern world,” wrote CBN.

Movieguide gave a more neutral perspective on the differences between the book and the film.  Their review of the film expressed that although Christianity is omitted from the film, it still does send children a positive message.

“Overall, ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ has a positive moral, redemptive message about a relationship between a father and a daughter being restored, as well as a clear picture of good versus evil.”

Nevertheless, Movieguide did make note that the omission of the Christian themes of the story was a dramatic alteration of the book.

“A Wrinkle In Time is based on the best-selling novel by Madeline L’Engle.  However, many of the faith statements and themes in Madeline’s book aren’t included in the movie.  Instead, the movie adds lots of New Age content, including an emphasis on being one with the universe and the energy people create with positive or negative thoughts.  At one point, one character mentions every ‘spiritual,’ ‘religious,’ and historical icon, but seems to exclude Jesus Christ, as if Christianity was the one thing they didn’t want to include.  In the book, however, Jesus is the iconic figure.”

Vox wrote a lengthy article about the film giving L’Engle’s life story growing up in the Episcopalian Church and facing persecution for her fantasy writing.  In its coverage, Vox chose to discuss the trend in Hollywood of shying away from religious undertones in children’s movies from an analytical perspective on the matter.

“This may be, in part, due to the demands on big-budget fantasy ‘family’ films to easily lend themselves to theme park rides and merchandising sales, something harder to do with films that take a divisive or complicated approach to faith.  ‘Good triumphs over evil’ is a lot more salable and straightforward than ‘the universe exists because God became man,’ even if the paradox of the latter lends Wrinkle its existential weight,” said Vox writer Tara Burton.

The Washington Post covered the response to the new film with a lengthy story on L’Engle and an interview with Sarah Arthur, author of a upcoming biography of L’Engle titled “A Light So Lovely.”

“There are a lot of people who believe the strength that you need to fight the darkness is in you,” Arthur said. “But it’s because they were connected to the source of light who is Jesus.  If it’s unmoored from Madeleine’s Christian faith, it’s missing a big piece of the spiritual thrust of what she was doing,” said Arthur to The Washington Post.

The Washington Post article, similarly to the Vox article, took a more analytical approach to how Christian themes are translated from children’s books to movies and the effect that has on the box office crowds.

“Early reviews of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ are mixed, drawing a 44 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  And a film starring Oprah, who is also controversial among some conservative Christians, might not attract the same kind of crowd that soaked up films such as ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ ‘The Blind Side’ and Disney’s adaptation of Lewis’s ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’” said Washington Post writer Sarah Bailey.

Pastors welcome ‘miracle baby’

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By KATE JOHNSON

On Jan. 23, 2018, Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr., of Vous Church in Miami, and his wife, DawnCheré Wilkerson, welcomed their first child, Wyatt Wesley Wilkerson.

“Of course, we’re not getting much sleep, but we’re enjoying every single moment . . . . We laugh about it, and we’re having fun every step of the way.  Our home is just so full of life and we’re loving every second of it,” Wilkerson told the Christian Post.

The Wilkersons call their son Wyatt a “miracle baby” because they struggled with getting pregnant for eight years. The couple credits the Lord for the incredible blessing it was to be able to conceive Wyatt and bring him into the world.

“We waited eight years for him, and today he’s six weeks. God is so faithful and loving and merciful,” said Wilkerson.

The couple has been very open about their struggle with infertility.  Wilkerson frequently references their journey in his sermons and the couple starred in a reality show about their lives and ministry called “Rich in Faith.”

“The cool thing about that show was, my wife and I were so open about our journey, that a lot of people walked through it with us,” Wilkerson told the Christian Post.  “When a miracle did show up, people around the world were able to rejoice with us.”

Wilkerson said that he would never take back those difficult years of struggling with infertility.  “We learned so much about Jesus during that time . . . . We learned that we are complete with or without a child.  I’m just grateful that God decided to grant us this blessing.”

Vous Church is one of the biggest churches in Miami. Thousands of young Florida residents attend the services every Sunday, which have to be held in the auditorium of a middle school in order to seat the mass amounts of people.

Rich Wilkerson shot to fame in 2014 after he officiated the celebrity wedding of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. The Wilkersons together have more than 600,000 followers on social media.

“When you hold your miracle” (Photo via Instagram).

The celebrity value of the Wilkersons led the story of the birth of their son to be picked up across multiple media outlets, both religious and secular, such as People magazine.

The People magazine story does not mention God once.  Instead, the focus is on the struggle with infertility and the strains it took on the couple.

“I was told on my 25th birthday by my doctor that we would have trouble conceiving,” DawnCheré told People.  “I honestly thought the doctor was wrong.  I never dreamed it would take eight years before we heard the words, ‘You’re pregnant.’”

The article in People is considerably shorter than all articles in religious publications.  The interview and coverage of the Wilkersons in People is very generic. The quotes taken from the couple do not mention faith at all.

“I’ve talked to everyone about becoming a dad.  It’s a big step to become parents, and we know that!  Everyone’s got advice,” Wilkerson told People.

Given that the couple are both very prominent Christians, minsters of a megachurch and have dedicated their entire lives to faith, I am highly skeptical that they would not mention God in their interview with People magazine. This strikes me as very unlikely after frequenting Vous Church and reading the Wilkersons’ quotes from other interviews.

Therefore, I am led to believe that People magazine chose to cut out any quotes about God or Christianity in the article covering their interview with the Wilkersons and the birth of their “miracle baby.”

The question arises: Does not mentioning the Lord, leaving out such an important fact about the Wilkersons’ life story and their response to the birth of their son, make the People magazine story more than inauthentic – but inaccurate?  In my personal opinion, the answer is yes.

Houses of worship gain access to aid

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By KATE JOHNSON

President Trump signed into law that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) now must provide houses of worship with equal access to disaster relief funds.  According to FEMA, the policy is effective for all disasters declared on or after Aug. 23, 2017.

Prior to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, FEMA did not allocate aid relief to houses of worship. However, after Harvey and Irma, three Texas churches and two Florida synagogues filed lawsuits against the government for not providing the same relief funding as secular nonprofit organizations received.

One of these cases made it to the U.S. Supreme Court.  FEMA was asked to explain why houses of worship were left out of disaster relief and the agency responded with a new policy protecting these places.

“Private nonprofit houses of worship are now eligible for disaster assistance as community centers, without regard to their secular or religious nature,” according to FEMA.

Becket, a nonprofit law firm aimed at protecting religious freedom, represented the three churches and two synagogues.

“Congress has delivered a big victory for houses of worship everywhere …. It was always strange to tell houses of worship that there is no room at the inn, when they are the first to help in time of need,” said Diana Verm, legal counsel at Becket.

Becket emphasized that houses of worship were some of the first groups to reach out to disaster victims following Harvey and Irma and they consistently reach out to those in need.

The announcement of new law is a major win for faith groups.  The news was celebrated across many faith-based organizations and networks such as CBN, the Times of Israel, and the Orthodox Union.

“We thank the Trump administration for righting this longtime wrong and treating disaster-damaged churches, synagogues and other houses of worship fairly — on the same terms as other nonprofits such as museums, community centers and libraries stricken by natural disaster,” said Nathan Diament, executive director for public policy at the Orthodox Union.

ABC News covered the announcement by telling the story of Pastor Charles Stocker, whose Hi-Way Tabernacle Church was almost destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.

Stoker’s attorney, Daniel Bloomberg told ABC, Churches are “hubs for the community,” which is still recovering from the hurricane. “Denying help to them, to these churches, denies help to the community.”

“By finally following the Constitution, FEMA is getting rid of second-class status for churches,” Bloomberg stated.  “We will watch carefully to make sure that FEMA’s new policy is implemented.”

The Washington Post gave the story a different angle.  It covered the history of houses of worship fighting to receive disaster relief funds since the early 2000s.

The Washington Post also covered both sides of opinions about the announcement.

This announcement may be a big win for faith groups and religious conservatives, but some secular forces see federal disaster relief being allocated to houses of worship as a threat to separation of church and state.

The Washington Post wrote in their article that Dena Sher, assistant legislative director for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said until this week the FEMA guidelines treated religious and nonreligious nonprofits equally, and determined eligibility based on what activities take place.

“Now this gives houses of worship special treatment,” she said.

“It’s troubling. We know communities need support as they rebuild and we can’t ignore fundamental principles of religious freedom. But the constitutional principle at stake says each of us gets to decide how and if to support any religion. That’s the promise the constitution makes and we should hold to it in good times and bad.”

Sequel planned for biggest film in history

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By KATE JOHNSON

Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” was released in 2004 and earned a whopping $600 million on a budget of $30 million. It was the highest grossing R-rated film in North America, according to FOX News.

Fourteen years later, Gibson is working hard on the sequel.  Little has been revealed about the sequel, but actor Jim Caviezel, 49, will be reprising his role as Jesus.

Caviezel told USA Today, “I won’t tell you how [Gibson is] going about it…. But I’ll tell you this much, the film he’s going to do is going to be the biggest film in history. It’s that good.”

“Passion of the Christ” ended with the Crucifixion and Gibson confirmed in late 2016 that the sequel will focus on the Resurrection, according to the Huffington Post.

Gibson told USA Today, “The Resurrection. Big subject. Oh, my God.  We’re trying to craft this in a way that’s cinematically compelling and enlightening so that it shines a new light, if possible, without creating some weird thing.”

“Passion of the Christ” was protested by Jewish and interfaith groups.  The film was criticized for fueling antisemitism because it portrayed the Jewish people as responsible for the death of Jesus.

Most major news networks covering the sequel have not mentioned the negative opinions and protesting of the first film, but it was joked about on “The Weekend Update” for “Saturday Night Live.” Most coverage continues to be centered around the hype surrounding the film.

Gibson is no stranger to controversy himself.  In 2006, two years after the release of “Passion of the Christ,” Gibson gained a lot of negative publicity across all major news media outlets after he was caught making anti-Semitic remarks during an arrest.

Gibson later apologized for his remarks.  As time passes, it will be interesting to see how the upcoming sequel will be received by the public and covered by the press in light of this controversy.

Controversial or not, the sequel is highly anticipated, especially after Caviezel’s claims that “[the film] is going to be the biggest film in history.”

The actor also told USA Today, “There are things that I cannot say that will shock the audience . . . It’s great.  Stay tuned.”

Furthering the suspense around the film, Randall Wallace, the screenwriter of “Passion of the Christ,” told the Hollywood Reporter, “The Passion is the beginning and there’s a lot more of the story to tell.”

In an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Gibson indicated that the sequel may not be in theaters until 2019 or 2020.  As time progresses, given the continued popularity of “Passion of the Christ” and the publicity that the Resurrection sequel is already garnering, I am predicting another major blockbuster.

Coverage from the Christian perspective

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By KATE JOHNSON

You may be familiar with the 700 Club, an almost daily newscast on ABC’s Freeform channel produced by the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN).  At CBN, every breaking news headline that another news network like CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC would publish, is reported with Christian or religious-based spin.

On the CBN News website, under the CBN logo, it says in bold letters, “the Christian perspective.”

Many news outlets have sections for news in the United States and world news.  CBN has sections for news in the United States, world news, and another section only for news in Israel.

CBN reports the major stories, but in very different ways than secular news organizations.

For the recent school shooting in Kentucky, like all major news networks, CBN posted a breaking news story about the incident in the traditional hard news format. Later on, CNN posted a follow-up story about a shooting victim who called her mother, whereas CBN posted a follow-up story about Kentucky students coming together for a prayer circle.  MSNBC brought up the debate about gun control legislation and CBN highlighted that the shooter joined an atheist group.

Photo of Kentucky School prayer circle from the CBN News website. Photo credit: Tilghman Pride‏ via Twitter.

This method of reporting and drawing in a particular audience by CBN fills a very specific niche.

It raises questions about accuracy and definite bias, but is this that different than the ways in which “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert caters to bleeding-heart liberals or FOX News caters to radical conservatives?

Those who visit a news media organization such as the CBN for their news are not looking for a neutral or unbiased prospective.  They are looking to find out about the latest news both in the U.S. and worldwide reported to them from a Christian viewpoint with the emphasis on how faith is involved in the major stories of today.

Therefore, the CBN audience would be more interested in reading about the prayer circle in Kentucky, than the debate for gun control legislation. As someone who turns to CBN for the majority of my news, I can attest to this.

Perhaps focusing all coverage on faith may be seen as leaving out major parts of the story about the school shooting.  Conversely, covering prayer circles and religious ties could be viewed as adding more depth.

CBN is the only major news network that fills the Christian audience niche. Its top headlines of last week include, “Pastor Pleads for Protection and Prayers as Syrian Town Endures Attack,” “Oscar-Nominated Film Tells True Story of Muslims Protecting Christians,” and “‘I Never Liked Holding Hands at Church Anyway:’ As Flu Deaths Rise, Churches Change their Rules.”