Pro-Lifers in Decline, Super Bowl Halftime Alternative

Plus, K-Love takes Milwaukee.

EDITOR’S NOTE: “Signs and Wonders” is a column that shares thoughts on news items that either do not rise to the level of a news story for MinistryWatch or are slightly (even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” My goal is to be punchy, opinionated, and not to worry much about being slightly off brand. If that is not for you, no hard feelings. But if it is…read on.

Pro-Lifers in Decline. The number of people who identify as pro-life has fallen dramatically since 2015. A Marist poll released one day before the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., found that just 37% of Americans identify as “pro-life. That is a 12-point drop since 2015. David Gibson, director of Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture, said this poll represents a “massive failure” for the pro-life movement. Patrick Brown, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, suggests that pro-lifers have too closely aligned with political causes at the cost of alienating people we need to persuade. He wrote: “Abortion opponents must also remember that their ultimate goal is not won on the cycle of mid-term elections….The goal of any social movement, particularly one that touches on deeply personal issues, is seeking converts, not heretics.”

Super Bowl Halftime Alternative. Turning Point USA will have an alternative concert to the Super Bowl halftime show, and it will air on the so-called Christian TV network TBN. The alternative program will feature Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett. Cameron Strang, writing for Relevant, said, “The event has been positioned not as a worship gathering or spiritual experience, but as a cultural statement—one meant to contrast ‘acceptable’ American values with what they believe the Super Bowl is celebrating.” Strang goes on to write, though, “Kid Rock is not a Christian artist. His music is the furthest thing from family friendly. His career has been built on explicit lyrics, sexual bravado, profanity, heavy drinking imagery, and a proudly rebellious persona. He has a song celebrating having sex with underage girls (“Cool, Daddy Cool”). For decades, he embodied exactly the kind of secular culture TBN routinely warned its viewers against.”

K-Love Moves into Milwaukee. Educational Media Foundation (EMF) has closed on two radio stations in the Milwaukee-Racine market. WLDB-FM 93.3 and WLUM-FM 102.1 have officially been sold by the Milwaukee Radio Alliance. K-LOVE acquired the stations for $4 million, which industry insiders said was a bargain basement price. WLDB is now home to Christian Contemporary K-LOVE, while WLUM is now Worship Music brand Air1. By some measures, EMF is now the largest radio station owner in the nation. Including translators in small markets, it has more than 1,000 signals, topping iHeartRadio’s 850 stations.

Moody Bible Institute Lawsuit. In November, MinistryWatch reported that Moody Bible Institute of Chicago had filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education of the City of Chicago because its students were being excluded from the Chicago Public Schools student-teaching program. Now, Congress has taken an interest. In a December letter, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich) pressed Chicago Public Schools for answers about the lawsuit and its interactions with Moody, The College Fix reported. Walberg chairs the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce. Walberg’s spokesperson Sara Robertson told The College Fix that the public school system recently responded to the congressman’s letter, and his office is currently reviewing the response. “Next steps will depend on what our team finds during the review process. We also are monitoring the litigation that Moody has against CPS on this topic,” Robertson said in an email.

Is this Journalism? Last week, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was assaulted during a town hall meeting by someone who sprayed her with a substance that turned out to be apple cider vinegar. That much is not news. Most major outlets carried the story of the assault and that the liquid was determined to be apple cider vinegar. What was weird to me about this is that conspiracy theorists claimed Omar staged the assault. Weirder still is that The Christian Post amplified those theories. Is it my imagination, or has what used to be called “Christian journalism” taken a turn for the surreal?

Readers in Nashville, Los Angeles. I have some travel coming up in the next couple of months, and I would love to see you. I will be in Nashville later this month, February, and Los Angeles in April. I will be doing reader lunches in both cities. Let me know if you would like to join us. My email is [email protected].

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