Distractions

Friday Roundup for March 27, 2026

Earlier this week, a friend gave me his tickets to a Dallas Mavericks game at American Airlines Arena near downtown Dallas. I’ve been in the 20,000-seat venue several times before, but it had been a while. And I hadn’t been to a Mavs game in at least 20 years.

These were really good seats, near the action. And just in case you haven’t been to an NBA game in a while, let me tell you, there’s a whole lot of action — everywhere. On the court, on the screens that are everywhere the eye can see, over the speakers. Constant pounding music, constant promotions, constant advertising, constant sponsorships, constant fan engagement, constant contests. This is so much more than a three-ring circus that words fail.

“Overstimulation” is the word that comes to mind. So much so that it’s hard to keep your eye on the actual game, the reason everyone has come here. Professional basketball is the opposite of professional baseball — fast and furious. And the climate of the arena matches that frenzy.

This overwhelming experience made me think of our national politics now and how Steve Bannon once said the Trump administration should “flood the zone” with so many crazy actions that the American public can’t pay attention. The implication is that we would not pay attention to the things that really matter, that we would take our eyes off the game — the reason we’re here.

“So many horrible things have happened in the past year that it’s impossible to catalogue them.”

And you know what, he was right. For way too many Americans, this is working. Donald Trump and his enablers are experts at distraction. Every new mini-crisis is a distraction from the real crisis. So many horrible things have happened in the past year that it’s impossible to catalogue them. And even if you could catalogue them, the list would be too overwhelming for most people to digest.

I have no idea what the final score of the Mavs game was the other night, but I can tell you about many of the blaring ads and gimmicks of the night. They are emblazoned in my memory because they were so loud and obnoxious.

Trump’s obnoxious bluster is all about covering up the dastardly deeds he’s doing more quietly. That’s the stuff we must pay attention to and fight tooth and nail.

To help you focus, here are some broad categories of abuses:

First, democracy is being dismantled. This is not hyperbole or Trump Derangement Syndrome. It is reality. The SAVE America Act is just one example of how Trump and the GOP are seeking to disenfranchise voters while claiming there’s nothing to see here. Julie Goldie Day gives us a quick overview of this threat in an opinion piece.

Second, religious liberty is being redefined. The White House is now empowering a movement conservative evangelicals have been pushing for decades, seeking to redefine religious liberty as something that applies to them but to no one else. They want a privileged position.

We’ve written about this over and over, and the beat goes on. A primary conduit of this work is Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. Now, the lieutenant governor of Texas, who serves as chairman of Trump’s federal commission, has appointed his own state version of the panel. And he named as chair of the Texas committee a well-known Republican Zionist.

Third, truth has been thrown in the garbage. One of the consequences of Trump’s perpetual lying is that his followers — including those who claim to follow the Way, the Truth and the Life — have willingly disregarded truth.

One example of a Trump sycophant is Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who continues to defy the will of his own body by refusing to display a plaque honoring Capitol Police killed and injured in the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Clearly, Johnson does not want to anger Trump by acknowledging the violence of that day which was incited by Trump himself.

Fourth, real people are being harmed. There is a human cost to Trump’s self-serving agenda. Through both the primary offenses and the distractions, real people are being killed, injured and ruined. Yet we are being asked to look the other way and pretend these are not real people. They are “others,” not humans.

And these harmful actions are being given the sanction of God. Take the example of Pete Hegseth, who used an evangelical worship service at the Pentagon this week to pray that every U.S. round of ammunition fired would “find its mark.”

Catherine Meeks says the old saying that “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” isn’t true. The words of Trump and his cronies are indeed breaking us.

Al Mohler this week voiced his support for charging women who get abortions with felonies.

Pro-Trump evangelicals are applauding his war in Iran, saying it will change history. But the nation’s Catholic leaders question its justification and morality while criticizing the administration’s “sickening” videos promoting the violence.

This Trump virus embodied in Project 2025 is now being exported around the world, as our Jeff Brumley documents in a news piece this week.

Fifth, too many are obeying out of fear rather than resisting. Over the past year, we have seen law firms, universities, politicians, preachers and all manner of folks who know better indicate they do not have the willpower to stand up to a bully. They will cower and conform rather than stand on principle.

Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward this week called out her alma mater, Baylor University, for just such fear. While giving an endowed lecture series with the Religion Department, she called out Baylor’s cowardice in allowing Turning Point USA to hold an event on campus while steadfastly blocking LGBTQ Christians from having a voice on campus.

And lest you think this is overreacting, look at the content of “Civil Discourse Week” at Baylor this week and how a single conversation on human sexuality got framed. This has fear written all over it.

Scouting America — previously known as Boy Scouts of America — is tightening its relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense and eliminating its DEI Committee and its “Citizenship in Society” merit badge. That’s a move motivated by fear.

Republican fearmongering about Muslims and Sharia Law is generating plenty of pushback from Democrats and civil rights groups across the country, but next to nothing from GOP leaders in Congress. They embody the fear.

We also should not be surprised that Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are trying to pass a bill that would codify nationwide book bans. Again, fear at work. Fear of books.

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In other news this week:

College students, faculty and staff suffer from hunger at alarming and hard-to-believe rates, reports Sarita Cargas, director of the New Mexico Basic Needs Consortium. “Students in higher education are particularly susceptible to food insecurity.” This is drawn from research that began at my alma mater, the University of New Mexico. Yet its application spans nationwide.

A federal court has temporarily paused a Trump administration policy allowing the arrest and possibly indefinite detention of refugees lawfully resettled in the United States.

Texas has approved at least four Islamic schools to enroll in the state’s $1 billion private school voucher program just days after a federal judge ordered an extension of the application deadline.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has filed lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Labor demanding public records related to monthly prayer meetings hosted by both agencies.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass House Bill 4227, a piece of sexual abuse legislation now being referred to as the “Cindy Clemishire Act.”

In a unanimous and bipartisan vote, the Georgia House Judiciary Committee advanced SB-542, the Clergy Sexual Abuse Accountability Bill, following testimony from survivors, advocates and experts who described the realities of clergy sexual abuse and gaps in legal protections.

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In other analysis this week:

Mallory Challis explores the role machismo plays in some sexual abuse cases, with Cesar Chavez as a prime illustration. Victims often fear coming forward because they don’t want to derail important movements.

In the latest example of a failed Republican candidate for Congress turned worship warrior, Bunni Pounds is heeding the Trump administration’s call to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary by pretending we’re a theocracy, says Rick Pidcock. Pounds has lined up a host of right-wing figures to read through the Bible in public. The pairings are more than ironic.

The Book of Kells is an iconic symbol of Irish culture. Illuminated images from the Medieval masterpiece adorn everything from pennies to postage stamps to pub signs across Ireland. However, new research by Victoria Whitworth is challenging the origin story of this illuminated manuscript. Kristen Thomason explains.

Melissa Deckman reports on new data from Public Religion Research Institute on American attitudes about nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals, religiously based service refusals, and same-sex marriage.

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In other opinion this week:

Bob Guffey says reading John’s Revelation is good for more than end-times prophecy.

Greg Garrett interviewed Tia Levings, the New York Times bestselling author of A Well-Trained Wife and now I Belong to Me.

Michael Chancellor wonders why anyone would want to trade religious liberty for oppression, especially considering the sacrifices our Baptist forebears made.

Brett Younger muses on several Best Picture nominees and the common thread of violence and death in them.

Christa Brown writes about a new low-budget film from the far-right of the Southern Baptist Convention (think TheoBros) that claims SBC leaders “got played” by sexual abuse claims. The assertions of this hack piece are so outrageous and unfounded that we’ve not otherwise written about it. But Christa explains it all.

Will McCorkle wonders what defines the term “Christian” in this age of unbridled Christian nationalism.

Napoleon Harris riffs on an R&B song to explain the choice Jesus offers. Confessional Christianity is not enough, he says.

Josh Bledsoe offers an insightful look at what should happen after a church decides to become fully inclusive. Just changing policy without acknowledging past pain is not enough.

Mark Tidsworth offers seven best practices for derailing the vitalization of your church. These are sure-fire ways to put a church in a death spiral.

And finally, I’m adding to my “how to” funeral series. In addition to a previous piece on how to give a eulogy, this week’s addition is about how to write an obituary. Save this one; you may need it some day.

A final word

With the calendar about to roll over to April, we’re making preparations for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, which will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., in June. We’ve got big news next week about the breakfast BNG will sponsor in collaboration with Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists and Good Faith Media. If you’re planning to be in Jacksonville, you’re going to want to be at this breakfast. Stay tuned.

Mark Wingfield
Executive Director and Publisher
Baptist News Global