From staff writer Emily Belz: In phone calls with pastors in Springfield, Ohio, last week, I could hear their distress. One brought up a TikTok provocateur who had come to town to ride the controversy over the social media–fueled rumors about Haitian immigrants eating pets. Another said a white supremacist had pretended to be a reporter and peppered him with questions. Springfield pastors have been through months of tension over the recent arrival of thousands of immigrants, but they weren’t prepared for the full attention of the worst corners of the internet. 

No one is prepared for that spotlight coming to their town. When the attention and controversy is so fierce, it can feel like anything bad can happen. But the local pastors I talked to responded hopefully: In a short time they rearranged schedules and sermon topics and planned a community prayer walk. 

These local news events also provide a window to see how much norms have shifted in American society. A pastor of one of the largest churches in town told me, “Our community as a whole has suspended the rules on things like slander … things I would expect we would have some kind of allergic reaction to. They have now become expected and the norm because we’re watching it modeled at the national level.”