The following links were among those featured in the days after the June 12, 2016, mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, in News & Ideas, Faith & Leadership’s daily compilation of headlines about the church and the world.
The sermon on Pulse you didn’t hear in church
Orlando (Florida) Sentinel: What’s making Eddie Kaufholz nervous is the church -- collective Christianity. It’s standing at the crossroads of an unprecedented decision.
Religious roots of hatred resurface in Orlando
Religion News Service: One year after the Supreme Court ruled that gays can legally marry, and at a time when most polls show that a majority of Americans support LGBT equality, the mass shooting in Orlando shocked many Americans who had begun to take gay rights for granted.
The Orlando shootings and American Muslims
The New Yorker: The celebration of Muhammad Ali and the beginning of Ramadan meant it was a good week for Muslims in the U.S. Then the Orlando attack happened.
A meditation on the Orlando shooting
Christianity Today: This latest attack is part of a pattern, and the pretext for a remarkable prayer.
This Bloody Sunday will not define us. #OrlandoProud
Orlando Sentinel: “Dad?” columnist Scott Maxwell’s son asked. “Do you think this is how people will know us from now on? As one of the shooting cities?”
From Orlando, Emanuel AME pastor calls for stricter gun laws and unity after mass shooting
The (Charleston, South Carolina) Post and Courier: Days before Charleston commemorates the anniversary of the Emanuel AME Church shooting, the church’s pastor is in Orlando to stand with a community reeling from a gun-related tragedy of its own.
Florida Catholic bishop: ‘It is religion, including our own,’ that targets LGBT people
The Washington Post: The women and men who were mowed down in Orlando were all made in the image and likeness of God, says the St. Petersburg, Florida, bishop. “We teach that. We should believe that. We must stand for that.”
God weeps over Orlando
Religion News Service: God saw what happened during the attack on the nightclub in Orlando -- and God wept, says Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin.
I’ve studied radicalization -- and Islamophobia often plants the seed
The (London) Guardian: Evidence shows that alienating an entire religious community will make us less safe. There are better ways to fight extremism, says researcher Sarah Lyons-Padilla.
Speak the power of love before we lose ability to speak at all
Baptist News Global: No more thoughts and prayers. No more silence in the face of evil, the Rev. Amy Butler says in a letter to pastors and church leaders.
When forbidden sexuality meets unchanging religious tradition
Religion News Service: The intersection of religious authority and forbidden sexuality is dangerous, and it must be navigated by all who are raised in religions that reject same-sex attraction and relationships, says ethicist David Gushee.
Orlando shooting: An attack at the center of America’s fault lines
Religion & Politics: First, the sorrow. Then, the fury. Next, what? It’s the action or lack thereof that so thoroughly divides us.
Grieving together: How Orlando’s Hispanic evangelicals are reaching out
Christianity Today: A local pastor shares on-the-ground efforts to pray for, comfort and serve their LGBT neighbors.
LGBTQ religion activist: It’s time to talk about America’s faith-based homophobia problem
Vox: Faith in America executive director Eliel Cruz explains why the shooting in Orlando is a sobering reminder that using religion to oppress people can lead to deadly consequences.
What happened when an Orthodox Jewish congregation went to a gay bar to mourn Orlando
The Washington Post: It is not the opening line of a joke but an opportunity to connect, break down barriers and learn that if we are going to survive, we all need each other.
Louisville and Orlando, 2016
Baptist News Global: These days, when cynicism overwhelms, Bill Leonard tries to remember the night in a Louisville cathedral when Muhammad Ali kissed him on the cheek, an interfaith congregation reached out in thanksgiving, and for a moment, the kingdom of God came near. You gotta hope.
The Orlando tragedy: What can be said?
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: What we need most is not declarations of the undoubted meaning of the catastrophe but lament. We need not commentary but poetry.
1,000 mass shootings in 1,260 days: This is what America’s gun crisis looks like
The (London) Guardian: A mass shooting now happens in the U.S. on five out of every six days, on average.
The most political gun in America
Politico Magazine: If there’s one weapon that reflects the intractability of the gun debate in the United States, it’s the AR-15.
