Friday's News & Ideas - 1/19/2024
- Tree of Life demolition begins
- Americans become more spiritual
- Gaza’s oldest mosque destroyed
- Even God gets lonely
- Ban on Muslim prayer in British school
- Witchcraft accusations across centuries
Demolition of Tree of Life synagogue building begins*
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The building’s removal will make way for a memorial.
Around 4 in 10 Americans have become more spiritual over time; fewer have become more religious
Pew Research Center: Most Americans are spiritual or religious in some way and many also say their spirituality and level of religiosity have changed over time.
Gaza’s oldest mosque, destroyed in an airstrike, was once a temple to Philistine and Roman gods, a Byzantine and Catholic church, and had engravings of Jewish ritual objects
The Conversation: The Omari Mosque in Gaza was largely destroyed by Israeli bombardment on Dec. 8, 2023. It was one of the most ancient mosques in the region and a beloved Gazan landmark.
The Bible suggests even God gets lonely. Why don’t religious people talk more about it?
Religion News Service: There is much to be learned from loneliness: prophecy, solidarity, fun, freedom — even creativity.
A ban on Muslims praying in school is a dystopian, sinister vision of Britishness
The Guardian: The decision by ‘Britain’s strictest head’ reflects a wider culture with a myopic view of what multiculturalism should look like.
The Spark
Trials of the witchy women
Across seven centuries, women have been accused of witchcraft* — but what that means often differs wildly, revealing the anxieties of each particular society, The New Yorker says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
