Friday's News & Ideas - 2/7/2025
- Trump order on ‘anti-Christian bias’
- If ICE comes to your church
- Spiritual side of mental health
- Church on ‘Proud Boys’ trademark
- Two HDS admins quit
- Lessons on the end of the world
Trump signs order to fight ‘anti-Christian bias’*
The New York Times: The president convened a task force to “prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism.” Critics said he’d turned religious freedom on its head by singling out one faith.
What to do if ICE comes to your church
Sojourners: Now that President Donald Trump has rescinded longstanding policy limiting U.S. immigration enforcement in churches and other sensitive locations, some church leaders are wondering what they should do if an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer comes knocking.
Treading on taboos, a psychiatrist trains Christians to see spiritual side of mental health
Religion News Service: Spearheaded by Dr. Atasha Jordan, a Christian psychiatrist, the Christian Mental Health Initiative provides free mental health first aid trainings to churches.
Historic Black church given ‘Proud Boys’ trademark calls for stand against hate
NPR: A historic Black church in Washington, D.C., that has been awarded control of the name of an extremist group that vandalized its property is calling for people to take a stand against hate.
Administrators at Harvard Divinity School quit, say school condoned hate
Religion News Service: Two administrators at Harvard Divinity School’s Religion in Public Life program have left. The latest, Hussein Rashid, cited anti-Muslim bias.
The Spark
Lessons for the end of the world
Hanif Abdurraqib writes for The New Yorker on Octavia Butler, the L.A. fires, and the uses and misuses of the things that cannot be recovered.*
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
