News & Ideas

Friday's News & Ideas - 3/3/2023

  • Religion & AI
  • Clergy with trans kids
  • Labor Dept axes Trump exemptions
  • Black Methodists
  • Learning from seder
  • School lunch crisis

Can religion save us from artificial intelligence?*
The Los Angeles Times: Religious thinkers and institutions are increasingly wading into the conversation around the ethical uses of a rapidly expanding technology that might one day develop a consciousness of its own — at least according to its Silicon Valley apostles.

‘Our state is at war with our family’: Clergy with trans kids fight back*
The Washington Post: They say their children’s lives and religious liberty are threatened by bills in Missouri and elsewhere

US Labor Dept axes Trump-era expansion of exemptions from anti-bias laws
Reuters: The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday withdrew a rule adopted in the last days of the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump that had expanded a religious exemption from anti-discrimination laws for federal contractors.

Meet the organization preserving and promoting the stories of Black Methodists
Religion News Service: After funding from the United Methodist Church General Conference ended and in-person events were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, the AAMHC is looking for donations in order to continue its work.

Learning from the Passover seder without co-opting it*
The Christian Century: What wisdom can Christians find in Jesus’ meal-gathering around a religious holiday of his people?

The Spark

America’s school lunch crisis
A federal program allowed schools to provide free lunch to all children, Vox says. Why did it have to end?

*access is limited for nonsubscribers



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