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



Sign up to receive religion news every weekday in the free News & Ideas newsletter

Signup options

Most recent News & Ideas

Friday’s News & Ideas - 5/1/2026

  • ‘Black voters will persist‘
  • Camp Mystic's leadership
  • Adam Hamilton runs for office
  • Penalizing disabled adults
  • Mother mourns slain son
  • 10 lessons on ending the fossil fuel era

Thursday’s News & Ideas - 4/30/2026

  • Newsboys co-founder sues Julie Roys
  • ‘Speedrunning’ Scientology
  • Chatbots talk to theologians
  • UK antisemitism emergency
  • American religious history
  • Injecting Ozempic

Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 4/29/2026

  • Opposition to death penalty
  • ‘Wife schools’
  • Can Trump push away evangelicals?
  • Revival that wasn’t
  • Wexner Foundation & Epstein
  • Message in a bottle
data

Generate a religion demographics report for your ZIP code

This tool from the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) assists church and community leaders in accessing free online information about their communities. The initial map shows the location of other churches in your area and the Community Profile Builder provides you with social, economic and religious information on the community or neighborhoods you select.

Learn More