Friday's News & Ideas - 6/11/2021

The fight for the heart of the Southern Baptist Convention*
The New Yorker: How the Convention’s battle over race reveals an emerging evangelical schism.
New York Magazine: The Southern Baptist church is going to hell in a handbasket*
Associated Press: Secret recordings show Southern Baptist dispute on sex abuse

Pastors value denominations but unsure about future
Baptist Standard: A Lifeway Research study asked Protestant pastors their thoughts on the importance of denominations and how they believe denominations will fare in the next 10 years.

Riz Ahmed calls for urgent change in ‘toxic portrayals’ of Muslims on screen
The Guardian: Actor cites ‘racist’ Hollywood films and urges industry reform to end stereotypes that drive ‘policies enacted and people killed.’

Faith and the fight for a $15 minimum wage
Religion & Politics: The coalition of faith and labor has a rich and complex history -- most notably seen during the rise of the social gospel movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Religion News Service: Poor People’s Campaign plans ‘Moral March on Manchin’

Friends mourn Steve Austin, former pastor and author who wrote about suicide and mental health
Religion News Service: Author and speaker Steve Austin had spent years trying to reduce the stigma of mental illness. A survivor of abuse and of a suicide attempt in 2016, he was open about sharing his own struggles.

The Spark

What I gained from self-defense class in the wake of anti-Asian attacks
Some Asian women are learning new skills* to protect themselves, bolstering their sense of agency, confidence and competence on the street, The New York Times says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers

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