Friday’s News & Ideas - 7/13/2026
- Politicized Christianity’s toll
- Mullally supports reparations fund
- Role-playing games at church
- Youth on Black Baptist denomination
- Brian Doerksen’s legacy
- Wikipedia editor
The problem with political Christianity*
The New York Times: Donald Trump’s presidencies are the evangelical church’s unwanted gift to America.
Archbishop of Canterbury vows to support £100m pledge helping communities affected by enslavement
The Guardian: During a visit to Ghana, Sarah Mullally says that the controversial fund symbolizes the Christian belief in repentance.
Embracing role-playing games at church
United Methodist News Service: “I would honestly say that it might be our most successful ministry,” said James Poland.
Progressive National Baptist young people see signs of welcome but seek less judgment
Religion News Service: “I feel like also seasoned adults complain about what we're wearing,” said one teen about her historically Black denomination.
Brian Doerksen gave evangelicalism its soundtrack but not its current theology
Religion News Service: Today’s evangelical worship culture often reflects a very different vision of God than the one Doerksen’s songs proclaimed.
The Spark
The accidental architect of the internet’s brain
Steven Pruitt, who is widely regarded as the most prolific Wikipedia editor,* has made more than six million edits to the site, and, by extension, has quietly shaped the raw material that every major A.I. chatbot was trained on, The New Yorker says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
