Friday's News & Ideas - 7/16/2021

Pope reverses Benedict, reimposes restrictions on Latin Mass
Associated Press: Pope Francis cracked down Friday on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy.

Why congregations aren’t waiting to leave the United Methodist Church
Christianity Today: With a denominational split delayed, some are willing to pay big to exit now.

Can Silicon Valley find God?*
The New York Times: Artificial intelligence promises to remake the world. These believers are fighting to make sure thousands of years of text and tradition find a place among the algorithms.

Mindfulness meditation can make some Americans more selfish and less generous
The Conversation: Mindfulness developed as a part of Buddhism, where it’s intimately tied up with Buddhist spiritual teachings and morality. Mindfulness in the U.S., on the other hand, is often taught and practiced in purely secular terms.

Women’s search for women leaders in the early church
JSTOR: Some nineteenth-century women writers argued that the first Christians included women who were close to Paul — and maybe apostles themselves.

The Spark

One by one, my friends were sent to the camps
At The Atlantic, the Uyghur poet Tahir Hamut Izgil shares his story* with the world.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers