Friday’s News & Ideas - 7/17/2026
- Pastor’s ICE detention
- Rethinking funding for Israel
- Church & the disabled
- Scholar of Islam dies
- Legal fight over Abyssinian pastor
- Raccoon capital
A pastor’s lengthy ICE detention leaves his Colorado parishioners torn*
The Washington Post: Many support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown but empathize with the man who preached to and led Bible studies with them.
American Jews face a Democratic Party rethinking unconditional Israel support
Religion News Service: A growing number of Democrats, and a growing number of American Jews, no longer want the U.S. to issue Israel a blank check.
If the church doesn’t rise up for the disabled, who will?
Religion News Service: Moving forward does not require first answering every question. The gospel calls us to simply take the next right step.
John Esposito, pioneering scholar of Islam in the US, dies aged 86
Al Jazeera: Georgetown scholar and author spent decades building bridges between the Islamic and Western worlds.
Appeal renews legal fight over Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church pastor
Religion News Service: Plaintiffs filed a brief July 9 requesting that the election of the Rev. Kevin R. Johnson as the church’s senior pastor be set aside so a new election can be held, in an attempt to appeal a 2025 court decision.
The Spark
Welcome to Toronto, world capital of the urban raccoon
If you ask anybody in Toronto, they’ll tell you that raccoons are everywhere, Literary Hub says.
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