Friday's News & Ideas - 9/10/2021

Anti-Sikh bigotry didn’t start with 9/11. That fact got me through it.
Religion News Service: When people ask Simran Jeet Singh how he was able to endure the specter of bigotry as a visible Sikh in modern America, the answer is simple and honest: perspective.

Archbishop Carl Bean, ‘beacon of light’ in LGBTQ church movement and AIDS activism, dies*
The Los Angeles Times: Bean established himself as a towering and compassionate figure in South Los Angeles where he led a church that was a haven for the Black LGBTQ community.

Supreme Court stays execution in dispute over pastor’s role in death chamber*
The New York Times: The ruling was the latest in a string of decisions on the role that spiritual advisers may play in death row inmates’ final moments.

No major religious denomination opposes vaccination, but religious exemptions may still complicate mandates
Kaiser Health News: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) grants broad leeway to what constitutes a sincerely held religious belief. As a result, some experts predict most employers and administrators won’t want to challenge such objections from their employees.

The architectural, cultural, and religious significance of minarets
ArchDaily: Islamic architecture has long been acknowledged as one of the most significant and influential typologies that translates the religion’s core teachings and beliefs into structures.

The Spark

Theo Henderson’s podcast influences L.A. city policy. For 7 years, he’s lived mostly in the park.
Last year, Henderson started recording conversations with other unhoused Angelenos and editing together short audio episodes which became a podcast* entitled “We the Unhoused,” Curbed says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers