Monday's News & Ideas - 11/6/2023

Faith-based groups’ protests for cease-fire in Gaza gain momentum
Religion News Service: “We don't need a pause, we need it ended — we need it to cease,” the Rev. Darrell Hamilton II said of the violence in Gaza.
NPR: The death toll in Gaza surpasses 10,000 as the conflict enters a second month

Texas activist David Barton wants to end separation of church and state. He has the ear of the new U.S. House speaker.*
The Texas Tribune: Barton has been a staple of Texas’ Christian conservative movement, offering crucial support to politicians and frequently being cited or called on to testify in favor of bills that critics say would erode church-state separations.

Pastor’s family trapped in Gaza grieves relatives killed at church*
Christianity Today: The former pastor of Gaza Baptist Church — stuck in Egypt since start of the war — scrambles to evacuate his wife and children as they struggle to survive at St. Porphyrius Orthodox Church.

French nuns and climate activists square off over plans for a megachurch*
The New York Times: A yearslong standoff over an enormous church complex in a natural park recently broke out in clashes, when the nuns gave chase.

As Ohio and other states decide on abortion, anti-abortion activists look to rebrand themselves as not religious
The Conversation: Ohio voters will cast ballots on Nov. 7, 2023, to determine abortion rules in their state, joining six other states that have put the decisions before voters in ballot initiatives since 2022.

The Spark

Two thousand miles from home
As Russia invaded Ukraine, three women from the same family became pregnant at the same time. Then the war tore them apart, Atavist Magazine says.

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