Monday's News & Ideas - 1/8/2024

Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York sued for gender bias 
The Associated Press: Yale professor Eboni Marshall Turman has filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Abyssinian and its search committee of gender discrimination.

How Trump captured Iowa’s religious right*
The New Yorker: The state’s evangelical voters were once skeptical of the former President. Now they are among his strongest supporters.

Churches: We need to reconsider our Facebook accounts
Sojourners: In October of last year, 33 states sued Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, alleging that the company has “concealed the ways in which these Platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.”

Pope calls for universal ban on surrogate parenting
Reuters: Pope Francis called on Monday for a global ban on parenting via surrogacy, calling the practice “deplorable” and a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.

The 80/20 rule is a problem for churches*
The Christian Century: So why do so many embrace it as a solution?

The Spark

An endangered river dolphin finds an unlikely savior
Engaging fisherfolk as citizen scientists is just the latest effort conservationists are trying as they, against all odds, slowly revive the numbers of the Indus River dolphin, NPR says.

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