Monday's News & Ideas - 4/7/2025
- McCarrick dies
- Young Christian missionaries
- Quaker parents
- Authoritarianism & gender
- ‘Negative world’ idea
- Genetics startup
Defrocked former D.C. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick dies at 94
NPR: Theodore McCarrick, a once-powerful Catholic cardinal who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children, has died. He was 94.
‘It felt like a demon was inside me’: Young Christian missionaries allege spiritual abuse
The Guardian: They travel the world to convert every “tribe, tongue and nation” to Jesus. But behind the scenes, young missionaries describe discipline, pressure and strict controls.
Quaker parents were ahead of their time*
The Atlantic: The nearly 375-year-old religion’s principles line up surprisingly well with modern parenting research.
Why authoritarianism needs gender stereotypes — and democracy needs gender justice
Religion Dispatches: Contemporary authoritarians everywhere — from Texas to Turkey to Tel Aviv — mobilize misogyny to consolidate their power by reinforcing gendered hierarchies.
Aaron Renn might be right that Christians face ‘negative world.’ But is it new?
Religion News Service: “Is the world supposed to be positive toward the Christian faith?” one evangelical leader asked about Renn’s thesis. “Whose Christianity?”
The Spark
The dire wolf is back
Colossal, a genetics startup, has birthed three pups that contain ancient DNA retrieved from the remains of the animal’s extinct* ancestors, The New Yorker says. Is the woolly mammoth next?
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
