Monday’s News & Ideas - 7/21/2025

‘She is the future of our church.’ Winnie Varghese named first woman dean of St. John the Divine.
Religion News Service: The election of Varghese, a queer woman of Indian descent, as dean of America’s largest Episcopal church represents a number of historic firsts.

Catholic clergy are speaking out on immigration — more than any other political issue except abortion
The Conversation: Catholic priests across the U.S. discuss immigration with their congregations more than leaders in many other faith traditions, according to research published in the journal Sociological Focus.

The Druse: An insular faith, facing a fractured Middle East*
The New York Times: Spread across Syria, Lebanon and Israel, the secretive religious minority has long balanced integration and independence. Now, members are at the heart of the region’s shifting power struggles.

Don’t degrade church with politics*
The Atlantic: Church intervention in electoral races is an efficient polarization machine.

The Christian Left’s battle for the Bible — and the country*
Salon: In Pennsylvania’s Bible Belt, a congregation refuses to cede religion to Christian Nationalists.

The Spark

Community radio stations are collateral damage as Congress cuts NPR funding
When President Trump pushed to slash federal funding for public media, he said a key reason was because he thinks PBS and NPR are politically biased. But some of those hardest hit are small radio operations that provide local news and information to rural communities, NPR says.

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