Monday's News & Ideas - 8/19/2019

Democratic hopefuls talk prayer and politics at black church forum
Religion News Service: Three Democratic presidential hopefuls fielded questions from black church leaders on Friday (Aug. 16), bouncing between politics and prayer as they vied for support from an audience of about 5,000 black millennials.
AP: ‘A heavy lift’: Religious black voters weigh Buttigieg's bid

What will it take to keep young people in the church?
America: How do we keep them, or anyone really, Catholic? To keep them, we have to stop asking that question in the first place.

Do conservative Evangelicals like Trump not despite but for his hatefulness?
New York Magazine: There’s more than a little pleasure taken in Trump’s treatment of their enemies.

English cathedrals attract the devout, the dotty and darker forces
Economist: This summer has brought an especially rich crop of bizarre tales about the ways in which England’s 42 cathedrals draw in the public and raise funds.

Southwestern distances itself from Paige Patterson in sex abuse lawsuit
Christianity Today: He was the face of Southern Baptist seminary. Now the school keeps taking steps to separate from his legacy.

The Spark

A fungus could wipe out the banana forever
The banana -- or at least the fruit as we know it -- is facing an existential crisis, according to Wired.

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