Monday’s News & Ideas - 9/29/2025

‘The idea of the beautiful is a signature of God’: A Q&A with Marilynne Robinson*
The New York Times: “I believe God knows what life has felt like to people, what they’ve dealt with and what they have lost and they are beautiful in God’s eyes,” she said.

The oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dies at age 101
CNN: Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died Saturday night at the age of 101, church officials announced.

Gunman opens fire at Michigan church and sets it ablaze, killing at least 4 and wounding 8
The Associated Press: An ex-Marine smashed a pickup into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church in Michigan, opened fire and set the building ablaze during a crowded Sunday service and then was fatally shot by police.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns are getting advanced degrees — and the Dalai Lama played a major role in that shift
The Conversation: During the Dalai Lama’s decades of leadership, improving education for the diaspora communities of Tibetans in India and Nepal has been a crucial avenue for protecting and preserving Tibetan culture, including Tibetan Buddhism.

‘We were obedient our entire lives’: The nuns who broke back into their convent
The Guardian: Three nuns fled a care home to return to the convent, defying church orders and gaining global support — but their future remains unknown.

The Spark

ChatGPT is blowing up marriages as spouses use AI to attack their partners
As AI bots like ChatGPT become inextricably tangled with people’s private and public lives, it’s causing new crises, Futurism says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers