Thursday's News & Ideas - 1/16/2025

Negotiators reach six-week ceasefire in Gaza, officials say
Reuters: Hamas and Israel reached a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza that mediators said would take effect on Sunday and include a release of hostages held there during 15 months of bloodshed that devastated the Palestinian enclave and inflamed the Middle East. 
NPR: Netanyahu delays ceasefire vote, claiming Hamas created a ‘last minute crisis’

Minister accused of sex abuse landed one high-profile job after another*
The Washington Post: Jeff Taylor went from the pulpit to the Red Cross to a college nonprofit. Now, his alleged victims are speaking out, and the FBI is investigating.

SMU wants to separate from the church but keep the ‘Methodist’*
Inside Higher Ed: The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in an ongoing legal saga between the United Methodist Church and Southern Methodist University over who governs the university.

Faith-based immigrant rights activist faces threat of deportation 
Religion News Service: Ravi Ragbir has helped thousands of immigrants as the co-founder of New Sanctuary Coalition. Now he faces the threat of deportation.

The legacy of Black activist teachers*
The Christian Century: Almeda Wright’s impeccably researched profiles explore the connections between religion, education, and social action, with the goal of inspiring in young people a grander sense of the impact they can have.

The Spark

The forgers hall of fame: a brief history of literary fakes and frauds 
Literary forgery is as old as literature itself. Many accomplished forgers — most of them men — have been the children not of finaglers and fraudsters but of upstanding literary citizens in their day, writes Bradford Morrow for Literary Hub.

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