News & Ideas

Thursday's News & Ideas - 1/30/2020

  • Evangelicals on Trump’s Israel plan
  • Clergy address abuse database
  • Pro-life Democrats
  • Making Dorothy Day a saint?
  • No Christian case for Trump
  • Wikipedia censorship

Evangelicals embrace Trump's peace plan, saying it recognizes the Bible ‘as legal’
Religion News Service: To many evangelicals and ardent Christian Zionists, God promised the land of Israel to the Jews and to the Jews alone.

New database of abusive clergy will ‘put pressure’ on bishops to improve transparency
Crux: Some observers say the database is a sign of a new era of transparency in the Catholic Church, and others are calling it the “privatization of justice” after years of church leaders blocking such efforts.

Will pro-life democratic voters be courted in the 2020 primary? So far, it’s not likely.
America: The political action committee Democrats for Life of America does not often capture national attention.

Dorothy Day was a radical. Now many want the Vatican to make her a saint.*
Washington Post: Today, as socialism, activism and anti-institutionalism surge into the American mainstream, a new campaign has begun to honor Day as a saint.

There is no Christian case for Trump*
The Atlantic: When faith is treated as an instrumentality, it’s bad for politics and worse for the Christian witness.

The Spark

Wikipedia has been unblocked in Turkey, finally
But what worked there may not help in other countries that censor the encyclopedia, Slate says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers

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Lilly logo

Lilly Endowment Inc. announces Exploring Christian Practices Initiative

The Exploring Christian Practices Initiative aims to multiply opportunities and increase access to settings that help individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds explore and engage in Christian practices to address their spiritual interests and questions, find and build community with others, nourish their religious lives and grow in faith. 

In this open and competitive initiative, the Endowment invites charitable organizations to submit proposals for grants of up to $2.5 million each that may be used for up to a five-year period to develop new and/or enhance existing programs that present promising strategies for advancing the aim of the initiative and provide compelling and thoughtful responses to its guiding questions. The Endowment anticipates awarding approximately 60 grants and announcing grant awards in December 2026.

The Endowment will host four virtual information sessions (February 17, 19, 24, and 25) to discuss the Exploring Christian Practices guidelines for submitting a proposal. An Interest Form and Letter of Interest are due March 25, 2026. Complete proposals are due May 18, 2026.

Learn More and register for information sessions