Thursday's News & Ideas - 2/27/2025

Boycotts accompany prayer as faith leaders prepare for a Lent of protest 
Religion News Service: The Rev. Jamal Bryant said he hopes 100,000 “conscientious Christians” will have signed up by March 5 to mark the “season of denial” by fasting from shopping at Target.

Who are evangelicals?* 
Christianity Today: The 23% of Americans who identify as evangelicals don’t all look, vote, or pray the same, according to Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study.

The Pope is critically ill. Far-right Catholic trolls are out in force.*
Mother Jones: For some US members of the ascendant Catholic traditionalist movement, Francis’ decline presented an opportunity to criticize him and demand that the Vatican reverse course on what they see as a dangerous tack to the left.

Entrepreneurship as a way out of poverty? Study in rural Kenya shows why it doesn’t always work 
The Conversation: Researchers have argued that cultural norms of collectivism shape how entrepreneurs define themselves, causing them to prioritize their roles as mentors or community safety net. This constrains their ability to innovate and grow their businesses.

Gaza’s ceasefire: ‘peace, peace,’ but there is no peace 
Sojourners: The ceasefire, regardless of whether all the phases are applied, is not an end to the occupation. The prophet Jeremiah understands such false promises of peace.

The Spark

Flushed away: The crappy lie Americans still believe about their toilets.
Thanks to lessons learned from the disastrous low-flow products of the ’90s, the latest water-efficient toilets* not only work, but they work better than the old water-guzzling ones ever did, writes Slate. So why are consumers still skeptical?

*access is limited for nonsubscribers