Thursday's News & Ideas - 3/5/2020

Coronavirus threatens one of the most sacred moments in church: Communion*
Washington Post: When the tidal wave of coronavirus news washed over his suburban Philadelphia congregation, the Rev. Barry Gray knew he had two issues, one spiritual and the other political. And they were intertwined.
HuffPost: Catholic Churches are emptying holy water fonts over coronavirus concerns

Tornado in ‘the buckle of the Bible Belt’ takes toll on houses of worship
Baptist News Global: Tornadoes that destroyed more than 140 buildings Tuesday night in middle Tennessee left their mark on a number of religious landmarks in Nashville.

In Europe, church taxes are voluntary. People pay them anyway.
Christian Century: The tax generates very significant sums for the churches -- several billion euros annually across the continent.

How Reddit is helping ex-La Luz del Mundo members cope with life after the church
Religion News Service: For Raquel Guerra, transitioning to life outside the church wasn’t easy. For years, she could not find anyone who could sympathize with what she had been through -- then she found a community on Reddit.

If God is dead, then ... socialism?
Vox: Philosopher Martin Hägglund on freedom, politics, and the meaning of life.

The Spark

Sharing my husband’s digital afterlife
“Two and a half years after my husband died, I gave his iPhone to our daughter,” Fernanda Santos writes at Slate.

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