Thursday's News & Ideas - 4/22/2021

An early promise broken: Inside Biden’s reversal on refugees*
The New York Times: What had been an easy promise on the campaign trail -- to reverse what Democrats called President Donald J. Trump’s “racist” limits on accepting refugees -- has become a test of what is truly important to President Biden.

Church of England told it must shortlist ethnic minorities for senior posts
BBC: The most recent figures reveal 93.7% of senior staff in the Church -- including bishops, archdeacons and cathedral clergy -- were white British.

Outspoken Hong Kong pastor and head of Baptist Convention leaves city over national security law fears
South China Morning Post: Reverend Lo Hing-choi says his abrupt departure on Tuesday was prompted by the erosion of Hong Kong’s unique freedoms.

Seattle Pacific University faculty vote no confidence in board over LGBTQ exclusion
Religion News Service: Approved by 72% of the faculty, the April 20th vote was the latest in a series of escalating clashes between faculty, students and the school’s governing board over its refusal to hire LGBTQ people.

Famine in the Bible is more than a curse: It is a signal of change and a chance for a new beginning
The Conversation: As the coronavirus spread rapidly around the world last year, the United Nations warned that the economic disruption of the pandemic could result in famines of “biblical proportions.”

The Spark

George Floyd was also a father
For many of us, when we see the Floyds,* we see our family, Clint Smith writes at The Atlantic.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers

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