Thursday’s News & Ideas - 4/30/2026

Newsboys co-founder sues Julie Roys, World Vision and rival Christian concert promoters
Religion News Service: In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Wes Campbell, a music promoter and co-founder of the popular Christian band, said rival promoters created false accusations of misconduct for anticompetitive reasons.

Church of Scientology blasts TikTok ‘speed running’ trend as viral videos circulate
NBC News: Los Angeles police said they are monitoring the trend and conducting extra patrols in the Hollywood area.

Silicon Valley gets religion
Quartz: Chatbot makers, theologians, and faith-tech entrepreneurs are trying to align artificial intelligence with moral and religious traditions.

U.K. calls antisemitism an emergency after arson and stabbing attacks on Jewish people
The Associated Press: The British government on Thursday said the country is facing an antisemitism emergency and pledged to increase security for Jewish communities after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing that have sparked fear and anger among U.K. Jews.

A masterful survey of American religious history*
The Christian Century: Thomas Tweed offers a bold new benchmark for scholars, with an expansive scope across 11 millennia and far beyond Protestantism.

The Spark

Was it worth it?
Claiming I’m injecting Ozempic to recover from grief deflects simple humiliation into potential empathy, Adam Dalva writes for Longreads.

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