Thursday's News & Ideas - 5/18/2023

Cyberfraud cost Florida Baptists more than $700,000
Religion News Service: Churches, like other organizations, face an onslaught of phishing emails and other attempts at cyberfraud. One mistake can be costly.

Parents hope to keep Tennessee school shooter’s ‘dangerous and harmful’ writings secret
Associated Press: In late April, police said they were reviewing the writings for public release, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee tweeted that the release was coming “very soon.”

The Department of Education updates guidance on public school prayer
NPR: The guidance follows last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision Kennedy vs. Bremerton, which held that a public school district could not stop a football coach from praying on the 50-yard line after games.

They moved to a Buddhist retreat in rural America. Have they found happiness?
The Guardian: Practitioners are self-directed in the work they do for the center. There are no managers, but there are a great many projects: new construction, repairs, the publication of prayer texts, website maintenance, a vegetable garden, keeping the center clean, and running retreats.

Science fiction writers imagine the way out*
The Christian Century: Jesus’ parables give us space to see that something else is possible. Writers of new worlds put flesh on these bones.

The Spark

The fight for the soul of a school board
In a small Missouri town, a campaign to remove literature* from the high-school library forced members of the community to reckon with the meaning of “parents’ rights,” The New Yorker says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers