Thursday's News & Ideas - 7/18/2024

Congregations in best financial health since pandemic, clergy say in new report
Religion News Service: Leaders say their institutions are generally financially stable, if a bit limited due to inflation.

Hillbillies deserve more than an elegy*
Christianity Today: VP candidate J.D. Vance’s best-selling memoir told a compelling story about my home region in Appalachia. But it was not the whole story.

Israeli military to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox seminary students next week
Reuters: Israelis are bound by law to serve in the military from the age of 18 for 24-32 months. Members of Israel's 21% Arab minority and ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students have largely been exempt for decades.

Some evangelicals still don’t believe climate change is real, while others believe it is God’s judgment for sin
Baptist News Global: The scientific consensus is that human-caused greenhouse gases make these problems worse, but conservative Christian groups deny this consensus, claim it’s not really that hot and suggest weather woes may be signs of God’s divine wrath or the second coming of Christ.

What the Catholic Church says about political violence and the need to forgive – even would-be assassins
The Conversation: As a specialist in medieval Christianity, I know that Catholic views on the morality of killing have evolved over time. And while Christianity eventually came to defend the idea of warfare for self-defense and the common good, it has also emphasized the value of forgiveness of enemies.

The Spark

100 of the greatest posters of celebrities urging you to read 
The American Library Association has for nearly 40 years been putting out “Read” posters featuring celebrities and books, says Lit Hub.

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