Thursday’s News & Ideas - 7/3/2025

Religion’s shifting role in higher ed*
Inside Higher Ed: A new book explores how religion, once at the core of American higher education, made its way to the margins of campus life.

JVP Chicago members attempt indefinite fast to draw attention to Gaza starvation crisis
Religion News Service: The strikers said they will continue to fast until their demands are met or their bodies give out.

1 in 4 Americans reject evolution, a century after the Scopes monkey trial spotlighted the clash between science and religion
The Conversation: The 1925 Scopes trial, in which a Dayton, Tennessee, teacher was charged with violating state law by teaching biological evolution, was one of the earliest and most iconic conflicts in America’s ongoing culture war.

After centuries of isolation, ultra-Orthodox Jews engage with the world more than ever
The Associated Press: Williamsburg and a handful of other locations worldwide — from Monsey, New York, to Stamford Hill, London to Bnei Brak, Israel — host the strictest followers of Orthodox Judaism.

Dalai Lama defies China to say successor will be chosen by Tibetan tradition
The Guardian: The spiritual leader challenged Beijing in a video statement released in the run-up to his 90th birthday celebrations.
Religion News Service: China wants to pick the next Dalai Lama. Will democracies let it?

The Spark

Beneath the blazing sun, Black Phoenix sows community
Climate change is creating a mental health crisis in Phoenix. A budding movement in the desert might solve it, High Country News says.

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