Thursday's News & Ideas - 8/19/2021
- SBC leaders sued
- Brazil’s first transgender pastor
- UMC split options
- The Virgin Mary’s many roles
- Humanities & religious colleges
- Social media redesigns change us
Hannah-Kate Williams, alleging sex abuse failures, sues SBC leaders
Religion News Service: After years of asking Southern Baptist officials to address her reports of sexual abuse by her pastor father, a young Kentucky woman has filed a defamation suit against several church leaders.
Baptist News Global: New lawsuit accuses SBC Executive Committee, Southern Seminary, Lifeway and others of ‘conspiracy’ to cover up sexual abuse claims
Brazil’s first transgender pastor: ‘All humans have flaws, being trans isn’t one of them’
The Guardian: In a country with shocking brutality against LGBTQ+ people, Alexya Salvador is using her faith to help others like her.
Analysts hope to help congregations understand the options with potential United Methodist split
Baptist News Global: Grassroots advocates are urging The United Methodist Church’s officials to make sure congregations have sufficient data about a proposed new denomination to make an informed choice concerning affiliation, should an anticipated split come about.
Warrior, servant, mother, unifier — the Virgin Mary has played many roles through the centuries
The Conversation: For nearly 2,000 years, different Christian groups have understood Mary in various ways: as a servant, a warrior, an advocate, a leader, an exemplar, or as some combination of these.
Fighting for the humanities at church-related colleges*
Christian Century: “What good is a Methodist college that doesn’t have religion professors?” asks one student.
The Spark
How social media redesigns manipulate us
A change like Twitter’s new Chirp font might seem subtle. The effects* are anything but, says The New Yorker.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
