Thursday’s News & Ideas - 8/20/2026
- DHS spied on Midwest churches
- Graceless culture & Jason Arday
- Church buying YMCA branch
- US citizens denied entry to Israel
- Christian nationalism in UK
- Racist streamer
DHS, probing anti-ICE activists, spied on at least five Midwest churches, court records indicate
Religion News Service: Church leaders were outraged and vowed to continue their advocacy for immigrants.
Jason Arday’s unnecessary death and the cost of a graceless culture
Religion News Service: The tragedy reveals the cost of conflating cruelty and accountability.
Moments of nope?*
The Assembly: When a church led by one of Charlotte’s most prominent pastors announced it had arranged to buy a beloved YMCA branch, he thought he’d found a home for his fast-expanding congregation. Then came the protests.
13 US citizens denied entry to Israel for weeklong trip to learn about Palestinian Christians
Religion News Service: Amid escalating violence in the West Bank, an interfaith group, led by a retired Emory University theology professor, was turned back at Israel’s border.
Is Christian nationalism a threat to the UK?
New Humanist: The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the head of Humanists UK discuss the growing influence of religious nationalism.
The Spark
A racist streamer predicted he could get away with killing a Black man. Then he shot Joshua Fox.
An online nightmare* became an Army veteran’s reality, Slate says. In a first-time interview, Fox told me he never wanted any of this.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
