News & Ideas

Thursday's News & Ideas - 8/22/2019

  • Trump, ‘the chosen one’
  • Religions for Peace Assembly
  • Trump & ‘disloyal’ Jews
  • Rev. Recinos story
  • VeggieTales revival
  • BuzzFeed's MoodFeed

‘I am the chosen one’: Trump again plays on messianic claims as he embraces ‘King of Israel’ title*
Washington Post: President Trump on Wednesday tweeted a fawning quote from a non-Jewish conservative radio host who described Trump as the “King of Israel” and who said, without evidence, that Israeli Jews “love him like he is the second coming of God.”

The Christian church: Dying out or thriving like never before?
DW: At the Religions for Peace World Assembly, there are both German priests who often preach to empty church benches and Zambian pastors who play a leading role in society.

Donald Trump and the ‘disloyal’ Jews*
New York Times: Author Bari Weiss writes, “A president loyal only to himself uses my community as a political weapon.”

Grit and grace: SMU's Hal Recinos left street life to become poet and professor
Dallas News: The Rev. Harold Recinos overcame homelessness and heroin addiction to become a United Methodist elder and professor at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology.

VeggieTales to mount latest revival on Trinity Broadcasting Network
Religion News Service: The Christian broadcaster will air 18 new episodes of VeggieTales, beginning with a Christmas special that will debut in late fall.

The Spark

BuzzFeed’s new MoodFeed recommends content based on how you’re feeling
On MoodFeed, readers can identify their mood -- current options include curious, stressed, bored, nostalgic, joyful or hungry -- then they’ll get a list of articles that match those feelings according to TechCrunch.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers

Want to get News & Ideas in your inbox every weekday?
Subscribe to our
News & Ideas newsletter or receive our RSS feed in your RSS reader.



Sign up to receive religion news every weekday in the free News & Ideas newsletter

Signup options

Most recent News & Ideas

Thursday’s News & Ideas - 7/3/2025

  • Religion in higher ed
  • Fast for Gaza crisis
  • Divided opinion on evolution
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews
  • Dalai Lama succession plan
  • Black Pheonix

Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 7/2/2025

  • Clergy struggle to visit detainees
  • Jimmy Swaggart dies
  • Ethics of brain-dead pregnancy
  • Gun laws after Charleston
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews & politics
  • What makes someone cool?

News & Ideas - 7/1/2025

  • Religious attacks surge
  • Officials address religious conference
  • SCOTUS decision hurts pluralism
  • Dalai Lama turns 90
  • Church roof tells story
  • Woman frees mom from prison
Reading the lectionary

New lectionary search tool 

Easily find scripture passages and resources for any lectionary week with Zeteo’s new search feature. You can even filter by your preferred lectionary version: Revised Common, Catholic or Narrative.

Learn More