News & Ideas

Tuesday's News & Ideas - 11/19/2019

  • Chick-fil-A changes charitable giving
  • Pompeo’s West Bank decision
  • Pope: fundamentalism a ‘plague’
  • 1989 Jesuit massacre
  • Pastor withdraws after racist vote
  • Virtuoso coder

Chick-fil-A is ending donations criticized by LGBTQ activists after years of backlash
Business Insider: On Monday, Chick-fil-A announced it was making a major change to perhaps the most controversial part of the company: its charitable-giving arm.

Trump advisor calls Pompeo’s West Bank decision an answered prayer
Religion News Service: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on that the U.S. is softening its position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a 1978 State Department legal opinion that concluded Israeli settlements in the region are “inconsistent with international law.”

Religious fundamentalism is a ‘plague,’ pope says
Crux: Interreligious dialogue is an important way to counter fundamentalist groups as well as the unjust accusation that religions sow division, Pope Francis said.

‘I miss them, always’: A witness recounts El Salvador’s 1989 Jesuit massacre
NPR: Saturday marks 30 years since the Jesuit massacre, one of the most high-profile religious crimes in recent Latin American history.

Black pastor candidate withdraws after controversial vote at SBC megachurch
Christianity Today: First Baptist Church of Naples, Florida, continues to investigate whether Marcus Hayes’s rejection was the result of racial prejudice or preexisting turmoil following its previous pastor’s departure.

The Spark

The strange life and mysterious death of a virtuoso coder
Jerold Haas* was on the brink of blockchain riches, writes Brendan Koerner at Wired. Then his body was found in the woods of southern Ohio.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers

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