Tuesday’s News & Ideas - 11/4/2025
- Racial reparations fund
- SNAP stress on churches
- Mamdani & religious identity
- Theater & church songs
- Moving to compassion
- Political violence
Four years after promising $10M for racial reparations, Virginia’s Episcopalians have little to show
Religion News Service: “I felt like we were kind of misled as a task force in terms of level (of) engagement,” said one member of a reparations task force of the diocese’s efforts.
SNAP lapse stretches churches, food pantries past their breaking point*
Sojourners: In Fiscal Year 2023, the federal government paid an average of $574 per month to SNAP recipient households with children, according to the Department of Agriculture. More than 34% of SNAP recipients were households with children.
Mamdani would be New York’s first Muslim mayor. His support transcends religious identity.
Religion News Service: Drawing opposition to Mamdani along religious lines misses an important divide between the Democratic Party establishment and Jewish New Yorkers.
Has theater become everybody’s church?*
The New York Times: New shows by Jen Tullock, Jordan E. Cooper and others have a common theme: You can walk away from the church, but the songs stay with you.
Weeping with the prophets*
The Christian Century: Richard Rohr begs readers to journey from anger to sadness to compassionate love.
The Spark
America is bracing for political violence — and a significant portion think it’s sometimes OK
A majority of Americans think it’s likely a political candidate will be assassinated in the next five years, Politico says.
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