Tuesday's News & Ideas - 2/9/2021
- Evangelical election turmoil
- Catholic school numbers drop
- VA abolishes death penalty
- Virus & ultra-Orthodox
- Zacharias abuse fallout
- Ordinary people surviving slavery
Election turmoil splits West Virginia city’s evangelicals
Associated Press: The three churches diverge on a central issue: What is the role of evangelical Christianity in America’s divisive politics?
U.S. Catholic schools hit by unprecedented enrollment drop
HuffPost: Over 200 schools closed or consolidated amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.
Virginia to become first southern state to abolish death penalty
Sojourners: Lawmakers in Virginia voted on Friday to abolish the death penalty. The Democratic-led House of Delegates voted 57-41 Friday, after the Senate passed the measure earlier this week. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, said he would sign the repeal into law.
Virus hastens exit from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community*
The New York Times: Nationwide lockdowns and school closings have broken routines and left ultra-Orthodox Jews time for questioning and self-discovery. Some found the examined life worth leaving.
Evangelist Ravi Zacharias taught his followers to ask tough questions -- just not about his sexual conduct*
The Washington Post: Investigators said in a very brief, interim report released in December that they “have found significant, credible evidence that Mr. Zacharias engaged in sexual misconduct over the course of many years.”
The Spark
The stories I didn’t learn in school
The accounts of ordinary people who survived slavery provide an all-too-rare link* to our past, The Atlantic says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
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