Tuesday’s News & Ideas - 3/3/2026

Impulsive kings and random chance: Purim’s parallels to our political moment
Religion News Service: While Trump wages his war of choice on the thinnest of pretexts, the Jewish calendar is focusing on the vanity of human power and the amorality with which it is exercised.

Americans’ sympathies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have shifted dramatically, new poll shows
The Associated Press: American sympathies in the Middle East have shifted dramatically toward Palestinians, according to new Gallup polling, after decades of overwhelming support for Israelis.

For immigrants in detention, spiritual care can be hard to find*
The New York Times: Some religious groups have sued for access, others have been denied entrance to detention facilities.

The common good is something we practice face-to-face*
The Christian Century: The incarnation pulls attention away from ideology and toward our neighbor.

Minneapolis united when federal immigration operations surged — reflecting a long tradition of mutual aid
The Conversation: Unlike charity or government assistance, mutual aid is decentralized, grassroots-led and not channeled through nonprofits or government agencies.

The Spark

A complimentary profile of Jason Lee that was surprisingly difficult to publish
Lee agreed to a profile and then successfully had it killed by a different magazine in which this article was originally meant to run, Nate Rogers says in Defector.

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