Tuesday's News & Ideas - 4/21/2020
- Coronavirus culture war
- COVID-19 & refugees
- Judge blocks limiting religious services
- Loneliness pandemic
- Texas ban on abortion
- COVID-19 in prison
How abortion, guns and church closings made coronavirus a culture war*
New York Times: Flattening the curve is now one of the most contentious issues in politics.
Coronavirus closes in on Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s cramped, unprepared camps
The Conversation: Coronavirus is spreading quickly in densely populated Bangladesh, despite a nationwide shutdown put in place a month ago.
Federal judge blocks Kansas rule limiting religious gatherings amid coronavirus outbreak
Slate: U.S. District Judge John Broomes in Wichita said that he believes the order violates religious freedom and the right to free speech.
The loneliness pandemic: How the quarantined are grappling with solitude and faith
Religion News Service: “An Easter of Solitude” is how Pope Francis, standing alone in an empty St. Peter’s Basilica, described what the holiest day of the year would look like for many Catholics as the coronavirus pandemic forced churches to close and their members to stay at home.
Texas faith leaders say governor’s use of pandemic to ban abortion is an attack on religious freedom
Religion Dispatches: On March 23, elective abortion care was declared a non-essential procedure barred under the state’s lockdown, on the dubious grounds that abortion care consumes vital hospital space and personal protective equipment (PPE).
The Spark
73% of inmates at an Ohio prison test positive for coronavirus
A state prison has become a hot spot of the COVID-19 outbreak in Ohio, with at least 1,828 confirmed cases among inmates, NPR reports.
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