News & Ideas

Tuesday's News & Ideas - 4/2/2024

  • US continues to arm Israel
  • New levels of devotion to Trump
  • Israelis protest war
  • Oklahoma’s religious charter school
  • Perils of intense meditation
  • Gaslighting

US doubles down on its defense of arming Israel despite Gaza atrocities
Al Jazeera: Biden administration says “too many civilians” killed in Gaza but reasserts commitment to supporting Israel in war.
BBC: World Central Kitchen halts operations in Gaza after strike kills staff

The church of Trump: How he’s infusing Christianity into his movement*
The New York Times: Ending many of his rallies with a churchlike ritual and casting his prosecutions as persecution, the former president is demanding — and receiving — new levels of devotion from Republicans.

Israelis stage largest protest since war began to increase pressure on Netanyahu
Associated Press: Tens of thousands of Israelis thronged central Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government protest since the country went to war in October. Protesters urged the government to reach a cease-fire deal to free dozens of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants and to hold early elections.

Oklahoma Supreme Court to weigh nation’s first religious charter school*
The Washington Post: The Oklahoma Supreme Court will take up a closely watched religious liberty case on Tuesday, with justices considering whether the state can directly fund religious education in the form of a Catholic charter school.

A new podcast examines the perils of intense meditation
NPR: The four-episode series focuses on retreats held by the Goenka network, teaching a popular meditation technique called Vipassana. Participants follow a strict schedule, waking before dawn and meditating silently for 10 days, 10 hours per day.

The Spark

So you think you’ve been gaslit
The New Yorker asks what happens when a niche clinical concept becomes a ubiquitous cultural diagnosis.*

*access is limited for nonsubscribers



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Nicene Creed conversations

The newest season of the “Public Worship and the Christian Life” podcast features three powerful conversations about the Nicene Creed to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the ecumenical Creed that emerged in 325.  

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