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

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.*

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