Tuesday's News & Ideas - 4/8/2025
- Bishops move on from US funding
- Fleck named Faithful America leader
- Colleges & Hispanic students
- Katherine Stewart interview
- Maintaining institutions
- History of targeting trans people
Catholic bishops say they will no longer partner with US on refugee work and children’s services
Religion News Service: The announcement comes after months of uncertainty and antagonism about reimbursing Catholic agencies for their work with refugees.
Shannon Fleck, who took on Christian nationalists in Oklahoma, named Faithful America leader
Religion News Service: Fleck, a former probation officer turned pastor, was one of the leading voices against efforts to put Trump Bibles in schools.
Bienvenidos! Some colleges are targeting a long-neglected group: Hispanic students
NPR: Universities and colleges have historically not done well at enrolling Hispanic students, who lag behind their white peers in college attendance. Now their own success may largely depend on it.
Burn down the house*
The Baffler: In her new book, “Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy,” Katherine Stewart marshals a truckload of evidence to show that right-wing extremists are profoundly dangerous and will stop at nothing to get their way.
Institutions don’t maintain themselves*
Christianity Today: At their best, all these institutions can have lasting, meaningful influence on their members. But the flip side of that kind of investment is that when things go wrong, the fallout can be immense.
The Spark
Why are trans people such an easy political target? This crisis was decades in the making.
Making a whole group of people this vulnerable* does not just happen overnight, Slate says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
