Tuesday's News & Ideas - 7/18/2023

Iran’s ‘morality police’ resume patrols 10 months after nationwide protests
The Guardian: Authorities announce new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf, after period of scaled-back policing.

Mississippi, under judge’s order, starts allowing religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations
Associated Press: Mississippi is starting the court-ordered process of letting people cite religious beliefs to seek exemptions from state-mandated vaccinations that children must receive before attending day care or school.

The King’s College makes deep cuts to faculty, cancels fall classes
Religion News Service: The last remaining evangelical Christian college in New York City, The King’s College, announced Monday (July 17) in an email that the school, which has faced dire financial challenges, would not offer classes in the fall.

Religious accommodation policies lacking*
Inside Higher Ed: New research shows that many campuses don’t have religious accommodation policies. The policies that do exist are often too narrow.

Religion shapes vaccine views — but how exactly? Our analysis looks at ideas about God and beliefs about the Bible
The Conversation: “As sociologists researching the role of religion in vaccine attitudes and behaviors, we have found that the religion-vaccine connection is significant, but much more nuanced than simple stereotypes assume.”

The Spark

Let the kids get weird: The adult problem with children’s books
Picture books are, perhaps more so than other genres, subject to the aesthetic of bookishness — they are large format, hardcover decor, objects that parents like the idea or look of, tools that have been deemed “appropriate” or “necessary” for their kids, says Lit Hub.

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