Tuesday's News & Ideas - 8/3/2021

Court declines to hear church’s attack on COVID restrictions
Associated Press: The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a lawsuit by a Maine church that sought to take a preemptive strike against future restrictions associated with a variant of the virus that’s spreading across the country.

Biden names first Muslim religious freedom ambassador
Christianity Today: The White House announced Friday a slate of nominations and appointments for top religious affairs roles, including the first Muslim American nominated to be the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

The Naming Project is a Christian camp that celebrates LGBTQ teens as they are*
Christian Century: “We ask questions like, who am I? Who did God make me to be?” Ross Murray says.

CDC researcher Susan Hillis on how people of faith can support COVID orphans
Religion News Service: ‘Faith communities are really good at doing this, walking with people through adversity until they get out the other side,’ she said.

We’ve finally begun to confront white Christian nationalism; but what about its source text?
Religion Dispatches: Critics often stop short of addressing an underlying fundamental issue — the Bible’s unambiguous endorsement of colonial conquest.

The Spark

Infinite self
Anthony Veasna So died unexpectedly last winter, before his debut book was released. Everyone remembers* him differently, Vulture says. (trigger warning: drug overdose)

*access is limited for nonsubscribers