Tuesday’s News & Ideas - 9/30/2025

Religion often shapes someone’s view of abortion — but what about a woman’s actual decision?
The Conversation: There’s a difference between abstract views and personal decisions. On average, strong religious beliefs and involvement in a religious community do not make an American woman less likely to terminate her first pregnancy, so long as she conceives without a potential marriage partner.

ACNA is tested and chaplains scramble as chaplain-endorsing nonprofit exits
Religion News Service: The break comes as their bishop, Derek Jones, declined to participate in an investigation he and his lawyers deemed unlawful.

Defense Secretary Hegseth tests Constitution in Pentagon worship services
Religion News Service: Speaking at a recent worship service at the Pentagon, Hegseth said the US needs to be “in prayer, on bended knee, recognizing the providence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Pastor linked to Lutheran church group also linked to neo-Confederate movement
The Guardian: John Eidsmoe, associated with Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, has history with public defenses of Confederacy.

Fully MAGA-fied Christianity*
The Atlantic: Politics, especially culture-war politics, now provides many fundamentalists and evangelicals with a sense of community and a common enemy.

The Spark

Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. Now he wants to save it.
In 1989, Sir Tim revolutionized the online world.* Today, in the era of misinformation, addictive algorithms, and extractive monopolies, he thinks he can do it again, The New Yorker says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers