Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 8/6/2025
- Israel’s surge of settler violence
- How law on pulpit endorsements fell
- Interview with Pagels
- Adams gathers religious leaders
- Burge joins Wash U
- Hiroshima anniversary
The quiet war: What’s fueling Israel’s surge of settler violence — and the lack of state response
The Conversation: While precise figures are elusive, United Nations estimates indicate that Jewish settlers have carried out around 2,000 attacks against Palestinians since the war in Gaza began.
How conservative Christians cracked a 70-year-old law*
The New York Times: The I.R.S. recently said that churches could endorse candidates from the pulpit, a shift from a longstanding interpretation of American nonprofit law.
Pursuing a deeper interpretation of the gospels: An interview with Elaine Pagels
Episcopal News Service: “I wanted to understand what it was about that Christian conversion experience that was so powerful,” Pagels said. “It was basically a spiritual search. That is what I think inspires most scholars who study the history of Christianity, whether they admit it or not.”
Eric Adams assembles religious leaders to bless his candidacy*
The New York Times: New Yorkers of various faiths heaped praise on the incumbent mayor, whose path to re-election appears steep, and compared him to biblical figures.
Ryan Burge joins the Danforth Center at Washington University
Religion News Service: A political scientist and former small-church pastor, Burge has long studied the intersection of religion and politics.
The Spark
Hiroshima anniversary: Mayor says Ukraine and Middle East crises show world ignoring nuclear ‘tragedies’
On 80th anniversary of atomic bombing, Kazumi Matsui urges younger people to recognize “inhumane” consequences of nuclear weapons as a deterrent, The Guardian says.
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