Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 9/30/2026

Why is the documentary ‘NAZA’ causing a political storm? Here are 5 things to know.
Religion News Service: From its 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival to its vilification by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ‘NAZA’ is drawing attention for its focus on Israel’s loose calculus of collateral damage in its war in Gaza.

How megapastor Adam Hamilton could break the GOP’s hold on Kansas*
The Christian Century: Hamilton is used to being an outlier. As a pastor with evangelical chops, he spent decades building a sprawling, politically diverse congregation in a mainline Protestant tradition where megachurches are rare.
Politico: Democrats are running pastors for office. Republicans are attacking their religious comments.

Religious scholars met with Anthropic. What they heard stunned them.*
The New York Times: In a series of private meetings, the company consulted religious scholars to help instill morality into its A.I. models — and make the case that Claude could be conscious.

New novel shows what can happen when a megachurch pastor’s wife questions everything
NPR: Juana Summers talks with author Deesha Philyaw about her debut novel, “The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman.”

Israel votes next month. American Jews have a role, even without a ballot.
Religion News Service: Often the best way to love a country is to fight for it to do better. If we leave it up to Netanyahu and his cohort of politicians willing to sacrifice everything for power and dominance, then we will never reach a better future.

The Spark

The babies left behind in America
The United States is deporting* parents without their children, creating a whole new family-separation crisis, The Atlantic says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers