NEWS STORY
RNS-Kneeling-Symbolism: Thousands of police officers are taking a knee. Will it make a difference?
(RNS) — The gestures — rooted in religion— were intended to show solidarity with protesters and to underscore police officers’ humanity in the face of ongoing police brutality of which Floyd was the most recent example. But the gesture of officers taking the knee in the midst of a national upheaval over race and police brutality is fraught. By Yonat Shimron. 800 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Southern-Baptists: Without annual meeting, Southern Baptists continue debate on race, women’s roles
(RNS) — The Southern Baptist Convention will not hold its annual meeting as it regularly does each June. But issues its members have long grappled with — including race and the roles of women — continue to be points of controversy in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. By Adelle M. Banks. 1,350 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Hindu-Takeout: Near Boston, a Friendly’s-turned-Hindu temple serves holy offerings to-go
BOSTON (RNS) – Worshipers at Braj Mandir have been using the temple’s ice cream takeout window, leftover from the building’s past life as a Friendly’s restaurant, to receive socially-distant holy food offerings. By Aysha Khan. 760 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Sikh-Blocked: Facebook, Instagram unblock #Sikh hashtag amid 1984 massacre remembrance
(RNS) – After nearly three months, Facebook and Instagram have unblocked the #Sikh hashtag, saying the block occurred “mistakenly” after a user reported the hashtag in March. By Aysha Khan. 571 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Graffiti-Vatican: Street art depicting Pope Francis highlights homeless struggle in Milan
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pop art graffiti depicting Pope Francis as homeless and a begging Madonna and Child, made by the subversive artist aleXandro Palombo, appeared in the northern Italian city of Milan last week to promote equality and awareness through art. By Claire Giangravè. 700 words. (category: i)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Singh-Oped: Why cops attack racial justice protesters
(RNS) — The reports of police brutalizing protesters are not acceptable, but it’s also easy to understand: Our racist policing is a symptom of a larger social failure in which we are all complicit. By Simran Jeet Singh. 1,115 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Butler-Oped: Remembering the Christianity of Jesus, not empire
(RNS) — The last week has stripped bare the fact that the teachings of Jesus have been co-opted by empire: hijacked to perpetuate the injustices, pain and death that he spoke against. We’ve somehow come to accept these things as just another day in America and have become part of the problem. By Amy Butler. 800 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Hall-Oped: After St. John’s, thinking about a president, a Bible and race
(RNS) — We should be glad that President Trump held up the Bible in the middle of our country’s struggles, not because he is the embodiment of the words of the book, but because the book offers the embodiment of the fruits of the Spirit that he, and all of us, need. By Nick Hall. 1,043 words. (category: k)
