NEWS STORY
RNS-Shavuot-Israel: Why the first in-person gathering for many US Jews may not be so celebratory
(RNS) — It was supposed to be the first COVID-free holiday American Jews could celebrate in person — a joyous return to synagogue and a celebration of at least some semblance of normalcy. Instead, Shavuot, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, which begins Sunday night (May 16), may be especially fraught this year as the specter of an escalating conflict, if not full-out war, between Israel and Gaza blunts some of the cheer. By Yonat Shimron. 800 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-PRRI-Television: Survey: White evangelicals trust Fox News, Black Protestants look to mainstream networks
(RNS) — American media isn’t just dividing people politically — it’s dividing people religiously, too. That’s according to data provided to Religion News Service this week by the Public Religion Research Institute, pulled from a larger survey the group conducted in March, which examined the news-watching habits of Americans from across the religious spectrum. By Jack Jenkins. 605 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Bethany-Race: For transracial adoptive families, talking about race is an act of love, not ‘a woke’ test
(RNS) — One of the nation’s largest evangelical adoption agencies says federal law mandates a “colorblind” approach to adoption. Bethany Christian Services and adoptive parents say that can harm children. But at least one critic fears “wokeness” more than wisdom is driving Bethany’s action. By Bob Smietana 1,200 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Levens-Oped: The debate over women pastors is a Southern Baptist smoke screen
(RNS) — It’s a long-running, on-again, off-again debate in Southern Baptist and other evangelical circles. The arguments rarely change, largely because the point of the blaze is not the light it gives off, but the heat and, most of all, the smoke. By Laura Levens. 1,105 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Garfield-Oped: PBS’ Billy Graham documentary captures preacher’s pull and ambition
(RNS) — The PBS series “American Experience” is a fascinating two-hour documentary premiering Monday (May 17), offering an authoritative look at Graham’s life and ministry, from his beginnings as a dairy farmer’s son from Charlotte, North Carolina, to his death in February 2018 at age 99. By Ken Garfield. 1,174 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Singh-Oped: The Atlanta spa shooting and the hate crime gap
(RNS) — Hate crime prosecutions face challenges few other classes of crime do. This exposes a chasm between what modern science says about bias and what our legal system demands: While social scientists have clearly established that we all have implicit and unconscious biases that animate our actions and behaviors, our legal system presumes that, at least when it comes to hate crime law, biases only exist when they are made explicit. By Simran Jeet Singh. 908 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Silk-Oped: The growing Jewish divide
(RNS) — The Pew Research Center released its second big survey of American Jews this week, following one conducted in 2013, and from a distance, it looks like nothing much has changed. But a closer look reveals significant changes. The gap between the Orthodox and the rest of the Jewish population is widening, religiously and politically. By Mark Silk. 677 words. (category: k)