RNS Morning Report: Rachel Held Evans’ Legacy; American Atheists Report; Field Hospital Closure

Author Rachel Held Evans. Courtesy photo

Need to know: Tuesday, May 5, 2020

What would Rachel Held Evans do? Late author’s voice lives on through those she championed

One year after her death, it appears Evans isn’t finished speaking yet.

New report finds nonreligious people face stigma and discrimination

A new study finds that nonreligious people face discrimination and stigma, conceal their nonreligious identities and largely see themselves as atheists and humanists.

Samaritan’s Purse Central Park field hospital to close as virus cases drop in NYC

The group's medical staff, many of whom are experts in communicable diseases, will remain in New York City for a few more weeks to help out at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Rome’s parks buzz as Italy eases COVID-19 restrictions, with Masses coming soon

According to the bishops' official news outlet, Masses will be open to the public sometime in the last week of May.

There’s a new Baptist sex abuser database, but SBC action is still needed

For more than a decade, abuse survivor advocates have been asking the Southern Baptist Convention to establish a clergy predator database and for just as long they've been confronted with a denomination determined to do nothing, writes Christa Brown.

Trump seeks Catholic voters, but some Catholics push back

The 2016 election highlighted Donald Trump's successful courtship of white evangelicals. This year, much of the focus could be on Catholics. The presidential campaigns are fighting for votes in the Catholic-rich Midwestern states, and the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, is himself a Catholic.

 


 

Latest news from RNS

As states ease lockdown restrictions, churches must decide when — and how — to reopen

For now, many are choosing to stay closed, even as they try to make plans for what a reopening will look like.

Poll: The ‘Trump bump’ is over, especially among white Christians

Among white evangelicals, Trump’s favorability ratings fell to 66% from a high of 77% in March when the coronavirus first began spreading across the country.

Singer Charles Billingsley, COVID-19 survivor, on worship in the hardest times

The worship songwriter said ‘for several weeks there, every time I'd try to sing, I would cough.’

More views from RNS

What history tells us about Donald Trump’s reelection prospects

(RNS) — Here are some reasons Donald Trump could still pull it off in November, and even more reasons why he might not.

Just because the economy is reopening doesn’t mean churches should

(RNS) — Unless we run into a close friend, we don't normally shake hands or hug someone in the grocery store or movie theater.

Unequal suffering: Here’s how Congress should help

While each of us has borne a variety of new burdens and dangers during this pandemic, those burdens are by no means distributed equally, writes Jim Wallis.