Transgender people and supporters participate in a Pride walk observing International Transgender Day of Visibility in Kolkata, India, on March 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Need to know: Wednesday, July 8, 2020
India’s pioneering transgender activist defends gains in pandemic
After helping win a landmark court case for India’s transgender people, Ranjita Sinha has mobilized to counter the community’s drastic loss of jobs and health care during the coronavirus pandemic.
We have a story to tell: Indigenous scholars, activists speak up amid toppling of Serra statues
As Californians once again reckon with their statues of Serra, Native people and Indigenous scholars say it’s time for their voices to be heard and their existence to be recognized.
Willow Creek, Life.Church among churches that received millions in PPP loans
The vast majority of religious organizations listed in the data received between $150,000 and $300,000, but at least two dozen religious organizations received the highest amount of dollars, between $5 million and $10 million.
Wheaton College chaplain fired over allegations of ‘racial and sexual’ comments
The flagship evangelical Christian college announced the Rev. Tim Blackmon’s dismissal Friday (July 3) in an email to the campus community from Wheaton President Philip Ryken.
How coronavirus lockdowns in the US starve vulnerable abroad
More people may die from the lockdown policies designed to stop the virus than from the virus itself, writes Darren Tyler.
The price of white evangelical patriarchy
For the past 80 years white evangelical speakers, writers, and media figures have been idealizing a form of manliness that is at once all Jesus and all John Wayne, calling their audiences to hyper-masculinity as an orienting center.
Latest news from RNS
Tony Campolo, beloved pastor and social activist, recovering from stroke
Speaker and pastor Tony Campolo had a stroke that partially paralyzed the left side of his face and body; he is now in recovery at a health center.
Dakota Access pipeline temporarily shut down in legal and ‘spiritual’ battle
Oil must stop flowing through the Dakota Access pipeline by Aug. 5, according to a decision Monday (July 6) by Judge James E. Boasberg.
As Dalai Lama turns 85, his lineage’s future is as uncertain as Tibet’s
As the Tibetan Buddhist leader ages, a confrontation with China over the legitimacy of his successor looms.
More views from RNS
Black churches lagged in moving online during COVID
On average, Black Americans face greater barriers to internet access and high-speed connection at home than do white Americans — this disparity extends to Black young adults, writes Erika Gault.
Reading Bible prophecy in a time of pandemic
The 50th anniversary of "The Late Great Planet Earth" reminds me that the world is, once again, in dire straits as it awaits the Second Coming.
An outsider’s encounter with the Psalms
Instead of trying to contextualize it as a scholar, I decided to approach Psalm 133 as a reader and see how it might speak to me, writes Simran Jeet Singh.
