Mark Silk

Prophet Jonah was bent on destruction. Does he have a lesson for Gaza's combatants? (RNS) — A tale of two Ninevehs.

A cautionary note from the Bible's least attractive prophet: bit.ly/47gHkVs @rns.org

Kirk's memorial was caught between the Sermon on the Mount and spiritual warfare (RNS) — Will Donald Trump's or Erika Kirk's Christianity win out?

Love v. Hate at the Kirk memorial service: bit.ly/4pNOKHi @rns.org

When liberals decry thoughts and prayers (RNS) — In the Bible, even God was known to say that prayer and repentance aren’t enough.

When the right pushes back against the left's criticism of "thoughts and prayers": bit.ly/3IDGAAl @rns.org

Charlie Kirk is fast becoming an emblem of Trump's political religion (RNS) — Past leaders have used shocking events to bring us together. Trump is making Kirk a martyr to drive Americans apart.

MAGA has found its Horst Wessel: bit.ly/3KqAjbF @rns.org

Trump versus Kaine on God-given rights (RNS) — A tempest in a teapot sends us back to Thomas Jefferson.

Trump v. Kaine re: the Declaration's god-given rights: bit.ly/3V8W95T @rns.org

Maybe the prosecutors should have gone for indicting (as is commonly said they can) the sandwich.

Rabbis criticize Israeli government for Gaza (RNS) — While several groups of rabbis have taken Israel to task, they are hardly voices crying in the wilderness.

Rabbis' criticism of Israel's devastation of Gaza falls short of Netanyahu: bit.ly/4lIn3Mv @rns.org

Texas judge enjoyably enjoins the Ten Commandments (RNS) — In blocking a statute requiring the Decalogue to be posted in public schools, a judge’s injunction is both solid jurisprudence and a good read.

Why you should read the Texas judge's Ten Commandments injunction: bit.ly/45P7M6U. (Spoiler alert: it a hoot.) @rns.org

SCOTUS supported parents' rights in education. But religious free exercise needs limits. (RNS) — Case in point: a California faith-based day care lawsuit.

When religious needs to be limited: bit.ly/4mNfRzD @rns.org

Why has Canada embraced euthanasia? (RNS) — In short, because Canadians want it.

Euthanasia on the march in Canada: bit.ly/45ktQXV @rns.org

What the story of the Charleston church murders teaches (RNS) — The twists and turns of racial justice in America.

Does the arc of the moral universe really bend toward justice? bit.ly/45eHxpU @rns.org

The Supreme Court's radical revision of its views on religion in public schools (RNS) — Promoting religion is now the order of the day.

There's a new religion jurisprudence in town: bit.ly/4l1VpKk @rns.org

Washington state shows how to botch a child protection law (RNS) — Even Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown told the law's supporters he 'wished lawmakers had worked more closely with his office before passing the bill.'

How Washington State botched a child protection law: bit.ly/45lYmAA @rns.org

Despite tempest over a tax exemption, Trump's IRS keeps Johnson Amendment intact (RNS) — Notwithstanding the consent decree, it's an open question whether the US Supreme Court would go along with voiding the Johnson Amendment.

No, Virginia. Trump's IRS didn't kill of the Johnson Amendment: bit.ly/4kQiT4T @rns.org

A quiz on the Supreme Court's new religious opt-out standard (RNS) — To what extent are you on board?

When do you think public school students should be permitted to opt out: bit.ly/44lKxR6 @rns.org

Was it moral to bomb Iran? (RNS) — The Greek early church fathers taught that we can consider a war necessary and repent for engaging in it at the same time.

On the morality of bombing Iran: bit.ly/43WfYCB @rns.org

The new pope's going on vacation! A few ideas for his Castel Gandolfo stay (RNS) — The luxury of time off is back on the papal agenda.

Leo's reviving the papal vacation at Castel Gandolfo. Here's something for him to do: bit.ly/4n9vulZ @rns.org

How not to deal with the assassination in Minnesota (RNS) — Trump is true to form.

The conservative evangelical charged with assassination in Minnesota is a radical leftist? Uh, no. bit.ly/43Ztvbe @rns.org

The establishment clause lives to fight another day (RNS) — The Supreme Court keeps Oklahoma from creating a religious charter school.

Madison wouldn't have approved Oklahoma's religious charter school either: bit.ly/43vahtM @rns.org

It's possible to criticize campus antisemitism and Trumpian overreach. The AJC just did. (RNS) — Unsurprisingly, this didn't go over well on the Jewish right.

Pat on the back to the American Jewish Committee for working with ed groups to condemn 1) campus antisemitism and 2) Trump administration's campaign against same: bit.ly/4kqKlX5 @rns.org

What's in the new pope's name? A legacy of concern about 'Americanism.' (RNS) — No pontiff before or since paid more attention to the US than the previous Leo — who didn't always approve.

Pope Leo XIV v. right-wing "Americanism": bit.ly/44xQzzM @rns.org

Criticism of the late pope is par for the course (RNS) — Will it affect the choice of his successor?

Criticism of the late pope is traditional. Will it make a difference? bit.ly/42MXgN6 @rns.org

The fundamentalist strain in American Catholicism (RNS) — It’s not just traditionalism.

How fundamentalism has shaped American Catholicism: bit.ly/4iCBPmE @rns.org

Trump refashions the presidential Easter message into an enemies list (RNS) — Professing admiration for Pope Francis, the president nonetheless can't turn the other cheek.

Trump's hateful Easter message: bit.ly/3Y8V2VJ @rns.org

Are the Democrats better off with Gallego? Yes. Manchin was going to lose, just as Brown and Tester lost. Circumstances and the candidates in question count. Mary Peltola could win in Alaska.

The Devil and Mr. Trump: An AI analysis (RNS) — A reader asked Chat GPT to compare and contrast.

How satanic is Trump? AI answers: bit.ly/4cEtixZ @rns.org

When America becomes a strange land (RNS) — A Passover lesson for all of us who suddenly find the United States a strange land.

Moses was a stranger in a strange land. Now us: bit.ly/42cppgi @rns.org

Yeshiva University accepts an LGBTQ club, sort of (RNS) — Confusion reigns, perhaps fortuitously, at the Orthodox Jewish university.

Yeshiva U. sows confusion with decision to allow LGBTQ club — maybe on purpose: bit.ly/3E3rQZd @rns.org

Why not post the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom? (RNS) — Today’s advocates think there’s good reason to believe it will happen.

The movement to place the 10 Commandments in classrooms is winning some, losing others — and may well succeed in Scotus: bit.ly/424RNPZ. @rns.org

In Oklahoma, a fight of biblical proportions (RNS) — To teach or not to teach ... the King James Version.

A fight of biblical proportions in Oklahoma schools: bit.ly/4hlgg9F @rns.org