Today… American democracy faces its greatest crisis since the American Civil War. The signs are everywhere: extreme partisanship making political compromise impossible, increasing threats and acts of political violence, a loss of trust in all branches of government and all major institutions of civil society, and a growing disregard for the rule of law by a leadership class often defined by corruption and cowardice. (Hunter, The Hedgehog Review)
Read MoreAcross 39 states — plus Washington, D.C. and the Northern Mariana Islands — voters weighed in on 146 statewide ballot measures spanning issues from taxes to transgender rights to traffic cameras to data centers and AI. (Treisman, NPR)
Read MoreIn the Democrats’ historic midterm victory, Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated were key players as Republicans lost ground among most major religious groups, according to exit polls from both NBC News and CNN. (Post & Smietana, Religion News Service)
Read MoreA federal judge has ordered Iowa officials to allow the Satanic Temple to hold a holiday event at the state Capitol in December after the state repeatedly denied the group's applications in recent years. (Thompson & Morris, USA Today)
Read MoreWhy many people have stopped reading, or no longer see the beauty or necessity of it, is one matter. But the question of why reading—especially reading that challenges and surprises us—is presently indispensable is another. How might timeless works of art, literary and otherwise, help prepare each of us for this new world? (Bennett, The Atlantic)
Read MoreThe Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared likely to rule in favor of Catholic preschools in Colorado that want public subsidies but don’t want to enroll children of LGBTQ parents. (Romoser, The Wall Street Journal)
Read More