In Defense of J.K. Rowling

This campaign against Rowling is as dangerous as it is absurd. The brutal stabbing of Salman Rushdie last summer is a forceful reminder of what can happen when writers are demonized. And in Rowling’s case, the characterization of her as a transphobe doesn’t square with her actual views. (Paul, The New York Times)

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Church & Culture
Ministers in Ukraine Are ‘Ready to Meet God at Any Moment’

Ukraine’s Christians no longer see “the last days” as some far-off, eschatological era sketched in Revelation. “We live as though today is our last day,” one of them told me, echoing a sentiment I heard from so many Ukrainians. And should they ever forget that life is a vapor, explosions and frequent blackouts return them quickly to the truth: We’re here a little while, and gone tomorrow. (Lee, Christianity Today)

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Church & Culture
Trailblazing Episcopal priest Pauli Murray to be featured on US quarters

The first Black woman to be ordained in the Episcopal Church, who was also a trailblazing lawyer, civil rights activist and writer, will be honored on the U.S. quarter next year. Pauli Murray, whose 1977 ordination to the priesthood was just one in a long series of firsts, has been chosen by the U.S. Mint as one of five honorees for the American Women Quarters Program. (Shimron, Religion News Service)

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Church & Culture
Use 'egg-producing' not 'female', say scientists in call to phase out binary language

The words “male” and “female” should be phased out in science because they reinforce ideas that sex is binary, scientists have suggested. Researchers studying ecology and evolutionary biology should be encouraged to use terms such as “sperm-producing” or “egg producing” or “XY/XX individual” to avoid “emphasising hetero-normative views”, experts say. (Knapton, The Telegraph)

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Church & Culture