The state’s actions have fueled opposition to the proposed housing development, known as EPIC City, before any initial plans have been submitted. At a hearing on the project in Collin County, where part of it would be located, hours of public comment included expressions of anti-Muslim hostility. (Goodman, The New York Times)
Read MoreShe found that the plaintiffs lack standing, or the legal right to sue, since only a handful of immigration enforcement actions have been conducted in or around churches or other houses of worship and that the evidence at this point doesn’t show “that places of worship are being singled out as special targets.” (Whitehurst & Kunzelman, AP News)
Read MoreCounterterrorism agencies are grappling with a new generation of attackers, plotters and acolytes of extremism who are younger than ever and have fed on ultraviolent and potentially radicalizing content largely behind their screens. Some are appearing on police radars only when it’s already too late — with knife in hand, as they’re carrying out an attack. (Leicester, AP News)
Read MoreAll over the country, religious congregations are struggling to pay the bills for large houses of worship and adjacently-owned properties such as school buildings, parking lots, and cafeterias. Meanwhile, America’s housing deficit is at ~4.5m homes— with urban and suburban areas deploying zoning laws that make construction of affordable housing units particularly difficult. Could churches and synagogues be a salvation for the housing market? (Dent, The Hustle)
Read MoreEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians, has been awarded the 2025 Templeton Prize for his pioneering efforts to bridge scientific and spiritual understandings of humanity’s relationship with the natural world, bringing together people of different faiths to heed a call for stewardship of creation. (Templeton Prize)
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