A university is teaching students that JRR Tolkien demonises “people of colour” in the Lord of the Rings books. A history module called Decolonising Tolkien et al, taught at the University of Nottingham, uses a text that says orcs and other dark-skinned characters in the trilogy are the victims of “ethnic chauvinism”. (Simpson, The Telegraph)
Read MoreOklahoma’s new public schools superintendent announced Wednesday he is rescinding a mandate from his predecessor that forced schools to place Bibles in classrooms and incorporate the book into lesson plans for students. (Murphy, AP News)
Read MoreNearly a quarter of U.S. adults think the Bible is “just another book of teachings written by people,” the American Bible Society (ABS) said in its latest release from the 2025 State of the Bible. (Chandler, Baptist Press)
Read MoreBishops will halt plans to allow gay couples to have dedicated blessing services in church and the ban on priests marrying same-sex partners will be extended. The Times understands that, after years of deliberation, bishops have reached long-awaited decisions on two key unresolved problems involving gay rights in the Church of England. (Burgess, The Times)
Read MoreOpenAI will soon allow “erotica” for ChatGPT users who verify their age on the platform. In an X post on Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company will add support for mature conversations when it launches age-gating in December. (Roth, The Verge)
Read MoreInstagram said Tuesday that it would overhaul its approach to teenagers’ accounts and try to crack down on their access to objectionable content after a firestorm of bad publicity over how teens use the social media app. (Ingram, NBC News)
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