“When you die, the question is not ‘Did you follow the government?’ and then you’re allowed into heaven,” [one pastor] said. “It’s ‘Did you care for your neighbor?’”
2. The Unintended Consequences of a Spiritual Discipline
“This year, Ash Wednesday falls during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. ...In the face of a world that already pressures many into self-denial, self-deprivation, and self-harm, the strength of the spiritual discipline of fasting cracks.”
3. Berta Cáceres Court Papers Show Murder Suspects' Links to U.S.-Trained Elite Troops
A year ago the indigenous Honduran activist was murdered — many believe it was a political assassination.
4. City of Rod
A new book, The Benedict Option, argues that the correct response to the wrongness of our world is essentially to abandon modernity altogether. But Benedictine retreat from political life cannot be the answer for today’s Christians, writes Elizabeth Bruenig.
5. The Mardi Gras Mystics of Mobile, Ala.
“Long before there even was a New Orleans, another Southern city — Mobile, Ala. — was celebrating Mardi Gras in the run-up to Ash Wednesday.” Scroll through this gorgeous photo essay from the New York Times.
6. Four Transgender Women Were Killed Last Week in the U.S.
Attempts to counteract the high rate of violence against transgender people are stymied by the lack of legal protections.
7. Mahershala Ali Is the First Muslim to Win an Oscar—For Some
The Oscar-winning actor is Ahmadi — a Muslim sect outlawed in Pakistan. A look at the complicated politics of religion and law in Pakistan.
8. Freed from Death Row, Artist Creates Prison Exhibit Across from Supreme Court
Ndume Olatushani spent 27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. His piece, entitled “Disrupting the Cradle to Prison Pipeline,” is the first stop in a total of 14 Station of the Cross throughout D.C.
9. Parents Fearing Deportation Pick Guardians for U.S. Children
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) advocacy group has been receiving about 10 requests a day from parents who want to put in place temporary guardianships for their children.
10. Trump Is Wrong to Skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
“In America, we expect our chief executives to poke fun at themselves on live TV. Our leaders must acknowledge that, despite their awesome power, they are only human. The audience demands it. In a small way, democracy demands it as well.”
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