Weekly Wrap 5.24.19: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week | Sojourners

Weekly Wrap 5.24.19: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

1. The One Sure Way to Convince a Climate Denier
Lookin’ at you, kids.

2. Our Faith Demands Personal Devotion and Public Action
“We’re meant to grow into a deep compassion that mirrors God’s compassion for every person and all of creation. Everything is intertwined and can’t be separated into imaginary boxes of where love applies and where it doesn’t.”

3. The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming
Before Gamergate, before the 2016 election, they launched a campaign against Twitter trolls masquerading as women of color. If only more people had paid attention.

4. A Conversation with Sri Lankan Artist and Priest Jebasingh Samuvel
Historically, Christian communities in Sri Lanka have found themselves on either side of the caste system — some working to abolish it, others absorbing it into their own practices. Rev. Jebasingh Samuvel is a priest at the Jaffna Diocese Church of South India in Delft Island, Sri Lanka, and advocates tirelessly against caste violence — particularly through his paintings. Read the interview and view his paintings at the link.

5. Thousands of Immigrants Suffer in Solitary Confinement in ICE Detention
An investigation by The Intercept and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found that ICE uses isolation as a go-to tool, rather than a last resort, to manage and punish even the most vulnerable detainees for weeks and months at a time.

6. Rev. Dr. LaKeesha Walrond Named First Woman President of New York Theological Seminary
Commenting on her new position, Walrond said she is pleased “to have the opportunity to show all women that there are still many opportunities to be ‘the first.’”

7. The Impossible Future of Christians in the Middle East
“The world may soon witness the permanent displacement of an ancient religion, and an ancient people. Those indigenous to this area share more than faith: They call themselves Suraye and claim a connection to the ancient peoples who inhabited this land long before the birth of Christ. But the fate of Christianity in places like the Nineveh Plain has a geopolitical significance as well. Religious minorities test a country’s tolerance for pluralism; a healthy liberal democracy protects vulnerable groups and allows them to participate freely in society.”

8. Jean Vanier’s Legacy
“Jean’s central message about transforming structures of privilege to build community across every imaginable kind of difference makes sense without reference to Jesus — but his life doesn’t.”

9. What Can We Learn and Address by Looking at the ‘Cancer Capital of America’?
Genetic predispositions, limited access to care, and reduced income alone would increase anyone’s risk of cancer, but when combined, Eastern Kentuckians are at highest possible risk of disease. Here’s what we can learn from the urban-rural divide in health outcomes.

10. Six Children Have Recently Died in Government Custody. How Do We Know There Are Not More?
Human rights advocates say that the latest news stories about migrant children's deaths highlight the need for more transparency at the federal level.