The online editorial staff comprises Betsy Shirley, Jenna Barnett, Josiah R. Daniels, Mitchell Atencio, Heather Brady, Kierra Bennning, and Zachary Lee.

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New Database Lets You Search Racial Disparities in School Districts

by the Web Editors 10-17-2018

ProPublica has released a new interactive database that allows users to examine racial disparities in more than 96,000 individual public and charter schools, and 17,000 districts across the United States.

You can search the racial composition of individual schools and also compare school districts on issues of opportunity, discipline, segregation, and achievement gap.

Claims of Voter Suppression in Georgia's Governor Race

by the Web Editors 10-11-2018

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp speaks with visitors to the state capitol. July 24, 2018. REUTERS. 

According to a report earlier this week from The Associated Press, more than 53,000 voter registration applications have been sitting on hold with Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office. The people on the list are predominantly black, and may not even know their voter registration has been held up.

Weekly Wrap 10.5.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 10-05-2018

Weekly Wrap 9.28.18: The 10 Best Stories Your Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 09-28-2018

2. What Do Survivors Need to Hear Today?

Start here: “You are beloved.” “You will recover.” “God is with you.”

3. Blocking Poor Immigrants Could Be Very Costly

“Worse health outcomes, especially among pregnant women. A jump in emergency room usage. More communicable diseases. Higher poverty and housing instability, including among U.S. citizen children. Lower productivity. Reduced educational attainment. And ‘downstream and upstream impacts on state and local economies, large and small businesses, and individuals.’ What are all these terrible things? They’re all potential consequences of a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule—according to DHS itself.”

Weekly Wrap 9.21.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 09-21-2018

1. The Quiet Evangelical Campaign to Help Republicans Hold onto the House and Senate

The Faith and Freedom Coalition, Focus on the Family’s Family Policy Alliance, and more are stepping up their ground game — and spending millions of dollars — to stave off a blue wave.

2. This Is How #MeToo Has Moved the Needle in Churches

In 2014, protestant pastors were surveyed about how they talk about sexual and domestic violence in their congregations. Results were dismal. In 2018, after nearly a year of #MeToo revelations, the survey was conducted again — here’s what’s changed.

Weekly Wrap 9.14.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 09-12-2018

1. You Owe Me an Apology

“Serena's declaration was an instantaneous declaration of freedom. Freedom for every woman who deserves an apology from the boss who gave her a #MeToo story to tell.”

2. Women Rally for More Inclusion at Toronto Film Festival

“Because our north star is not diversity. It is not inclusion. But it is belonging. We must all feel as if our voices and our stories matter.”

3. Franklin Graham’s Uneasy Alliance with Donald Trump

The evangelical pastor is well aware of the critique often levelled against him: that he’s more politically and spiritually partisan than his father, Billy

Weekly Wrap 9.7.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 09-07-2018

1. Let’s Let Thurgood Marshall Explain What’s Wrong with Brett Kavanaugh’s Originalism

From Marshall: “I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever ‘fixed’ at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound.”

2. The Very American Activism of Colin Kaepernick

The history of usage of Kaepernick’s phrase, “dying in vain.”

Weekly Wrap 8.31.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-31-2018

2. The Online Gig Economy’s ‘Race to the Bottom’

“ … while freelance websites may have raised wages and broadened the number of potential employers for some people, they’ve forced every new worker who signs up into entering a global marketplace with endless competition, low wages, and little stability.”

3. How Some Women of Color Were Left Out of the Minimum Wage Hike

“I see my job as the work of God, but God is angry because he sees that my job is making me sick needlessly and is mistreating me. We have been treated like slaves.”

Nearly Half Of California Workers Are Struggling With Poverty

by the Web Editors 08-28-2018

Bill Morson / Shutterstock.com

A new study by the Public Religion Research Institute reveals precarious conditions for workers in California. According to the study, nearly half of California workers — 47 percent — are struggling with poverty. A majority of Californians working and struggling with poverty — 60 percent — are Hispanic.

Reflecting rapid changes in the economy, 11 percent of Californians report participating in the gig economy in the last year, defined as being paid for performing miscellaneous tasks or providing services for others.

White House to Host Dinner 'Celebrating Evangelical Leadership'

by the Web Editors 08-27-2018

By way of explanation, Robert Jefress, a member of the advisory group, told CBN the president is "genuinely appreciative" of the steady approval rating he holds with evangelicals. White evangelicals voted for Trump in the 2016 election by about 80 percent.

Irish Prime Minister Challenges Pope Francis on Church Abuse, Pontiff Says Church Shamed by 'Repellant Crimes'

by the Web Editors 08-25-2018

Pope Francis smiles next to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Dublin Castle during his visit to Dublin, Ireland, Aug. 25, 2018. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivered a firm challenge to Pope Francis and the Catholic Church Saturday in Dublin Castle, where the two met with authorities, civil society, and diplomatic corps. Pope Francis visits the country after decades of revelations of abuse of women and children at the hands of clergy. Hundreds died from apparent malnutrition, unwed mothers lived in servitude, and many of their babies were illegally adopted.

Weekly Wrap 8.24.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-24-2018

1. The Victims of Climate Change Are Already Here

“From the poor people in Vieques, Puerto Rico, who still face uncertain medical care and unstable electricity after Maria, to black and Latino communities severed from dialysis services in Houston during Harvey, if there’s anything the current climate regime tells us, it’s that vulnerable populations are already in trouble.”

2. The Church Is Watching: Protecting the Vote in 2018

Learn how your church can get involved in the midterms.

Logic Protests Family Separation at Video Music Awards

by the Web Editors 08-21-2018
LUCAS JACKSON

2018 MTV Video Music Awards - Show - Radio City Music Hall, New York, U.S., August 20, 2018 - Logic performs "One Day". LUCAS JACKSON

Joined by OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, Logic used his VMA stage time as a powerful protest of the Trump aministration’s family separation policy that has removed thousands of children from their parents.

Pope Francis Responds to Clerical Abuse in New Letter

by the Web Editors 08-20-2018

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis delivers a speech after a meeting with Patriarchs of the churches of the Middle East at the St. Nicholas Basilica in Bari, southern Italy July 7, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo

Pope Francis has responded today to recent reports of clerical sexual abuse and ecclesial cover-up through a letter titled “Letter to the People of God.” This letter comes on the heels of a 884-page reportdocumenting clerical abuse in Pennsylvania and ahead of the World Meeting of Families taking place Aug. 21-26 in Dublin, Ireland, where Pope Francis is scheduled to speak later in the week.

Weekly Wrap 8.17.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-17-2018

1. What Can Change in the Wake of the Pennsylvania Sex Abuse Report?
“I don’t know that [the Catholic Church can] come back from this, and I don’t know if they should.”

2. Do Religious People Know More About Politics?
This quick study ranks political knowledge by religious affiliation. Lookin’ at you, Episcopalians.

Pennsylvania Report Details Decades of Sexual Abuse by Priests

by the Web Editors 08-14-2018

Image via REUTERS/Max Rossi

The report cited 301 priests who are accused of abuse. As a consequence of the cover up, only two priests are subject to prosecution — some abusers died and other cases are too old to prosecute. There were more than 1,000 victims identified in the report, mostly boys, but more victims are believed to exist.

Weekly Wrap 8.10.18: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-10-2018

1. Charlottesville, One Year Later
Activists, faith leaders, and Charlottesville residents on the ongoing trauma and continued resistance against white nationalists.

2. ICE Crashed a Van Full of Separated Mothers, Then Denied It Ever Happened
The vehicle was towed and another picked up the women, who were on their way to be reunited with their children. An ICE spokesperson denied the crash happened, twice. Three weeks later, the admitted it, but called the incident a “fender bender.”

Willow Creek Lead Pastor, Entire Board of Elders Step Down Amid Hybels Allegations

by the Web Editors 08-09-2018

Image via Willow Creek D/CH / Flickr

The mass resignation comes in the wake of an admitted mishandling of sexual harassment allegations made against the church’s founder and former pastor, Rev. Bill Hybels.

DACA Recipient Detained After Anti-ICE Protests

by the Web Editors 08-08-2018

Children and family members take part in a sit-in following a march to mark “the court-ordered deadline for the Trump Administration to reunify thousands of families separated at the border, in Washington, U.S., July 26, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

According to a report by The Intercept, the agents took Salazar behind an abandoned Walmart where they shackled him and emptied his pockets before transporting him to the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall. Once there, Salazar says he was taken to a room where the FBI probed him for information and told him his immigration status had been revoked because he was a “bad person.” When he refused to talk to them, he was transferred to the Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas.

How the Threat of Deportation Negatively Affects the Mental Health of Children

by the Web Editors 08-06-2018

Undocumented immigrant families walk from a bus depot to a respite center after being released from detention in McAllen, Texas, U.S., July 26, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

"Imagine your family ripped apart. That’s going to have reverberations across family members for years to come."