Religion and Psychedelic Decriminalization+ Today’s Digest

Our daily rundown of the articles from around the web that we feel our readers would enjoy and appreciate. We hope to highlight the best of what’s around.

Public Square Bulletin recommends:

The Road to Decriminalization of Psychoactive Drugs Runs Through Religion

Brad Stoddard – Religion Dispatches

Brad Stoddard outlines the movement to decriminalize psychoactive drugs, and the role religious rhetoric and experience play in it. Whether you agree, or want to be aware of how religious freedom rhetoric is being used, it’s worth the read.

We must not let health care become a religion-free zone

Charles C. Camosy – America Magazine

This Jesuit publication focuses on what it calls the “absolutely bizarre” insistence that religion should not play any role in the world of medicine. Camosy outlines the long-term problems of this approach.

Threats to religious freedom and to women go hand in hand

Jeff Brumley – Baptist News Global

A panel at the United States Commission of International Religious Freedom found that everywhere religious freedom is threatened, the rights of girls and women are threatened as well.

To Those Who Say Religion is for People with Weak Minds

Daniel C. Peterson – Meridian Magazine

Since Freud, many have concluded that religion is only adopted as psychological comfort. Daniel Peterson looks at various refutations of that argument, including a look at the possible psychological motivations of atheism.

Getting ‘More Christians Into Politics’ Is the Wrong Christian Goal

David French – The Dispatch

Having people of faith in powerful positions used to be seen as a default good goal for many Christians looking to expand their influence in politics. French suggests that may no longer be a wise approach.

When Outrage Sells, Disciples Choose Peace

Dialogue

The Final Lesson of Peacemaking: Ask Better Questions

Health

Primum Non Nocere: A Berlin Museum’s Warning Against Silence

Our Culture of Contempt

Four Corners

What Past Attacks on Mormons and Catholics Teach Us About the Threat to Muslims

C.D. Cunningham

“Surviving Mormonism” and the Real Story of Institutional Harm

Are Surviving Mormonism’s stories typical? Comparative data show rare failures in an institution ahead on reform.

Dan Ellsworth

Church Choirs and the Sound of Belonging: Where Harmony Still Exists

Why do ward choirs matter? They build unity, model male-female harmony, bridge communities, and teach belonging.

Jeff Bennion

When Law Meets Love: Dallin H. Oaks’ Ministry to Sexual and Gender Minorities

Dallin H. Oaks pairs law with love, showing humility, outreach, and a call to hold truth with tenderness.

Jacob Z. Hess

Why are Some Latter-day Saints Hesitant to Talk about the Family Proclamation?

The Family Proclamation is beloved by members around the world. So why are some afraid to talk about it?

Cassandra Hedelius

Motherhood, Mortality, and the Myth of Control

A near-death experience at 39 leads a mother to challenge her perceptions of entitlement, faith, and mortality.

CATEGORIES

Disagreement is Not Disunion

The inauguration of our new president is almost a week old. There’s one especially striking moment from his speech that can’t and shouldn’t yet slip from our memories.

The Expressive Self: Identity Above Truth

Influential voices tell us that to be yourself, you need to reject external sources of meaning—and follow “your truth.” But detaching authenticity from truth leads to emptiness, not fulfillment.

Christians Oppressed in China + Today’s Digest

Our daily rundown of the articles from around the web that we feel our readers would enjoy and appreciate. We hope to highlight the best of what’s around. Public Square Bulletin recommends: Dramatic story of Kyrgyz Christian swept up in China’s Uyghur repression gets very little ink Julia Duin – Get Religion While much has been said about the religious persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China, the same crackdown has swept up another religious minority group but with much less reporting. Is Jesus Worth Following at Any Cost John Piper – Crossway The chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary turns the modern conception of how Christianity can benefit the individual to focus on the deep costs of discipleship that Christ identified in this devotional piece. Towards A Theology of Encountering the World Ben Spackman Latter-day Saint Biblical scholar, Ben Spackman published an understanding how Latter-day Saints understand and interact with the broader world and culture. He writes a little bit about the paper in his blog. The Pulitzers still value opinion writing — and so do readers Rick Edmonds – Poynter If you read Public Square Magazine you probably appreciate editorial journalism. Media analyst, Rick Edmonds analyzes this week’s Pulitzer Prize announcement for the current state of opinion writing.

A dramatic seascape with a vulnerable chapel facing nature's fury, depicting the themes of the seeker-sensitive church in a tumultuous world.

Christianity Lite: The Seeker-Sensitive Church

Is seeker sensitivity in churches a solution or a trap? There is a paradox that increasingly inclusive doctrines lead to both orthodox and progressive departures. There is an honest Latter-day Saint approach.