CHICAGO, IL (May 20, 2016) — Covenanters routinely share links to social media articles and videos that Covenant News Service believes may be of interest to others. Each Friday we post five of them. Following is a sample of those submissions—their inclusion does not represent an endorsement by the Covenant of any views expressed.
J.K. Rowling Defends Donald Trump’s Right to Be “Offensive and Bigoted”
The woman who gave voice to Lord Voldemort says Donald Trump should be allowed his. J.K. Rowling told a gathering honoring her at a literary gala that petitions to ban the presidential candidate from the UK represented a danger to freedom.
From the article: “If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture, and kill on exactly the same justifications,” the novelist said.
The woman who started the petition isn’t very happy with Rowling.
Most Native Americans Not Offended by “Redskins”
As for determining what does constitute offensive speech, an independent poll by the Washington Post found that nine out of 10 Native Americans surveyed said they aren’t offended by the NFL football team’s name. The league has sought to have trademark protections for the team lifted because the name is offensive and disparaging. The poll raises a question: Is a name offensive if the people whom it stereotypes say they aren’t offended by it?
On the other hand, some are questioning the poll’s methodology.
From the article: “The poll found that of Native Americans who identified as liberal, 80 percent considered the name inoffensive. Moderates were at 92 percent and conservatives at 96. Of college graduates, 85 percent were not offended, compared to 91 percent of those who attended some or no college.”
You’ll Never Rent in this City
The time it takes to obtain a rent-controlled property in Stockholm averages nine years—and that wait goes up to two decades for more popular neighborhoods. In other words: five times longer than the renters’ Ikea furniture is likely to last.
From the article: “The city’s queue for rent-controlled housing is so long that it’s being considered by the Guinness Book of World Records. …Stockholm is Europe’s fastest-growing capital, thanks to record immigration, a thriving start-up scene plus one of the continent’s highest birth rates. All of these factors have seen the wider region’s population grow by almost a quarter of a million in just seven years.”
A Liberation Theology for Single People
Being single is not “lesser than” being married. I wonder how married people would respond if their pastor preached four-week series on being single.
In the article, Christena Cleveland writes: “Despite the fact that almost half of U.S. adults are single and the majority of U.S. women are single, the dominant Christian culture insists on prioritizing and elevating marriage above singleness. The vast majority of resources, support and interest are channeled toward married people. Meanwhile single people are left out.”
Why You Should Be Eating Roadkill
Well now that you put it that way…
From the article: “But in general, a wild animal found roadside has led an uncrowded and healthy life, antibiotic and growth-hormone-free, and is very likely organic, depending on its diet. Even roadkill rats gathered from country roads are typically healthy (and reportedly delicious) specimens of Rodentia. ‘Once you start talking about cleanliness of over-processed, drugged supermarket food as opposed to something that’s been hit by a car, people start to understand it,’ says [“roadkill connoisseur”] Alison Brierley.”
Like many nonprofits, at least one Covenant church has had a “roadkill” ministry that provides meat to the poor.
