RELIGION HEADLINES MON 5-12-25

Audio By Carbonatix

( SRN NEWS )  The Jewish owner of a jewelry store in Tunisia has been hospitalized after an axe attack on the island where Africa’s oldest synagogue is located.  The 50-year-old man was admitted to a hospital in Djerba, where many of Tunisia’s remaining 1,500 Jews reside.  The attack comes days before Jewish pilgrims are expected in Djerba for a Jewish holiday.  Across the island and at the 26-century-old El-Griba synagogue, Jews welcome thousands each year for three days of festivities.  Two years ago, a Tunisian national guardsman killed two Jewish pilgrims and three security officers during the festival.

(  )  A new AP-NORC poll finds that most adults agree with President Trump that whether a person is a man or woman is determined by their sex at birth.  About half of Americans approve of how Mr. Trump has handled transgender issues, according to the survey.  The poll also finds nuance in answers.  Most oppose using federal insurance programs to pay for sex-change operations on children, but more support allowing transgender military service members than oppose it.  Democrats especially are divided in their views on transgender-related policies.

(  )  The Department of Justice has opened a federal civil rights investigation into a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state’s largest mosques near Dallas.  Texas Senator John Cornyn requested the federal probe of the community last month, citing concerns it could discriminate against Christian and Jewish Texans.  A lawyer for the project has said the developers are being bullied because they are Muslim.  The community has not yet been built.  A federal probe would further escalate pressure on the proposed EPIC City, which is already facing mounting criticism and multiple investigations.

(  )  The Pentagon will immediately begin moving as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender service members out of the military and give others 30 days to self-identify. Buoyed by last week’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals in the military, the Defense Department will then begin going through medical records to identify others who haven’t come forward.  Department officials have said it’s difficult to determine exactly how many transgender service members there are.