RELIGION HEADLINES TUE 5-19

(SRN NEWS)-

(  )  The social media platform X is pledging to crack down on anti-Semitic and terrorist content in Britain at the behest of the country’s media regulator.  The platform is taking several steps, including restricting access in the U.K. to accounts operated by or on behalf of Muslim terrorist groups that the country has banned.  Britain’s Jewish community, which numbers about 300,000 people, has faced growing attacks online and in the streets.  These include a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing that have sparked fear and anger among Jews.  X is also promising to review suspected illegal terrorist and hate content within 24 hours.

(  )  An Iraqi man accused of plotting at least 18 terror attacks in Europe in retaliation for the war in Iran has been arrested in New York.  Mohammad Al-Saadi (al-SAH-dee) is accused of seeking to attack a New York City synagogue last month and providing an undercover law enforcement officer with plans for attacks on Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona.  Al-Saadi is also accused of involvement in two recent attacks in Canada: an attack on a synagogue and a shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto in March.  Anti-Semitism has been surging around the world in recent years, beginning with the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023.

(  )  The Trump administration wants to take 14 acres of land outside El Paso that’s owned by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, to install border barriers.  The administration has filed a lawsuit against the diocese, which refuses to cede the land and argues that the seizure violates its First Amendment rights.  The government is offering to pay nearly 200,000 dollars for the strip of land, because it is a high-traffic route for human smuggling.  The area has also been the site of a record number of migrant deaths in recent years.  Many local people agree with the need for barriers in the area.  

(  )  According to a new study from West Virginia University, most adults who attend religious services go to several different churches, at least occasionally.  The report indicates that roughly 12 percent of all adults who attend services go to multiple congregations regularly and 45 percent do so from time to time.  Of those who attend multiple congregations, about three-quarters attend two congregations and the rest attend three or more.  Adults who do this are more likely to be politically liberal, whereas political conservatives are more likely to always attend one church.