Remembering Muhammad Ali

Here’s my June 11 newsletter. To receive my latest article, favorite religion reads and other updates in your inbox every Saturday, sign-up here.

Summer is in full swing here in Salt Lake City, which makes it hard to spend most of the day at a desk and on the phone. However, I found ways to have fun this week, including writing about a Catholic contestant on “American Ninja Warrior” and researching the apocalypse.

I grew up Presbyterian and, beyond in a few lectures on Revelation in grad school, never learned much about the end of the world. I was aware that many Americans believe the apocalypse is coming in their lifetime, but I was unsure if that affected how they live in the here and now.

My reading and interviews this week have been eye-opening, helping me realize that apocalyptic books, TV shows and movies help us explore our own anxieties about death and the direction humankind is headed. I’m already dreading the moment when I have to compile pages and pages of notes into a coherent article.

FRESH OFF THE PRESS FROM ME

Muslim refugees prepare to observe Ramadan away from home

Is it constitutional for a community pool to offer women-only swimming hours?

Marking the anniversary of the Charleston church shooting with words and action

‘Papal Ninja’ puts his Catholic faith and athletic abilities on display for a primetime audience

TOP RELIGION READS

Why Muhammad Ali was ‘the greatest’ American Muslim, CNN

The theology of CrossFit, On Being

Inside Emanuel AME Church one year after the Charleston shootings, Christianity Today

I’m evangelical, my church welcomes gays and I’m not voting for Trump, Laura Turner, Esquire

JUST FOR FUN

Here are a few awesome books on the apocalypse in case you’re in the market for some spooky summer reading: