#TBT: Remember when August was a relatively calm, peaceful month? Not so much this year.
Here’s what you need to know today: Kent Brantly, the American missionary doctor who contracted the Ebola virus at a treatment center in Liberia, will be released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where he was being treated. The Washington Post has a larger story on how the Ebola crisis provided a glimpse of overseas missions.
Volunteers running a safe location for protesters in Ferguson say the church was searched by police yesterday. Anthea Butler writes on the use and abuse of prayer by police in Ferguson.
James Foley, the American photojournalist who was beheaded by ISIS, was an avid reader of the Quran who wanted to promote dialogue between Christians and Muslims, according to his former fellow hostage, the French journalist Nicolas Hénin.
Israel killed three top commanders of Hamas’ military wing in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, striking a blow after the collapse of a cease-fire and truce talks in Egypt.
The Supreme Court has put same-sex marriage in Virginia on hold, issuing a stay on a lower-court ruling.
The Catholic Archbishop of Oklahoma City has filed an unusual lawsuit in an effort to stop a satanic “Black Mass” ritual scheduled for September.
B.K.S. Iyengar, who helped bring the historically Hindu practice of yoga to the West, has died.
Hundreds rallied in Ireland after rape victim says she was denied an abortion. In responding to the news on Twitter, prominent atheist Richard Dawkins is generating headlines for suggesting those who conceive a fetus with Down syndrome should abort.
@InYourFaceNYer Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 20, 2014
Apparently I'm a horrid monster for recommending WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS to the great majority of Down Syndrome fetuses. They are aborted.
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 20, 2014
A drilling firm is suing a man who has used biblical references and quotes on billboards in his campaign opposing drilling wells for disposal of fracking wastewater.
A #ShareACoke baby announcement that went viral was created by a Christian pastor and his wife.
Good reads from RNS:
After evangelical virgin guys marry, then what?
China to Pope Francis: Don’t ‘interfere’ with religion
Global religious hot spots get their own U.S. envoy
Hunger in America: 1 in 7 rely on food banks
Suicide rates higher among baby boomer men, study finds
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