Blogaround

1. Facing the Forgotten Martyrs (The Ones We Killed) (July 11) "Our own heroes have killed countless faithful people because of their different cultures, beliefs, practices, and religions. The fact that we consider them heroes for doing so betrays a lot about our ideals."

2. Nepal becomes first South Asian country to allow same-sex marriage (July 11)

3. Shannon Harris has written a book called The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife. Shannon is the ex-wife of Joshua Harris, who wrote the most influential purity culture book, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," and other books about how if you perfectly follow all of God's rules, and stay pure, and don't even kiss, and don't date unless you're really really really serious about marrying that person, and be really jumpy and scared about being "too emotionally attached" to your boyfriend or girlfriend, and worry about every little thing because maybe it will ruin your chances to ever have a good marriage... if you do all of those things perfectly, then you'll never experience heartbreak and God will give you a perfect marriage. Anyway, a few years ago, Josh announced that he had abandoned a lot of those beliefs, and then later announced that he and his wife were separating. Now we have a book that has Shannon's side of the story. I'm really interested in this.

Some of my posts about Josh Harris:
So I Watched Josh Harris's Documentary (2018)
Wishing the Best to Josh Harris and His Ex (2019)

4. We Can End AIDS, if We Follow the Path of Progress (July 14) "Worldwide, several countries are on track to end HIV/AIDS. Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have already achieved the 95-95-95 target, meaning 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of people who know their status are receiving treatment, and 95% of people receiving treatment have a suppressed viral load, reducing the likelihood of their infection being passed on. Another 16 countries are close to doing so, while China has achieved an impressive 84-93-97 ratio."

Also from Sixth Tone: Plea for Marriage Rules Reform Sparks Debate on Parental Consent (July 13) "As per the existing regulations, couples intending to marry are required to notify their household owners, typically their parents, in order to obtain the necessary document. While this step may be straightforward for many individuals, it can pose challenges when either set of parents disagrees with the marriage."