What We Read This Week

Each week, we bring you interesting stories from around the web. Here’s what caught our eye this week!

POLITICS

A Crisis of Trump’s Own Making

From Sojo

MEDIA

The Real Problem With That Gillette Ad Isn’t the Message

What should we be allowed to expect from brands, and what should they be allowed to expect from us? That’s the question swirling at the heart of the conversation around Gillette’s latest ad, which you’ve almost certainly seen by now. It’s called “We Believe” and shows an opening montage of boys behaving badly — bullying, mansplaining and leering at women to the approving LOLs of their fellow men and a dismissive parade of suburban dads chanting “boys will be boys.” And then a voiceover asks us: “Is this the best a man can get?” — playing on the multibillion-dollar razor company’s famous slogan. Read Full Article

From Relevant Magazine

JUSTICE

How Do I Invite Coworkers to Think About Social Justice Issues?

There are a bunch of possibilities here. The first is to take advantage of times when these issues naturally come up. So, you might organize a special event for Earth Day or bake and share Christmas cookies made with fair trade chocolate. Another example: When the environment or another social justice issue comes up in conversation or current events, you might share what Pope Francis and Catholic bishops have to say about it. And more likely than not, if your coworkers know you are Catholic, they will be turning to you when they hear Pope Francis in the news. This is an excellent opportunity to talk about the importance of Catholic Social teaching and social justice issues. Read Full Article

From Busted Halo

LIFESTYLE

Mom Breaks Down Realizing Her Daughter Was Practicing Lockdown Drill in ‘Cute’ Bathroom Picture 

A picture may be worth a thousand words but sometimes there’s another story behind a deceptively simple and “cute” image. That was the case for Stacey Wehrman Feeley, who snapped a seemingly adorable picture of her young daughter standing atop a toilet in their home’s bathroom.“However, The moment she told me what she was doing I broke down,” wrote in a Facebook post that has quickly gone viral. “She was practicing for a lockdown drill at her preschool and what you should do if you are stuck in a bathroom. At that moment all innocence of what I thought my three-year-old possessed was gone.” Read Full Article

From Good Is

CULTURE

Small-town Christian Bookstore Owners Keep Faith Despite an Uncertain Future

The first book that Byron and Beth Borger sold at the Hearts & Minds bookstore was a copy of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables.” For the Borgers, it was a perfect fit. But their customer was a bit perplexed since the book isn’t standard fare at Christian bookshops. “The first customer asked, ‘What kind of bookstore carries Les Mis?’” said Byron Borger. “We said, ‘What kind of bookstore doesn’t?’” Hearts & Minds has long been an anomaly in the world of Christian retail. The Borgers, who previously worked for a Christian campus ministry group, launched their Dallastown store during the faith-based-bookstore boom times of the 1980s. They bucked evangelical conventions by including Catholic writers such as Thomas Merton, tackling topics like racial justice and featuring books by spiritual formation proponent Richard Foster, whose take on the Christian life was considered radical. Read Full Article

From Religion News