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Welcome to the Saturday edition of The Conversation U.S.’s Daily newsletter.
In 1872, the U.S. government created Yellowstone National Park – the first of its kind in the world. Ever since, it’s inspired awe. And for many visitors that awe is spiritual.
Religion has been part of Yellowstone for centuries, long before its designation as a park, writes religious studies scholar Thomas Bremer. Native Americans were aware of the region’s unique landscape, including the Tukudika, who lived year-round within the present-day boundaries. The Euro-Americans who later “discovered” the area brought their own religious ideas – including manifest destiny, which forcibly displaced Indigenous groups like the Tukudika.
Christian worship has taken place at the park since its founding, including an evangelical group that has ministered to employees and visitors for decades. And a New Age group that blends Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism famously built a community – and bunkers – just north of Yellowstone. Bremer takes us through some of the many religious communities that have been drawn to Yellowstone’s “spiritual power.”
This week we also liked stories on what not to say when a friend’s pet dies, the reasons behind the violence against Druze and Alawites in Syria, and how college professors can help local journalism by
reporting on their communities.
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Beehive Geyser, in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.
Thomas S. Bremer
Thomas S. Bremer, Rhodes College
Native American groups were aware of the region’s dramatic features. Since the national park’s creation, other faiths have also been inspired by its beauty, from Christians to New Age groups.
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Unfortunately for demographers, birth rates are hard to predict far into the future.
gremlin/E+ via Getty Images
Leslie Root, University of Colorado Boulder; Karen Benjamin Guzzo, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Shelley Clark, McGill University
While the changes in population structure that accompany low birth rates are real, the impact of these changes has been dramatically overstated.
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A tequila factory in Jalisco, Mexico, the hub of the world’s tequila production.
Gabriel Trujillo/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Stephen Acabado, University of California, Los Angeles
Crew aboard Spanish trading ships departing from Manila may have introduced techniques for distilling coconut sap – helping to shape what would become Mexico’s national spirit.
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Jeffrey Basara, UMass Lowell
Large parts of the central and eastern U.S. have seen at least 50% more precipitation than normal. An atmospheric scientist explains why and what creates flash flood weather.
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Kevin Johnson, University of California, Davis
After his predecessors failed to diminish the US population of undocumented immigrants, President Trump is attempting to drastically reduce that population via unprecedented tactics.
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Güneş Murat Tezcür, Arizona State University
A scholar of religious minorities and the Middle East explains the historical persecution and marginalization of the Alawite and Druze communities.
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