We’re at our local coffee shop for an all-lightning round version of this week in weird religion news. Advice: If you’re writing a Christian romance novel, steer clear of genocide. Here are the stories we’re tracking:

Get your daily prophecy: https://www.elijahlist.com/index.php

Biden compares troops to prophets: https://www.relevantmagazine.com/current/nation/in-an-address-to-the-nation-biden-used-the-book-of-isaiah-to-compare-u-s-troops-to-prophets/

What I Learned While Eavesdropping on the Taliban: https://medium.com/the-atlantic/what-i-learned-while-eavesdropping-on-the-taliban-72c8e2acec9d 

Sister magic: https://thesistersenchanted.com/

The Empty Religions of Instagram: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/opinion/influencers-glennon-doyle-instagram.html?referringSource=articleShare

Christian romance novel dabbles in genocide: https://religionnews.com/2021/08/02/christian-romance-novel-draws-criticism-for-romanticized-genocide-of-native-americans/

The Matrix 4 Title Revealed During Presentation at CinemaCon: https://www.ign.com/articles/the-matrix-4-matrix-resurrections-cinemacon-trailer-reveal-warner-bros 

BONUS PIECE (that we didn’t discuss): Sacred Pregnancy in the Age of the “Nones”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ann-duncan-goucher-college-sacred-pregnancy-in-the/id1060078714?i=1000532965301 (a short podcast ep)

AND: We wanted to comment on this one, but it turns out it’s satire, but it’s still funny: “Jim Bakker says God cannot hear prayers through masks”: https://www.politicalflare.com/2021/08/televangelist-jim-bakker-complains-that-god-cannot-hear-prayers-through-masks/