Christmas 1983

President Reagan, December 24, 1983

My fellow Americans:

Like so many of your homes, the White House is brimming with greens, colorful decorations, and a tree trimmed and ready for Christmas day. And when Nancy and I look out from our upstairs windows, we can see the National Christmas Tree standing in majestic beauty. Its lights fill the air with a spirit of love, hope, and joy from the heart of America.

I shared that spirit recently when a young girl named Amy Benham helped me light our national tree. Amy had said that the tree that lights up our country must be seen all the way to heaven. And she said that her wish was to help me turn on its lights. Well, Amy's wish came true. But the greatest gift was mine, because I saw her eyes light up with hope and joy just as brightly as the lights on our national tree. And I'm sure they were both seen all the way to heaven, and they made the angels sing.

Christmas is a time for children, and rightly so. We celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace who came as a babe in a manger. Some celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great teacher and philosopher. But to other millions of us, Jesus is much more. He is divine, living assurance that God so loved the world He gave us His only begotten Son so that by believing in Him and learning to love each other we could one day be together in paradise.

It's been said that all the kings who ever reigned, that all the parliaments that ever sat have not done as much to advance the cause of peace on Earth and good will to men as the man from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth.

Christmas is also a time to remember the treasures of our own history. We remember one Christmas in particular, 1776, our first year as a nation. The Revolutionary War had been going badly. But George Washington's faith, courage, and leadership would turn the tide of history our way. On Christmas night he led a band of ragged soldiers across the Delaware River through driving snow to a victory that saved the cause of independence. It's said that their route of march was stained by bloody footprints, but their spirit never faltered and their will could not be crushed.

The image of George Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow is one of the most famous in American history. He personified a people who knew it was not enough to depend on their own courage and goodness; they must also seek help from God, their Father and Preserver.

In a few hours, families and friends across America will join together in caroling parties and Christmas Eve services. Together, we'll renew that spirit of faith, peace, and giving which has always marked the character of our people. In our moments of quiet reflection I know we will remember our fellow citizens who may be lonely and in need tonight.

``Is the Christmas spirit still alive?'' some ask. Well, you bet it is. Being Americans, we open our hearts to neighbors less fortunate. We try to protect them from hunger and cold. And we reach out in so many ways -- from toys-for-tots drives across the country, to good will by the Salvation Army, to American Red Cross efforts which provide food, shelter, and Christmas cheer from Atlanta to Seattle.

Churches are so generous it's impossible to keep track. One example: Reverend Bill Singles' Presbyterian Meeting House in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, is simultaneously sponsoring hot meals on wheels programs, making and delivering hundreds of sandwiches and box loads of clothes, while visiting local hospitals and sending postcards to shut-ins and religious dissidents abroad.

Let us remember the families who maintain a watch for their missing in action. And, yes, let us remember all those who are persecuted inside the Soviet bloc -- not because they commit a crime, but because they love God in their hearts and want the freedom to celebrate Hanukkah or worship the Christ Child.

And because faith for us is not an empty word, we invoke the power of prayer to spread the spirit of peace. We ask protection for our soldiers who are guarding peace tonight -- from frigid outposts in Alaska and the Korean demilitarized zone to the shores of Lebanon. One Lebanese mother told us that her little girl had only attended school 2 of the last 8 years. Now, she said, because of our presence there her daughter can live a normal life.

With patience and firmness we can help bring peace to that strife-torn region and make our own lives more secure. The Christmas spirit of peace, hope, and love is the spirit Americans carry with them all year round, everywhere we go. As long as we do, we need never be afraid, because trusting in God is the one sure answer to all the problems we face.

Till next week, thanks for listening, God bless you, and Merry Christmas.

States and Charity

Many posts have discussed charity.

 

Among households making $200K+ in 2020, here's the share that was given to charity.

Arkansas leads - 6.7%.
Utah is second - 5.8%.

States in New England are lowest.
Rhode Island - 1.5%.

The IRS classifies houses of worship as charities along with other non-profits. pic.twitter.com/0wvDNqWZ9P

— Ryan Burge 📊 (@ryanburge) December 13, 2023

Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Many posts have discussed the background of Thanksgiving and other holidays.

Transcript for President Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation from October 3, 1863

 The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. Theyare the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

 

Abraham Lincoln

By the President: William H. Seward. Secretary of State

Polarized Views of Evolution

 A number of posts have dealt with views of evolution.  Party preference makes a difference:

% saying God created humans in their current form / humans evolved and God had no part in the process

U.S. adults: 43% / 18%

Democrats: 39% / 25%
Independents: 35% / 20%
Republicans: 61% / 7%https://t.co/nJQkNs8mKu pic.twitter.com/4LB4gwLuAO

— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) November 18, 2023

% saying all or most / a few or none of their friends and family members believe that God created humans in their current form

U.S. adults: 52% / 15%

Democrats: 50% / 19%
Independents: 44% / 18%
Republicans: 65% / 9%https://t.co/qzlDS3Cp96 pic.twitter.com/OXtTjQeFox

— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) November 18, 2023

Religious Composition of Party Coalitions

 Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.  

From Ryan Burge at Religion Unplugged: 

In 2008 the religious composition of the Republicans was:

~75% white Christians.
~10% non-white Christians.
~10% nones.
~5% everyone else.

In 2020, the composition was:

~70% white Christians.
~10% non-white Christians.
~15% nones.
~5% everyone else. pic.twitter.com/TiTRURz6wp

— Ryan Burge 📊 (@ryanburge) November 7, 2023

The Democratic coalition in 2020 was this:

~45% non-religious.
~30% white Christians.
~20% non-white Christians.
~5% everyone else.

In 2008 it was:

~35% non-religious.
~40% white Christians.
~20% non-white Christians.
~5% everyone else.

Most Democrats will be nones by 2028. pic.twitter.com/CH0PyWKluE

— Ryan Burge 📊 (@ryanburge) November 6, 2023

Speaker Johnson and Christian Nationalism

 Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.  

Some observers say that House Speaker Mike Johnson is a Christan nationalist.

Thomas Edsall at NYT:

Robert Jones, the president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, described Johnson in an email as “the embodiment of white Christian nationalism in a tailored suit.”

What is Christian nationalism? Christianity Today described it as the “belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way. Popularly, Christian nationalists assert that America is and must remain a ‘Christian nation’ — not merely as an observation about American history, but as a prescriptive program for what America must continue to be in the future.”

Johnson’s election as speaker, Jones went on to say, “is one more confirmation that the Republican Party — a party that is 68 percent white and Christian in a country that is 42 percent white and Christian — has embraced its role as the party of white Christian nationalism.”

Jones argued that “while Johnson is more polished than other right-wing leaders of the G.O.P. who support this worldview, his record and previous public statements indicate that he’s a near textbook example of white Christian nationalism — the belief that God intended America to be a new promised land for European Christians.”

In a long and data-filled analysis posted on Substack on Oct. 29, “Hiding in Plain Sight: The Sources of MAGA Madness,” Michael Podhorzer, a former political director of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., argued that the election of Johnson reflects the success of the Christian right in a long-term struggle to wrest control from traditional Republican elites, in battles fought out in Republican primary elections.

Speaker Johnson and Christian Nationalism

Mike Johnson (R-LA) has become speaker of the House. His inaugural speech mentioned religion and the Declaration.

 Kastelyn Fossett at Politico interviews Kristin Kobes Du Mez:

DU MEZ: As he understands it, this country was founded as a Christian nation. And he stands in a long tradition of conservative white evangelicals, particularly inside the Southern Baptist Convention, who have a distinct understanding of what that means. And this is where evangelical author and activist David Barton comes in.

Johnson has said that Barton’s ideas and teachings have been extremely influential on him, and that is essentially rooting him in this longer tradition of Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism essentially posits the idea that America is founded on God’s laws, and that the Constitution is a reflection of God’s laws. Therefore, any interpretation of the Constitution must align with Christian nationalists’ understanding of God’s laws. Freedom for them means freedom to obey God’s law, not freedom to do what you want. So really, Christian supremacy and a particular type of conservative Christianity is at the heart of Johnson’s understanding of the Constitution and an understanding of our government. 

....

Fossett: Tell me more about David Barton.

Du Mez: Barton is a very popular author in conservative evangelical spaces, and he is the founder of an organization called Wallbuilders. It is an organization that for decades has been promoting the idea that the separation of church and state is a myth. He is a self-trained historian. Some would call him a pseudo-historian. He’s not a historian — I can say that, as a historian. He’s an apologist. He uses historical evidence, cherry-picked and sometimes entirely fabricated, to make a case that the separation of church and state is a myth, and it was only meant to protect the church from the intrusion of the state but that the church is supposed to influence the government. He’s the author of a number of very popular books.

Back in the early 1990s, Jerry Falwell, Sr., started promoting his teachings. I noticed that Johnson said he was — I think about 25 years ago —introduced to David Barton’s work, and it has really influenced the way he understands America. And that would be around that same time.

It’s really hard to overstate the influence that Barton has had in conservative evangelical spaces. For them, he has really defined America as a Christian nation. What that means is that he kind of takes conservative, white evangelical ideals from our current moment, and says that those were all baked into the Constitution, and that God has elected America to be a special nation, and that the nation will be blessed if we respond in obedience and maintain that, and not if we go astray. It really fuels evangelical politics and the idea that evangelicalism has a special role to play to get the country back on track.riday. Sign up for the newsletter.

I should also add that Barton’s Christian publisher back in 2012 actually pulled one of his books on Thomas Jefferson, because it was just riddled with misinformation. But that did not really affect his popularity. And again, these are not historical facts that we’re dealing with. It really is propaganda, but it’s incredibly effective propaganda. If you listen to Christian radio, you will hear them echoed. It’s just this pervasive understanding of our nation’s history that is based on fabrication.

Speaker Mike Johnson

Mike Johnson (R-LA) has become speaker of the House. His inaugural speech mentioned religion and the Declaration.

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA): "Scripture, the Bible, is very clear: God is the one that raises up those in authority. All of us ... [Marxism and Communism] begin with the premise that there is no God." pic.twitter.com/VCh4kKHdQC

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) October 25, 2023

The republic, not a democracy thing and the separation of church and state

Mike Johnson in 2016: "What’s happened, Alex, over the last 60 or 70 years, is that our generation has been convinced that there is a separation of church and state. Most people think that that’s part of the Constitution, but it’s not.”

(It is: See The Establishment Clause). pic.twitter.com/yP0vsl7rC1

— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) October 26, 2023

Nones

Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.   

 Erica Pandey at Axios:

There's a global, fast-growing population of people without a religion. That's according to a new AP-NORC Poll.

Why it matters: Religion has long been a powerful force in society, touching politics, art and daily life. The rise of nonbelievers and people with no religious affiliation is diminishing its influence.

By the numbers: 3 in 10 U.S. adults said they had no religious affiliation.About half of them identify as atheist or agnostic, and the other half say their religion is "nothing in particular."

The shift away from religion is even starker among younger adults, with 43% of 18- to 29-year-old Americans responding "none," when asked which religion they follow.But fewer than 20% of U.S. adults over 60 are "nones."

Getting Religion from Politics

Daniel A. Cox at The Survey Center on American Life:

More conservatives are looking for religious communities that also affirm their political beliefs. New research by Shay Hafner and Audre Audette found that politics has become a more salient consideration for conservatives when choosing a church. The authors point out that political considerations are especially important for evangelical Christians who are less concerned with denominational differences and more comfortable with overt political appeals.

These findings are consistent with recent polling. A 2022 Lifeway Research survey of Protestants noted the growing appeal of politically homogeneous congregations. Fifty percent of Protestants interviewed said they preferred that their congregation reflect their own political views while 41 percent disagreed, a modest increase from a few years earlier.

The salience of politics in religious communities is likely to grow given that such issues are more of a priority for younger worshippers. Lifeway’s report notes, “Younger churchgoers are more likely than older ones to prefer sharing a pew with someone of the same politics. Almost 3 in 5 of those under 50 (57%) want a congregation with people who share their political views, compared to 47% of those 50 to 65 and 41% of those 65 and older.”

The problem of politicized churches is obvious. It represents a clear challenge to the political system. The regular use of apocalyptic language in political arguments discourages compromise and reduces the possibility of finding consensus. Even if churches have been historically segregated by race and ethnicity, they have long been places where people of differing economic and political backgrounds could come together.

Politically polarized worship spaces represent a societal loss as well. Religious institutions are incredibly valuable sources of social capital. They give purpose, direction, and meaning and connect their members to a wider world. At a time when more Americans are withdrawing from civic life, religious communities are more valuable than ever. What’s more, adopting an aggressive political posture overshadows all the other work that congregations do for their communities and the people in them.

This "prayer" is much more sinister than many people may realize. In the NIV Bible, "strike down" means "kill" and "put to silence" means "destroy." https://t.co/EmuthuGOXi

— Jack Pitney. (@jpitney) October 7, 2023

Dechurching

Daniel K. Williams at The Atlantic:

The reasons people who identify as Christian and hold Christian beliefs choose not to attend church vary. For some, dissatisfaction with their church options and the behavior of church members is a key factor in their decision to leave church, but for a sizable number of others, there is no single catalyst; they simply fall out of the habit of going, according to Davis and Graham’s research. The hectic pace of contemporary life, complete with Sunday work schedules, makes it difficult for some people to attend church if they want to keep their jobs.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on an average weekend day, 29 percent of the workforce is at work. Restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, and retail outlets are staffed each Sunday morning by a lot of people who might identify as Christian but who definitely won’t be at church that day.

The result is that a lot of people who still identify as Christian no longer go to church. Even as early as 2014, the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study found that 30 percent of self-identified Southern Baptists “seldom” or “never” attended church—and that was before the “great dechurching” accelerated after the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic. The exodus of millions of Americans from churches will have a profound influence on the nation’s politics, and not in the way that many advocates of secularism might expect. Rather than ending the culture wars, the battle between a rural Christian nationalism without denominational moorings and a northern urban Social Gospel without an explicitly Christian framework will become more intense.

Democrats and Nones

Frank Newport at Gallup:

The magnitude of this religion gap has increased over the years, to the point where I think it is fair to say that a significant part of the explanation for the “rise of the nones” lies with changes among Democrats, not Republicans.

I looked at this relationship on a year-by-year basis using our annual May GPSS Values surveys, a valuable exercise because the same questions have been asked in basically the same survey context every May since 2001. The percentage of Republican nones has edged up over the last 10 years or so, but the percentage of Democratic nones has increased significantly more. In short, the relatively small partisan gaps in none identification seen two decades ago have increased substantially over the years. 

Why Are Young People Leaving Religion

Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.   

Daniel Cox, at The Survey Center on American Life:

The question remains: what is the reason so many young people are leaving religion? There’s no single answer, but the most compelling explanation is that changes in American family life precipitated this national decline. American families have changed dramatically over the past few decades and many churches have been slow to respond. Americans raised in blended families, interfaith families or single-parent families are far less likely to have participated in religion growing up. And these types of family arrangements have become far more common today than they once were. The family explanation is compelling for a few reasons: 

1. Young people today are leaving much earlier than those of previous generations. Seventy percent of young adults who have disaffiliated shed their formative religious identities during their teen years.
2. The Americans most likely to “leave” religion are those with the weakest formative attachments. Compared to previous generations, Generation Z reports having a less robust religious experience during their childhood.
3. Most Americans who disaffiliate say they “drifted away” from religion rather than experiencing a singular negative or traumatic event that pushed them out. To put it another way, they quiet quit.
4. A wealth of research has shown that religious socialization in the family is a key component of the transmission of religious values, identity, and beliefs across generations.

A Social Gospel Quotation

 John Fea at Current:

Every department of human life—the families, the schools, amusements, arts, business, politics, industry, national politics, international relations—will be governed by the Christian law and controlled by Christian influences. When we are bidden to seek first the kingdom of God, we are bidden to set our hearts on this great commission; to keep this always before us as the object of our endeavors; to be satisfied with nothing less than this. The complete Christianization of all life is what we pray and work for, when we work and pray for the coming of the kingdom of Heaven.

Who uttered these words?

Before you move your eyes down this page in search of an answer, I encourage you to take a guess. Allow me to offer some possibilities. Perhaps this call for the “Christianization of all life” comes from a Seven Mountain Dominionist such as charismatic prophet Lance Wallnau or pseudo-historian David Barton? Or maybe a member of the Christian Right—someone such as Robert Jeffress or Franklin Graham—uttered these words. What about a 2024 GOP presidential candidate such as Trump, DeSantis, Pence, or Scott? Missouri Senator Josh Hawley? Turning Point USA pundit Charlie Kirk? Radio host and author Eric Metaxas?

While statements about the Christian takeover of schools, entertainment, art, business, politics, and foreign affairs sound like the rantings of today’s so-called Christian nationalists, these words actually come from Washington Gladden’s 1894 address “The Church and the Kingdom.”

Washington Gladden was one of the early leaders of the Social Gospel movement in the United States. As the progressive pastor of the First Congregational Church of Columbus, Ohio, Gladden preached a biblical gospel that combined personal salvation through Christ and social justice for the poor and oppressed. He developed a national reputation as an advocate for working people in their ongoing battles with capitalists. He took on the monopolies, fought for shorter work weeks and higher wages, mediated labor strikes, and called upon corporations to share their profits with their workers. He championed the public ownership of railroads, gas and electric companies, mines, water suppliers, and telephone services. As the president of the American Missionary Association he refused a $100,000 gift to the organization from oil magnate John D. Rockefeller because, as he put it, the money was “tainted.”

Losing My Religion

Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.   

 Public Religion Research Institute:

As the United States becomes more religiously diverse and Americans become more likely to identify as religiously unaffiliated (27% as of 2023), a growing number of people are departing from their previously held religious traditions. PRRI’s Health of Congregations survey finds that people’s reasons for switching to a new religious tradition or denomination vary, but a majority of those who have made such a change (56%) say it was because they stopped believing in their former religion’s teachings. Another 30% indicate they were turned off by the religion’s negative teachings about or treatment of LGBTQ people, 29% say their family was never that religious growing up, 27% say they were disillusioned by scandals involving leaders in their former religion, 18% point to a traumatic event in their lives, and 17% say their congregation became too focused on politics.

Fake Washington, Fake Jefferson, Fake Henry

Many posts have discussed fake quotations from Lincoln, Jefferson, Tocqueville, and others.

John Fea at Current:

 Here is Kyle Mantyla at Right Wing Watch:

MAGA pastor and self-proclaimed “prophet” Hank Kunneman held a special patriotic church service prior to Independence Day earlier this month, during which he read made-up a quote supposedly from Thomas Jefferson in an attempt to argue that America was founded as and must remain a Christian nation.

During the service, Kunneman flagrantly misrepresented the famous 1802 “separation of church and state” letter that Jefferson sent to the Danbury Baptists after being elected president.

After mistakenly claiming that this quote came from “an address” that Jefferson delivered to the Danbury Baptists, Kunneman then read a laughably false quote supposedly delivered by Jefferson.

“He said, ‘The First Amendment has created a wall of separation between church and state,’” Kunneman declared, while an image of false quote was projected on screen. “‘But that wall is one directional. It keeps the government from running the church, and it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.’”

“Take that and choke,” Kunneman smugly proclaimed.

Read the rest here.

Watch the entire sermon here.

Some of you might notice that Kunneman also throws up on the screen a quote that he claims comes from George Washington’s Farewell Address: “Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism, if they even attempt to remove religion from politics.” Read the farewell address here. Kunneman only got this quote half right. (The words after the comma are not Washington’s). Apparently Kunneman got this quote off the internet. He didn’t even bother to read the original document.

And that’s not all. Kunneman follows this up with the fake Patrick Henry quote that got Missouri senator Josh Hawley into trouble earlier this month.

Combative Christianity Hurts Christianity's Reputation

Daniel A. Cox at AEI:

Today, a growing share of Americans are raised in homes that have little connection to religion. Most young adults grow up in households that are not engaged in regular religious activity. Even those raised in a religious tradition do not participate as often as previous generations. Increasingly, young people who are not religious have always identified that way. As a result, they have few personal experiences with religious communities and the people in them. Their understanding of the practices and priorities of religious people is drawn from the broader culture rather than personal experiences.

This has important implications for how secular Americans understand the motivations and values of religious people. Without personal participation in a religious community, more nonreligious Americans are exposed to religion in its most divisive and least charitable form—in online arguments over politics.

Negative interactions on social media are incredibly common, but religion researchers are beginning to note that the combative engagement of online Christians can be especially alienating. Sociologist Samuel Perry suggests that the reputational damage self-identified Christians are doing online is considerable.

If our primary interactions are online, or informed by online discourse, then more often than not these interactions will be negative.

Online engagements have left many Americans, including secular people, feeling utterly alienated by the “Christian” approach to politics. One respondent from a recent Pew survey typifies the fundamental change in how Christians are viewed: “‘Christian’ used to be code for polite and decent; now it’s code for the opposite. A ‘Christian nation’ would be intolerant, inflexible and ultimately brutal.”

Houses of Worship Are Unique in Civil Society

Jessica Grose at NYT:

I asked every sociologist I interviewed whether communities created around secular activities outside of houses of worship could give the same level of wraparound support that churches, temples and mosques are able to offer. Nearly across the board, the answer was no.

Phil Zuckerman, a professor of sociology and secular studies at Pitzer College, put it this way: “I can go play soccer on a Sunday morning and hang out with people from different races and different class backgrounds, and we can bond. But I’m not doing that with my grandparents and my grandchildren.” A soccer team can’t provide spiritual solace in the face of death, it probably doesn’t have a weekly charitable call and there’s no sense of connection to a heritage that goes back generations. You can get bits and pieces of these disparate qualities elsewhere, he said, but there’s no “one-stop shop” — at least not right now.

Jeffrey M Jones at Gallup:

U.S. church attendance has shown a small but noticeable decline compared with what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the four years before the pandemic, 2016 through 2019, an average of 34% of U.S. adults said they had attended church, synagogue, mosque or temple in the past seven days. From 2020 to the present, the average has been 30%, including a 31% reading in a May 1-24 survey.

The recent church attendance levels are about 10 percentage points lower than what Gallup measured in 2012 and most prior years.

David French at NYT:

Evangelicals are a particularly illustrative case. About half of self-identified evangelicals now attend church monthly or less often. They have religious zeal, but they lack religious community. So they find their band of brothers and sisters in the Trump movement. Even among actual churchgoing evangelicals, political alignment is often so important that it’s hard to feel a true sense of belonging unless you’re ideologically united with the people in the pews around you.

Misinformation and the 303 Creative Case

Last week, SCOTUS ruled 6-3 in favor of a web designer, finding that a Colorado law that includes protections for sexual orientation, would unconstitutionally compel her to create speech that violates her religious convictions. Caroline Downey continues at NRO:

The New Republic reported this week that two men named in a court filing by Smith’s counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom had no idea they were mentioned in the filing and had never asked Smith to create a website for them.

But according to the filing, someone who identified themselves as “Stewart” contacted Smith on September 21, 2016 asking for her help with his wedding to “Mike” “early next year.” The inquiry said the couple would be interested in “some design work done for our invites,” place names, and potentially a website. Stewart included his contact information on the request.

Smith received Stewart’s inquiry in September 2016, one day after filing a preemptive lawsuit challenging the accommodation clause of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. ADF attorney Jonathan Scruggs corroborated the timeline to National Review.

...

Smith and ADF were prevented from running a background check on Stewart to verify the authenticity of his request because it could have put them in conflict with the existing law, he added.

...

No request was necessary to establish a credible threat to Smith, however. Colorado had been particularly “aggressive” with its enforcement of the public accommodations law in the past, Waggoner said and Gorsuch agreed. The state’s record of anti-free speech intimidation prompted Smith to fire the first shot...“That’s why the Supreme Court never mentioned or relied on the request, neither did the Tenth Circuit, neither have numerous courts all across the country that have heard similar challenges without requests,” Scruggs said. “It’s kind of a nothing burger and smacks of desperation.

Religion and Abortion

Many posts have discussed the role of religion in American life.   

From Pew:

Majorities in most of the 24 nations surveyed by Pew Research Center this spring say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. But attitudes differ widely across countries – and often within them. Religiously unaffiliated adults, people on the ideological left and women are more likely to support legal abortion.