When This Election Is Over, Time For Some Happiness

(ANALYSIS) For many Americans, it’s a challenge to focus on much news beyond the raucous national and local political campaigns till November 5. But late this year or early in 2025 we’ll get something completely different and fascinating — a batch of new findings from the Global Flourishing Study. Through 2026, this unprecedented academic project is investigating what factors create human happiness, well-being and life satisfaction in 22 widely varied countries, based upon surveys with 240,000 people.

‘God, I Need Help’: 9/11 Military Heroes With PTSD Still Fighting A War At Home

SOF Missions helps veterans who — like retired Air Force Lt. Col. Damon Friedman — struggle with PTSD and other challenges from military service. At the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, many of those who served their country overseas still fight a war at home. “I’m telling you, I was going to become a statistic,” Friedman said.

As Visitors Pack Rome, The Vatican Awaits Its ‘Moment For Evangelization’

The city is preparing for a jubilee year, a time when the Catholic Church invites pilgrims to Rome. The events, which will officially began on Christmas Eve this year and end on Dec. 28, 2025, constitute a special time dedicated to prayer and pilgrimage. Italy’s capital, which already draws an estimated 25 million visitors each year, could see that number increase to 32 million in 2025.

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Title IX Exemption For Religious Schools

The exemption, the appellate court affirmed, does not violate the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law or the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits the government from establishing a particular religion.

5 Weeks After Resigning From Gateway, James And Bridgette Morris Start A New Church

Five weeks after resigning their pastoral positions at Gateway Church, James and Bridgette Morris, the son and daughter-in-law of disgraced megachurch pastor Robert Morris, announced they’re starting a new church and seeking supporters.

Is The UK’s New Atheist Prime Minister Cause For Caution?

(ANALYSIS) Keir Starmer's ascent as the U.K.'s first openly atheist leader marks a significant milestone in British political history. This development prompts the question: Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Unsurprisingly, the answer is rather complicated. Today's U.K. is vastly different from the country of Starmer's childhood.

Atheism, Europe, News, Politics, Religion, SocietyJohn Mac GhlionnSeptember 9, 2024John Mac Ghlionn, Keir Starmer, politics, religion, Athiest, news, Europe, Primary feature, rechargeComment

Separating Anti-Zionists From Antisemites On College Campuses

(ANALYSIS) Two-thirds of college students do not hold views toward Israel or Jews “likely to threaten their relationship with their Jewish peers,” a new study from Brandeis University found. But what about the remaining third? Researchers found that group split roughly equally between those who expressed hostility toward Israel (but not Jews) and those who thought poorly of Jews, not Israel.

US Churches Face Challenges Amid Rising Food Prices And Higher Labor Costs

Reports showing sustained increases in food and home prices alongside a cooling labor market highlight a continuing challenge for churches.

Can Catholic Social Thought Reframe NIL And Sports Betting?

(ANALYSIS) In 1961, Auburn University turned down the Gotham Bowl because the date of the bowl (Dec. 2) conflicted with Auburn’s end-of-quarter exams. Ohio State University (OSU) rejected a bid to play in the Rose Bowl because faculty feared the school was turning into a “football factory." Them days are long gone.

Pastor Sentenced To 18 Months For Swindling $3.5 Million In COVID Relief Funds

A Maryland pastor, who swindled more than $3.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds to finance his extravagant lifestyle, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, the Maryland district attorney’s office announced last week.

Nigerian Quadruplets Return To Their Birthplace To Be Born Again

Ose Ehimare was 24 weeks pregnant when she boarded a plane from Nigeria to the U.S. Fourteen years later, Ehimare and the quadruplets — Alyssa, Bibiana, Noah and Valencia — made the 6,000-mile journey again so that the four teenagers could be baptized among the family that helped them come into the world.

Crossroads Podcast: The Ideas That Led Vance To Swim The Tiber River

One of the world’s most important newsrooms just offered a finely detailed profile of Catholic convert J.D. Vance and, imagine this, the feature focused on the emotions and ideas that led him to swim the Tiber. This included his intellectual and spiritual attraction to the work of St. Augustine, one of the most important minds in Western culture.

Are People Nowadays Really More Lonely And Miserable?

(ANALYSIS) I am going to pull out some questions that piqued my interest when I was scrolling through the codebook. The first is a set of two questions about mental health. Folks were asked, “How often do you get the social and emotional support you need?”

The Power Of Christ Compels Them: Why Hollywood Is Making So Many Exorcism Movies

(ANALYSIS) Exorcism movies are making a comeback — and the reasons are more interesting than you might think. The likely reasons actually say a lot about the present and the future of religion in America and its intersection with the future of mass media. Here's a deeper look at why Hollywood is going all in on the genre.

SCOTUS Denies Oklahoma's Request To Restore Funds In Abortion Referral Fight

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Sept. 3 to restore a $4.5 million family planning grant to Oklahoma while the state’s challenge to the termination of the grant works its way through the lower courts.

Americans More Liberal On Moral Issues, Grow Pessimistic About The Future

Overwhelmingly, Americans think the moral values of the country are worsening. Around four in five U.S. adults (81 percent) say the state of moral values is getting worse, and only 14 percent say it’s getting better. That gives the future outlook a minus 67 score — down 24 points from 2002.

Right To Food: Is Eating What The State Says A Religious Freedom Issue?

Illegal bans on nonvegetarian food are increasingly being introduced in towns that attract Hindu pilgrims, like Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Since it is perceived as a manifestation of tradition and culture, it is difficult to challenge it in a court of law.

On Religion: Wading Into Doctrinal Debates — And Taking Heat From Both Sides

(ANALYSIS) In the heated environs of Catholic cyberspace, that kind of reporting being done by The Pillar has drawn fierce criticism from partisans on the other side of all doctrinal debates with political, moral and cultural implications. At the moment, The Pillar is taking heat from conservatives for coverage raising questions about remarks by Sen. J.D. Vance.

Indigenous Rituals In Mexico: Connecting With The Land And Community

The Mixe language continues to thrive. The Mixe people consider themselves never conquered, and turkey — an animal native to the Americas before colonization — is served at all significant events. Asking Mother Earth for permission and for the well-being of the plants does not only accompany coffee producers of the Mixe group, but also other farmers in Oaxaca.

Pope Francis To Indonesians: ‘Interreligious Dialogue Fosters Mutual Respect’

Pope Francis delivered his first speech on Indonesian soil on Wednesday as he met with the country’s authorities, civil society, and diplomatic corps at the Istana Negara presidential palace in Jakarta. He was welcomed by President Joko Widodo, a crowd of Indonesian children waiving Vatican and Indonesian flags, and several members of the presidential guard.

Asia, Christianity, Catholicism, News, ReligionDevon WatkinsSeptember 4, 2024Devon Watkins, news, Asia, Indonesia, Pope Francis, Christianity, Catholic church, religion, Islam, Secondary featureComment

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