Friday's News & Ideas - 6/2/2023

Online religious services appeal to many Americans, but going in person remains more popular
Pew Research Center: About a quarter of U.S. adults regularly watch religious services online; 21% use apps or websites to help with reading scripture

America’s religious leaders sharply divided over abortion, a year after Roe v Wade’s reversal
Associated Press: In the year since the Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right to abortion, America’s religious leaders and denominations have responded in strikingly diverse ways — some celebrating the state-level bans that have ensued, others angered that a conservative Christian cause has changed the law of the land in ways they consider oppressive.

Dave Ramsey sued for $150 million by former fans who followed his timeshare exit advice
Religion News Service: The class-action lawsuit is the latest legal woe for Ramsey and his company.

‘Insidious organization’: A reality TV family and the dangers of fundamentalism
The Guardian: The Amazon series “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” goes beyond the famous family into the fundamentalist ministry they represented.

It’s time to forgive each other our pandemic sins*
Christianity Today: As the COVID-19 emergency ends, the church can lead the world into a spirit of amnesty.

The Spark

A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry.
New research suggests that a subset of patients with psychiatric conditions* such as schizophrenia may actually have autoimmune disease that attacks the brain, The Washington Post says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers