Thursday's News & Ideas - 12/5/24
- Church this Christmas
- Christians & assisted suicide
- Religious-sounding language
- Why we trust cons
- Satanic Temple programs
- Telescope Advent calendar
Less than half of Americans attend church on Christmas
Religion Unplugged: A Lifeway Research study finds U.S. adults are split on whether they’ll be at church sometime this Christmas — 47% say they typically attend church at Christmastime, while 48% say they do not, and 5% aren’t sure.
Religious elites oppose assisted suicide; the public, not so much
Religion News Service: 75% of the British public supports legalization of assisted suicide, with only 14% opposed, according to the latest polling data. Among self-identified Christians, support is running at 69%. The gap between religious elites and the general public is hardly unique to Britain.
Christianity Today: UK Christians lament landmark vote to legalize assisted dying*
Religious-sounding language will be everywhere in 2025
Nieman Lab: A great deal of language that looks a lot like Christian Nationalism isn’t actually calling for theocracy, but is instead linked to rightwing cable and other media with zero meaningful ties to the church or theological principle.
Why we defend con artists like Trump nominee Dr. Oz — long after they’ve failed us
Religion Dispatches: Humans consistently attempt to make sense of failure, while protecting their existential investment in a person or cause.
Satanic Temple to offer religious program for elementary school students in Ohio
The Guardian: The move is in response to parental requests for alternative to Christian "release time" religious instruction.
The Spark
The 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar
Check out the 17th annual Space Telescope Advent Calendar,* featuring remarkable images from both NASA’s Hubble telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. A new image drops in The Atlantic each day until Christmas.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
