Thursday's News & Ideas - 4/13/2023
- Why census doesn’t ask about religion
- Graves linked to historic Black church
- Responding to abusive leaders
- Pope’s commission on sex abuse
- OK church denied charter school bid
- NYC’s ‘rat czar’
Why the U.S. census doesn’t ask Americans about their religion
Pew Research Center: Census forms in the United States don’t ask about religion, but relatively few U.S. adults (25%) know this, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted shortly before census forms were mailed out in 2020.
Religion News Service: We know Americans have become less religious. Surprising new data shows us where.
Archaeologists confirm grave sites are related to one of the oldest Black Baptist churches in America
Baptist News Global: Archaeologists and scientists have confirmed the remains of three individuals buried in the Historical Area of Colonial Williamsburg are early 19th-century ancestors of First Baptist Church, one of the oldest Black congregations in the United States.
When once-respected Christian leaders do bad things
Sojourners: There’s one key mistake we tend to make when responding to abusive leaders.
Seeking visibility, pope’s commission on sex abuse gets a new home*
The New York Times: In moving from cramped offices to a palazzo, the organization is aiming for more visibility, and to be better able to welcome victims.
Oklahoma church denied in bid for first publicly funded U.S. religious school*
The Washington Post: A state board on Tuesday denied the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City’s application to open what would be the first publicly funded religious charter school in the United States, in a move that delays — for now — a probable legal reckoning over long-held constitutional principles on the separation of church and state.
The Spark
New York City names its first-ever ‘rat czar’
“Rats are tough but New Yorkers are tougher,” said the city’s new director of rodent mitigation, according to ABC News.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
