Tuesday’s News & Ideas - 12/16/2025

Why people leave, and stick with, religion  
Deseret News: “This latest study is important because it’s the first time we’ve asked people why they identify with their current religion,” a senior researcher says of the latest Pew report.

White Christian clergy running for Congress as Democrats face skeptics in their own party  
Religion News Service: At least six white clergy and one seminarian — some from evangelical Christian backgrounds and others from mainline Protestant denominations — have declared to run as Democrats in 2026. 

How a niche Catholic approach to infertility treatment became a new talking point for MAHA conservatives 
The Conversation: Since Trump returned to the White House, it has become clear just how fraught IVF is for his base.

People who left ‘MAGA Christianity’ share what it really took to step away 
HuffPost: “Leaving costs nearly everything,” said author Tia Levings. “The twist is that there’s so much hope and determination to live an authentic life that you realize you’re worth the fight.”

Pope Leo’s first Vatican Christmas crèche carries message of peace  
Religion News Service: As the Vatican unveils its crèches, Pope Leo XIV marks his first Christmas with a calmer tone and a forceful call against antisemitic violence.

The Spark

The dead mall society 
A guided tour through abandoned suburban shopping malls that feel “stuck in purgatory between eras” reveals why these eerie, liminal spaces hold a strange, nostalgic appeal, writes Lana Hall for Hazlitt.

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