Tuesday's News & Ideas - 2/7/2023

As Pennsylvania’s ‘Bible belt’ evolves, clergy look to one another for mutual support
Religion News Service: The difficulties of the pandemic and the widening gap between people of different political persuasions have put a strain on the clergy of one small town in this historically religious region.

70% of white evangelical parents say it’s very important that their kids have similar religious beliefs to theirs
Pew Research Center: About a third (35%) of U.S. parents with children under 18 say it’s extremely or very important to them that their kids have similar religious beliefs to their own as adults, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. But attitudes on this question vary by the religious affiliation of the parents.

6 key details in the new report on Jean Vanier’s abuse
Sojourners: The report includes historical, sociological, psychological, theological, and religious analysis, drawing from more than 200 hours of interviews and numerous documents from the archives of two L’Arche communities, L’Arche International, the French Dominicans, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Vanier’s personal archives, and more.

Vatican expels ‘rebel nuns’ for refusing to leave Italian monastery
The Guardian: Two nuns told they ‘disobeyed the church’ by trying to stay at seven-centuries-old site in Ravello.

American Christianity is due for a revival*
The Atlantic: Our society is secularizing, and Christianity seems to be in long-term decline. But renewal is possible, Tim Keller says.

The Spark

The defiance of Salman Rushdie
After a near-fatal stabbing — and decades of threats — the novelist* speaks about writing as a death-defying act, The New Yorker says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers