Wednesday's News & Ideas - 12/18/2024

Religious traditions can help with holiday blues, mental health experts say
Religion News Service: Both faith leaders and mental health experts say religious traditions and faith communities can play a key role in helping people get through the winter holidays, when rates of depression and anxiety are proven to increase.

What verses anxious Bible readers turned to in 2024*
Christianity Today: Bible platforms see Philippians and the Psalms rise in popularity as stressed-out readers look for comfort during an economically and politically turbulent year.

What if our democracy can’t survive without Christianity?*
The New York Times: In a conversation with David French, atheist and public policy fellow Jonathan Rauch suggests that what really needs to happen to get our country on a better track is for Christianity not to become more secular or more liberal, but to become more like itself, to become more truly Christian.

A new Supreme Court case about religion has a hidden trap for workers
Vox: Catholic Charities v. Wisconsin has a sympathetic plaintiff, and alarmingly high stakes for workers.

Deadly violence in Nigeria tied to United Methodist Church schism over LGBTQ policies
The Associated Press: A United Methodist church member was shot and killed and homes were set ablaze in a confrontation between Global Methodists and United Methodists in Taraba, a state in northeast Nigeria.

The Spark

Why do some people need just four to six hours of sleep? 
Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night* and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. According to the Scientific American, these individuals are genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers