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Yahoo
10-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
5 takeaways from a major new report on religion around the world
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. When people hear that researching religion is part of my job, they often ask me very specific questions about faith-related issues that have been in the news. After I disappoint them by not immediately knowing the answers, I turn to Google for help. My job has made me a search engine expert, not a religion expert. The questions that still trip me up even when I've got a strong internet connection are about the religious makeup of faraway countries. It's hard for me to quickly find info about religious life in the Czech Republic or New Zealand and then talk about what that info means for the athlete or politician who's grabbing headlines in the U.S. But now, I've got an exciting new tool in my trivia tool belt. On Monday, Pew Research Center released an interactive website that shows the religious makeup of nearly every country in the world in a single (very large) table. Once you're on the page, it takes only a few seconds to confirm that New Zealand was 40.3% Christian in 2020 or that the Czech Republic is dominated by religious 'nones.' Pew's interactive table was released alongside a new report discussing how the global religious landscape changed from 2010 to 2020. Based on more than 2,700 censuses and surveys, the report provides an in-depth look at 201 countries and territories — and plenty of fodder for conversations with your friends. Here are five key takeaways from Pew's new analysis of the global religious landscape. Christianity is the world's largest faith group, but it's not keeping pace with global population growth. In 2010, 30.6% of the world identified as Christian. By 2020, that figure had fallen to 28.8%. Islam is the fastest growing religious group. 'The number of Muslims increased by 347 million (from 2010 to 2020) — more than all other religions combined,' researchers wrote. Sub-Saharan Africa is now the region of the world where most Christians live. In 2010, Europe held that title. As of 2020, the United States has the second-largest number of religiously unaffiliated residents. China has the most. The growth of Islam from 2010 to 2020 was mostly due to natural population growth, while the decline of Christianity stemmed, in large part, from religious switching. 'Religious 'switching' — especially people shedding their religious identity after having been raised as Christians — explains much of the unaffiliated population's growth between 2010 and 2020," Pew reported. Americans are divided over religious freedom. The Supreme Court? Not as much How 'Jeopardy!' can save us all, according to Ken Jennings The Supreme Court's surprising decision day This top running back says he believes in God, not the so-called 'Madden curse' A religious school is facing pushback for its partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Hidden Christianity is a unique form of Christianity practiced on some of Japan's rural islands. It gets its name from the fact that its earliest practitioners really were hiding their faith to avoid persecution. 'Hidden Christians were forced to hide all visible signs of their religion after the 1614 ban on Christianity and the expulsion of foreign missionaries. Households took turns hiding precious ritual objects and hosting the secret services that celebrated both faith and persistence,' according to The Associated Press. Early practitioners disguised their Christian icons by making them appear to be Buddhist. Even after it was safe to be openly Christian again, many families continued these secretive practices, in part because they wanted to honor loved ones who'd risked their lives and in part because they didn't fit in with mainstream Christians, the AP reported. 'Many Hidden Christians rejected Catholicism after the persecution ended because Catholic priests refused to recognize them as real Christians unless they agreed to be rebaptized and abandon the Buddhist altars that their ancestors used,' the article said. Hidden Christianity may soon be just a memory in Japan, since most current practitioners are quite old and most young people who grew up with the traditions have moved to cities and either don't want to or can't access the gatherings. A controversial research project featuring faith leaders using psychedelic drugs was released last month after a long delay. The report showed that nearly all of the members of the clergy who took part described their experiences with psilocybin as some of the most spiritually significant of their lives, but health and religion experts don't agree on what type of additional research or policy proposals that finding should inspire, according to Religion News Service. Which groups face the most discrimination in the United States? Pew Research Center recently asked Americans to weigh in, and the survey report offers an in-depth look at how people's political views influence their thoughts about discrimination. My Deseret News colleague Krysyan Edler recently wrote about the inspiring life of Caroline Klein, the chief communications officer for Smith Entertainment Group. After being diagnosed with cancer in her thirties, Klein committed to living every day like there might not be a tomorrow. 'Nothing about my situation is sad to me, but I want to make sure that when I'm gone, I've left people with a lot of great memories that bring them joy, too,' she said. After years of daydreaming about getting back into tennis, I finally started a summer tennis class on Saturday. It felt so good! Take this as the nudge you need to do that thing you've been dreaming about.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
An AP reporter explored religion in Utah. She was surprised by what she found
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. One of the reasons I loved starting my religion reporting career in Utah is that Utah is full of faith-related surprises. Yes, it's fair to associate the state with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but you can't stop there. Its religious character is complex, and includes vibrant non-Christian faith communities, as well as plenty of religious 'nones.' Deepa Bharath, a reporter with The Associated Press' Global Religion Team, recently put a spotlight on Utah's religious diversity with two stories about interfaith engagement. One was about Latter-day Saints who access physical and spiritual health benefits by practicing yoga and the other was about the Hindu temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, that's breaking down barriers between different faith groups. 'The temple (Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple) is surrounded by Latter-day Saints, and a lot of people going to practice yoga there are LDS,' said Bharath, who is based in Los Angeles. After seeing her stories, I called Bharath to learn more about what she uncovered during her reporting trip and how to lean in to your faith-related curiosity. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Kelsey Dallas: How did you end up on a reporting trip in Utah? Deepa Bharath: Jessie (Wardarski — a visual journalist on AP's Global Religion Team) and I realized we would both be in Salt Lake at the same time for an awards ceremony. We decided we had to do some stories, so I started looking into ideas. I found so many, but Latter-day Saints doing yoga kind of popped out because of my own background. I think I was uniquely positioned to write this story because of my knowledge of yoga and its origins. I started with the LDS people and they led me to the Hindu temple in Spanish Fork. It was really interesting. I didn't quite expect to find that amount of diversity. KD: So your research and trip changed some of your preconceived notions about religion in Utah? DB: Yes, I was surprised. I was surprised that there was this temple in an area that is overwhelmingly LDS and even more surprised at how accepting the community was. The LDS yoga practitioners I met with have deep knowledge of the concepts behind yoga and link it to their religion. And Phil McLemore, who was one of my main interviews, has icons in his house of different Hindu deities. I didn't expect to see that. And there were other types of interfaith engagement going on. Kids in the area visit the temple to volunteer and, in the process of serving, learn about this other culture. KD: How does the Hindu temple in Utah compare to other temples in the U.S.? DB: It's pretty unusual because Hindu temples are usually located where there is a large Hindu community or Indian community. You see them in Los Angeles, New Jersey and several cities in Texas. And this temple also stands out because it's a Hare Krishna Temple. Each temple under the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) is unique because it's run by a different person. KD: What advice do you have for non-journalists who'd like to learn more about the religious communities in their neighborhood or in the places they visit? DB: What I do is, if I see something interesting, a sign or building that's interesting, I just walk in — without trespassing. I just follow my natural curiosity. I've always been drawn to anything that looks cultural or religious. I walk in and ask questions. Ask questions about what catches your eye in your neighborhood. That's a great way to get to know your neighbors. It's a great way to expand your mind and heart. The 5 biggest Supreme Court decisions to watch for this month A Christian baker was sued for not serving a lesbian couple. The Supreme Court may hear her case Why the Justice Department just sued a small Idaho town Can Pope Leo remain a U.S. citizen? Will he? The Supreme Court just rejected a religion case. At least 2 of the justices aren't happy about it I've been reading through lawsuits somewhat regularly for the past decade, but Thursday was the first time I noticed the phrase 'Prayer for relief.' After doing some digging, I learned that this is a common phrase in civil procedures. It refers to the part of a legal complaint where the people filing the lawsuit list the 'damages or remedies' they're seeking, per Cornell's Legal Information Institute. 'Prayer for relief is also called demand for relief,' Cornell's article explained. In the Justice Department's religious freedom lawsuit against Troy, Idaho — a case I covered last week — the prayer for relief section includes requests for a ruling saying that Troy leaders violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, as well as that the church seeking to meet in the town's downtown district should have its request granted. The Trump administration is coming to the defense of schools being pressured to stop using Native American mascots, according to The New York Times. I really loved The New York Times' coverage of the wedding of one of the internet's favorite couples. My friend, Holly Meyer, dove into the world of Sacred Harp singing in her latest story for The Associated Press. Sacred Harp groups bring together people from a variety of religious backgrounds, including people of no faith and people from non-Christian traditions. 'There's no other experience to me that feels as elevating,' one singer told Holly, 'like you're just escaping the world for a little while.' Last week, I stumbled on coverage of a fascinating situation at Harvard: A professor known for her research on honesty and ethical behavior has lost her job — for being dishonest. Also last week, Chris Del Conte, Texas' athletic director, shared a relatable explanation for not wanting Texas football to play a Sunday night game: He said, 'I just said no to Sunday. I gotta go to church.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A recent history of Supreme Court ties
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. The Supreme Court's religious charter school case came in with a bang and ended with a tie. The justices announced Thursday that they were 'equally divided' in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, which means the Oklahoma Supreme Court's ruling against the first-of-its-kind school remains in place. The possibility of a deadlocked court had been floated ever since Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself. Still, Thursday's announcement felt surreal — and anticlimactic. Well, maybe anticlimactic is the wrong word. I wasn't so much disappointed as I was unsettled by the idea that the country is no closer to a consensus on religious charter schools today than it was before the Oklahoma case was fully briefed and argued. But admitting that probably makes me sound naive. Multiple closely watched Supreme Court cases have ended in ties over the past decade, or in extremely narrow rulings that said little about underlying constitutional questions. Ties on the Supreme Court can stem from recusals, as the Drummond ruling did, or from vacancies. After Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, a few notable cases ended with a 4-4 vote, including United States v. Texas, which was about the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which was about public school unions. Ties stemming from recusals are particularly common after a new justice is appointed to the court, because the justice can't participate in cases they considered or worked on in their previous position. In the case of a tie at the Supreme Court level, the lower court decision remains in place. Tie rulings may become more common moving forward as the justices adapt to the court's relatively new ethics code. The code, which was adopted in 2023, puts more pressure on the justices to track and disclose potential conflicts of interest. The new ethics rules likely explain why four justices recused themselves this month from considering whether to hear a case that involved a prominent book publisher, according to The Washington Post. Because there weren't six justices left to vote, the lower court ruling will remain in place. First-of-its-kind religious charter school blocked by deadlocked Supreme Court Prayer service at Pentagon sparks religious freedom debate New research on astrology, tarot cards and fortune tellers is full of surprises Omega Gym in Rome caters to an unusual clientele: priests, nuns and monsignors from the Vatican City. Pope Leo XIV went there several times a week over the past two years — when he was still known as Robert Prevost — as he tried to improve his 'posture and cardiovascular capacity,' according to The Associated Press. 'When the name of the pope was announced, my phone rings and my son tells me, 'Dad, it's Robert! Robert, our member!'' Francesco Tamburlani, the owner of the gym, told the AP. 'I heard the gym staff behind him cheering. ... This moved us, filled us with joy.' Tamburlani added that Pope Leo's gym membership is still active, although it's unclear if he'll be able to use it. 'We would organize our gym to guarantee his safety and his privacy. We would just need a sign,' he told the AP. By now, you're probably sick of hearing about young people drifting away from organized religion. But I'm only bringing that up again now to help explain my fascination with the fact that engagement with religious programming is actually on the rise on college campuses across the country. 'People want to feel loved for who they are and not what they do,' Chaz Lattimore Howard, the university chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Atlantic. Whether or not they believe in God, they 'want to be reassured that it's going to be okay.' In his latest article for Religion Unplugged, my friend Bobby Ross Jr. offered an in-depth look at a faith-focused event that set the stage for a Detroit Tigers baseball game. NPR recently visited a small community south of Tampa, Florida, that's reeling after a beloved local pastor was unexpectedly detained by ICE. The Rev. Maurilio Ambrocio had paperwork allowing him to be in the United States and checked in with immigration agents regularly, but he was still taken into detention in April. 'You're gonna take you know a community leader, a Pastor, a hard working man … What, did you need a number that day?," one of the pastor's neighbors told NPR. Earlier this month, I wrote about a surprising religious freedom battle in Toms River, New Jersey, involving a proposed homeless shelter, a proposed pickleball court and eminent domain. The New York Times covered the same conflict last week and summarized the latest developments. Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend! Now it's time for the most important holiday season of all: my birthday week.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why declining trust is everyone's problem
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. I think my husband and I have adjusted pretty well to the demands of parenting over the past five years. We go to bed earlier, keep more fruit in the fridge and play with bubbles a lot more now than we did when it was just the two of us at home. What we struggle with is taking breaks from parenting, even though we know it would be good for us to have date nights or lean into hobbies that have nothing to do with our kids. We talk about going out but then quickly drop the idea when it's time to find a babysitter. I know from conversations I've had with mom friends that our struggle is not unique. Across the country, parents without close friends or relatives nearby worry about leaving their kids with a near-stranger, despite the fact that parents have been doing just that for decades. Last week, as I read a new report on trust from Pew Research Center, I realized that the recent surge in anxiety about babysitters likely stems, at least in part, from a broader surge in distrust. Today, just one-third of U.S. adults (34%) say most people can be trusted. That's down from 46% in 1972. That data point bums me out even though I'm part of the problem. Pew's research showed that I'm right to assume that declining trust creates big problems — and not just for young parents. 'Trust is the oil that lubricates the frictions of daily life,' researchers wrote. In its absence, people are less likely to help their neighbors and friends. An absence of trust can also lead to dissatisfaction with life. 'People who say most people can be trusted report greater life satisfaction than those who say you can't be too careful. They tend to report being happier, more satisfied with their health and more likely to describe their family life as excellent or very good,' Pew found. Here are some other findings from the trust survey that stood out to me: White Americans are more trusting than non-white Americans and older Americans are more trusting than younger ones. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among the most trusting people of faith in the U.S. Nearly half (48%) of Latter-day Saints say most people can be trusted, compared to 35% of Catholics, 51% of Jews and 28% of Muslims, the survey showed. On a related note, Utah is among the country's most trusting states. Around half of adult Utahns say most people can be trusted, Pew found. Pew's study has prompted me to do some soul-searching — and at least entertain the idea of a kid-free date night. Urban Meyer says he almost left Ohio State over religion The case that could change the legal system as you know it First, he became pope. Then, he took down LeBron James Another major church is splitting with the Trump administration over refugees The Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network is a program run by Princeton Theological Seminary that serves young Christians who lead in non-church settings. The Polaris Network helps these leaders connect with others who put faith at the center of their careers while helping the seminary expand its mission at a time when demand for traditional ministry degrees is declining. 'In a lot of ways, these young people are teaching us how to be a seminary for the next generation,' said the Rev. Kenda Creasy Dean, the Mary D. Synnott professor of Youth, Church and Culture and one of the architects of Polaris, to Religion News Service. Religion News Service's article noted that the Polaris Network is one of many programs emerging to serve young people who are committed to Christian leadership but don't feel called to ministry. The Trump administration has rescinded a record-setting fine against one of the country's largest Christian schools, according to Christianity Today. The Biden administration previously hit Grand Canyon University with a $37.7 million penalty after investigating its grad program costs. Trump's task force on anti-Christian bias heard about the fine — and the school's claims of unfair treatment — during its first meeting in April. I loved The New York Times' recent look at the best ways to invite more happiness into your life. In addition to highlighting good advice, the article has a memorable layout with fun photos. I've written about how few people read books once they're no longer in school. A new study confirms that the Bible is among the books gathering dust on bookshelves. 'U.S. adults increasingly view the Bible as a book worth reading multiple times, but few have actually done so,' Lifeway Research reported. I wrote last week about the popularity of a Pope Leo trading card. Apparently, Pope Leo bobbleheads are selling well, too, according to a press release from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. And finally, my favorite religion headline of the week: Churches hope to tap the power of pickleball.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What you'll see on the pope's personal X account — and why it matters
A version of this article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. Soon after Pope Leo XIV emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday, my husband sent me a screenshot of his X account. At first, I didn't believe the picture was real — Did the new pope really share an article from National Catholic Reporter, the same National Catholic Reporter that I regularly read? I was amazed to realize that the Catholic Church had just reached a historic milestone: For the first time, it had selected a pope who used X before he was pope. Pope Benedict XVI started using what was then called Twitter in 2012 with an official @Pontifex account. Pope Francis inherited that account and used it with the help of communications advisers over the past 12 years. (He didn't use computers on his own, per The Washington Post.) According to X, Robert Prevost (@drprevost) joined the social media site in August 2011. His bio reads, 'Católico, agustino, Obispo,' referring to his religion, his Catholic order and one of his past roles in the church (bishop.) In recent years, he hasn't posted that often, but what's on his page is raising more than a few eyebrows. That's primarily because of the political nature of his posts. He's shared several articles and quotes that criticize the first and second administrations of President Donald Trump. Count that National Catholic Reporter article among them. It's titled, "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," and explores tensions between the vice president and Catholic leaders over the Trump administration's approach to immigration. Over the past few years, Pope Leo also shared several updates about his predecessor, including calls for prayer for Pope Francis during his hospitalization in February and March, and commentary on challenges affecting Christians around the world. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance did not reference Pope Leo's social media activity in their statements on his election. But other conservatives did, including Laura Loomer, who criticized Pope Leo's posts and called him a 'Marxist puppet,' according to NBC News. As of Tuesday afternoon, the @drprevost account remains active on X and has more than 530,000 followers. The @Pontifex account, used by Pope Francis and Pope Benedict before him, says it's been archived. But the @Pontifex account on X is expected to be active again soon. The Vatican announced Tuesday morning that Pope Leo will use it, along with a new papal account on Instagram. 'The content published by Pope Francis (on X) will be archived on a special section of the Holy See's institutional website,' the Vatican said. Why studying spirituality is harder than you think Catholic leaders have picked a new pope — and he's American What Trump said about the first American pope An AI-generated image of Trump as pope prompted criticism. Here's how Trump responded A lawsuit seeks to limit access to abortion pills. The Trump administration wants it dismissed You've heard of eminent domain. What about seizing a church to build a soccer field? What's in a name? In the Catholic Church, quite a bit. A new pope's name choice is generally understood to signify what type of pope he wants to be. By choosing to be Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost was telling the world that he is focused on the church's social justice teachings, according to Religion News Service. 'The last pope of this name, Leo XIII, reigned as the world had been transformed by the Industrial Revolution. He set the church on the path of defending the working classes and calling for a more just economy. Leo XIII set the foundation upon which other popes and the Second Vatican Council built what is today's Catholic social teaching,' the article said. The new Pope Leo confirmed that he wanted to continue the work of Pope Leo XIII when meeting with cardinals on Saturday. The rise of artificial intelligence creates many of the same ethical challenges as were seen during the Industrial Revolution, he said, per The New York Times. Then, during his first Sunday blessing as pope, Pope Leo showed that his heart is with suffering people when he called for peace in Ukraine, as well as in India, Pakistan and Gaza. 'I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people,' he said, per Religion News Service. 'Let everything possible be done to achieve genuine, just and lasting peace as soon as possible.' Pope Leo XIII and Pope Leo XIV are also linked by their unique relationships to major changes in the media landscape, as I discovered while researching my intro about the new pope's X account. While the current Pope Leo was the first to join X before becoming pope, Pope Leo XIII was the first pope to appear on film. He reigned from 1878 to 1903. I loved this story angle from The New York Times: Reporters visited Catholic churches with direct ties to Pope Leo to speak with worshippers about one of their own becoming the pope. Catholic leaders and the Justice Department are fighting back against a new law in Washington state that would require priests to break the seal of confession to report child abuse to secular law enforcement. The Justice Department has called the law 'anti-Catholic' and the Archdiocese of Seattle has said it will excommunicate priests who comply, per CBS News. The legal settlement between Yeshiva University officials and members of an LGBTQ student club has fallen apart less than two months after it was announced, according to New York Jewish Week. Officials at the Jewish school will no longer recognize the club, although students say it won't disband. Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter died on Thursday at age 85. I spent part of Friday reading about his legal legacy, including discussions of why he ended up in the court's liberal wing after being appointed by a Republican president. 'If his footprints through the court's various doctrinal fields were not particularly evident, there was no dispute about the fact that his vote mattered. Even as the court became more conservative and polarized, liberals managed to eke out some important victories, most by votes of 5 to 4, which would not have been possible had he turned out to be the justice that many conservatives assumed him to be at the time of his nomination,' read his obituary in The New York Times. Thanks to Pope Leo and The Athletic, I now know that the Vatican has a tennis court.
