After deliberating for nine days—and emerging at one point to tell the judge that it was having a difficult time reaching a decision—a jury in Los Angeles finally returned its verdict today, finding both Meta and Google liable for creating addictive products that caused a young woman’s mental-health problems. (Tiffany, The Atlantic)
Read MoreNearly everyone in Indonesia (99%), as well as the vast majority of people in Kenya (94%), India (85%) and South Africa (80%), say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral. By contrast, in about a dozen countries, two-thirds of adults or more say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral. (Evans, Pew Research)
Read MoreStarseeds identify as galactic souls fighting a cosmic battle between good and evil, often by disclosing hidden truths via social media posts. The New Age phenomenon has been around for decades, but online interest skyrocketed during the pandemic, and content with #starseed has over a billion views on TikTok. (Post, Religion News Service)
Read MoreThe more offline you can be — while proving it to everyone online — the cooler and better off you are. Now, there’s another word that Gen Z has become hyperfixated on living in pursuit of this year: “Whimsy.” (Sommer, InsideHook)
Read MoreFaith washing has become its own form of wellness marketing, and savvy influencers and supplement companies are finding that it’s an effective way to reach Christian consumers. (McGinnis, Christianity Today)
Read More[Immigration] has featured in their agenda for a while. After all, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that wealthy countries should welcome refugees and economic migrants “to the extent they are able.” But now immigration dominates U.S. Catholic leaders’ public messaging. (Rocca, The Atlantic)
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