As a leading attorney for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Luke Goodrich has helped litigate some of the most important religious liberty cases heard by the United States Supreme Court over the past decade. Goodrich has also written a book, Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America. (Hall, Christianity Today)
Read MoreThe 53rd Annual Country Music Association Awards are airing Wednesday night, and PEOPLE is highlighting the night’s most exciting can’t-miss moments, performances and — of course — winners. For her 12th year in a year, Carrie Underwood returns to co-host the awards, alongside country music icons Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. (Nelson, People)
Read MoreExperts broadly agree on best practices for church leaders to come forward in abuse cases, but a lack of data and the historical underreporting of sex abuse in the church can make it difficult to know how to address it. (Moyer, The Washington Post)
Read MoreThe argument for abortion, if made honestly, requires many words: It must evoke the recent past, the dire consequences to women of making a very simple medical procedure illegal. The argument against it doesn’t take even a single word. The argument against it is a picture. (Flanagan, The Atlantic)
Read MoreThough a 2018 Gallup poll found that U.S. church membership has reached an all-time low of 50%, and one in five Americans does not identify with any religion, most of the country still expresses belief in God. Exactly how large that majority is, however, depends on how nuanced the response options are. (Hrynowski, Gallup)
Read MoreThe FBI's annual tally counted 7,120 hate crimes reported last year, 55 fewer than the year before. The main concern for extremism trackers, however, is the rising level of violence — the report showed an increase in the number of "crimes against persons," such as intimidation, assault and homicide. (Treisman, NPR)
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