A nearly 150-year-old stained-glass church window that depicts a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has stirred up questions about race, Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade and the place of women in 19th century New England society. (AP/New York Post)
Read MoreJust 16% of Americans surveyed said religion is the most important thing in their lives, according to the PRRI study, down from 20% a decade ago. Melissa Deckman, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, says that this data reflects another trend in American religious life. "Americans," she says, "are becoming increasingly likely to become religiously unaffiliated." (DeRose, NPR)
Read MoreWhen average city office-occupancy rates at the start of the year surpassed 50% for the first time during the pandemic, many landlords viewed this milestone as a sign that employees were finally resuming their former work habits. Those office-usage rates have barely budged as most companies have settled into a hybrid work strategy that shows little sign of fading. (Grant, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreSaturday’s showdown between supporters and opponents of the Republican bill came after a weeklong effort by Cooper to highlight opposition to the new restrictions and put political pressure on a handful of Republican lawmakers who had previously expressed support for less restrictive abortion laws but signed on to support the 12-week bill along with the rest of their colleagues. (Vaughn, Bajpai & Cataudella, The Charlotte Observer)
Read MoreThe couple’s “religious beliefs” were cited by prosecutors as a factor in the murders and their story was the subject of a Netflix true-crime series, Sins of Our Mother, last year. The case first drew national attention in late 2019, after officials were alerted to the disappearance of Vallow’s children. (The Telegraph)
Read MoreHundreds were drawn to a remote wilderness in southeastern Kenya by the End Times preaching of pastor Paul Mackenzie. Relatives and ex-members tried to intervene, but some did not want to be rescued. (Higgins, The New York Times)
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