Some talked about clubs that formed organically in their neighborhoods or towns, like that Colorado hiking group. But many who answered the questionnaire I launched in April about moving away from organized religion talked about replacing their weekend worship with SoulCycle, CrossFit or Orangetheory, and finding friends and even some spiritual solace in those activities. (Grose, The New York Times)
Read MorePakistan has long had some of the harshest blasphemy laws in the world, but they are getting worse. In addition to state-sanctioned execution, Pakistani Christians and other religious minorities face abductions, indentured servitude and all manner of discrimination. (Curry, Religion News Service)
Read MoreThis should be a time for revival in our churches. Revival is a concept with a long history in American evangelicalism, rooted in the Bible, that says a people who have grown cold and lifeless can be renewed in their faith. It is a kind of resurrection from the dead. Yet the language of revival is now riddled with cynicism, and is associated with some of the worst aspects of American evangelicalism. (Moore, The Atlantic)
Read MoreCountries with more baby boomers who say they believe in God as described in “holy scriptures” (including the Bible, the Quran, and the Torah) are less likely to have members of Gen Z who do. But countries with fewer boomers who hold this belief are more likely to have members of Gen Z who do. (Saad, Christianity Today)
Read MoreSince its release in cinemas on Friday the film has been a critical and commercial success in India, but authorities are now calling for the scene to be removed. In a letter posted on Twitter, now known as X, Uday Mahurkar, the central information commissioner, said the sequence “amounts to waging a war on the Hindu community”. (Dhillon, The Times UK)
Read MoreGiven that Barbie dolls have long been disavowed by feminists for pushing an impossible female beauty standard, you might expect that it would be American left-wing mobilising against the Barbie movie. Instead, it’s the US Republican party. (O’Hara, The Telegraph)
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