A group of 36 United Methodist churches in North Carolina that had sued, demanding to sever their ties to the denomination, have agreed to leave using a plan approved by church leaders in 2019, the Western North Carolina Conference announced. (Shimron, Religion News Service)
Read MoreAt campaign events, in speeches before anti-abortion groups and from the primary debate stage, Ms. Haley has cast herself as an empathetic seeker of compassionate “consensus” on one of the nation’s most divisive social issues. (Lerer, The New York Times)
Read MoreA lawsuit that Huntsman filed in 2021 accusing the church of fraud initially was rejected by a federal judge but was revived a few weeks ago. A federal appeals court panel voted 2-1 that jurors should hear Huntsman’s argument and his demand for a refund of $5 million minimum. (Boorstein, The Washington Post)
Read MoreThere are similarities and differences in how the nonreligious landscapes of the UK and the US have changed since the New Atheism era. Religion in both countries has declined over the past decade, and its recession looks poised to continue. (McDade, Christianity Today)
Read MoreGov. Gavin Newsom will now decide the fate of Senate Bill 58, which would remove criminal penalties for the possession and use of psilocybin and psilocin, the active ingredients in psychedelic mushrooms, mescaline and dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, known as ayahuasca. The bill also would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to study the therapeutic use of psychedelics and submit a report with its findings and recommendations to the Legislature. (Wiley, Los Angeles Times)
Read MoreA state grand jury in Louisiana has indicted a retired Roman Catholic priest on multiple felony charges related to claims that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy in the 1970s. The long-sought charges come after public allegations that leaders in the Archdiocese of New Orleans knew about accusations against the priest for decades. (Graham, The New York Times)
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