As one of the architects of the Conservative Resurgence that reshaped the largest US Protestant denomination beginning in the 1970s, he has been hailed for decades as a hero who helped rid SBC churches of a creeping liberalism. But recently, Gene Besen, a lawyer for the SBC, called Pressler, 93, a “monster” and “a dangerous predator” who leveraged his “power and false piety” to sexually abuse young men even as he was building his reputation as a conservative reformer. (Smietana, Christianity Today)
Read MoreAlabama executed a convicted murderer with nitrogen gas Thursday, putting him to death with a first-of-its-kind method that once again puts the U.S. at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment. The state said the method would be humane, but critics called it cruel and experimental. (Chandler, Los Angeles Times)
Read MoreFor decades, NFL owners have clung to the idea that people of color couldn’t coach their teams. They didn’t look the part. They didn’t interview well. They didn’t have the right experience. They didn’t have the right connections. (Armour, USA Today)
Read MoreChristopher Bader is a sociologist at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., where he has three times been the principal investigator on the annual Chapman Survey of American Fears. The survey asks adults about dozens of topics, such as nuclear war, pollution, volcanic eruptions and zombies, and then ranks the terrors in order of prevalence. (Richtel, The New York Times)
Read MoreTwenty-eight percent of Gen Z adults — which the survey’s researchers specify as those ages 18 to 25 — identify as LGBTQ, according to a report released this week by the Public Religion Research Institute, or PRRI. That compares with 10% of all adults, 16% of millennials, 7% of Generation X, 4% of baby boomers and 4% of the Silent Generation, the institute found. (Lavietes, NBC News)
Read MoreToday, about 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religion. At Pew Research Center, we get lots of questions about this group, often called the “nones.” What do “nones” believe? Are they opposed to religion? What are their views about science? Is their growth good or bad for society, and why? (Smith et al., Pew Research Center)
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