Centuries ago, some Irish feasted and drank, too, but for a more religious purpose. Christians in Ireland during roughly the ninth and 10th centuries began observing a feast day for St. Patrick during Lent, according to History.com. For the holiday, people could drink and dance and skip Lenten prohibitions against eating meat, feasting on Irish bacon and cabbage. (Snider, USA Today)
Read MoreBuddhists are the world’s only major religious group whose population shrank between 2010 and 2020, according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis of religion in 201 countries and territories.(Tong et al. Pew Research Center)
Read MoreJohn M. Perkins, an influential Baptist author, Bible teacher and longtime racial reconciliation advocate, died Friday (March 13). He was 95. Perkins died surrounded by his wife and family, they announced on social media. (Banks, Religion News Service)
Read MoreFamilies are now shelling out more than $40 billion every year on children’s sports activities, according to Aspen Institute research. As much as they may rant about the intensity, time commitments and increasingly absurd economy of youth sports, there is no way to escape it—or avoid their nearest Dick’s Sporting Goods. (Cohen, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreConan O'Brien hosted the 98th Academy Awards at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre March 15, delivering jabs at Kid Rock and Turning Point USA before actors, filmmakers and their collaborators got their well-deserved recognition for making the movies that moved us this year. (Jensen & McClellan, USA Today)
Read MoreNearly four years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a majority of Americans continue to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Now, with a patchwork of differing state laws in effect, perceptions of abortion access vary by where people live. (Hartig, Cerda & Kallo, Pew Research Center)
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