Researchers analyzed data from more than 114,000 U.S. adults from the National Health Interview Survey and found that any alcohol use declined by almost 2 percent, and heavy drinking fell by more than 8 percent from 2022 to 2024. In the same period, Gen Z adults saw the largest decline in any alcohol consumption of around 5 percent, according to the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Millennials saw a 17 percent drop in heavy drinking. (Wu, The Washington Post)
Read MoreAmerica has been in a steady religious decline, with each generation of adults less faithful than the one before it. Gen Z adults – those aged 18 to 29 – aren’t just embracing religion at higher rates, the survey found, but spiritual practices in general, including meditation, astrology and energy work such as reiki and tai chi. (Ramirez, USA Today)
Read MoreNews that three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep would voice Aslan — the Jesus figure at the center of Lewis’ bestselling series in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming adaptation of “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” — led to confusion, anger and disappointment on social media, with some evangelical fans planning to skip the film. (Smietana, Religion New Services)
Read MoreThis Thursday, the bishop who charmed millions while scrawling theological concepts on a blackboard for his show "Life Is Worth Living" will come one step closer to being declared a saint. His beatification, which comes after the Vatican found that he lived a life of "heroic virtue" and that his intercession was responsible for a miracle, leaves him one miracle shy of sainthood. (Hertzler-McCain, NPR)
Read MoreWhen James Talarico, the Texas Democrat running for the Senate, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show this month, he put forward a question that many American millennials may recall from the cloth bracelets that were de rigueur among Christian youth groups in the 1990s. “I often wonder,” Talarico said, “What would Jesus do if he visited the U.S. Senate?” (Yang, The New York Times)
Read MoreNine in 10 U.S. Protestant churchgoers (91%) believe they can read a passage of the Bible and usually understand how it is relevant to them, according to a study from Lifeway Research. Around 4 in 5 express confidence in their ability to address others’ concerns or questions about the Bible in various situations. (Earls, Lifeway Research)
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