Various surveys have tracked America’s social decline over the past few decades. Tracking data from the American Time Use Survey shows that Americans are spending more time alone and less time with friends than they were two decades ago. Perhaps most notably, the American Perspectives Survey has found that from 1990 to 2021, the percentage of Americans with five or more close friends dropped by 25 points, from 63% to 38%. (Data for Progress)
Read MoreArchbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the Catholic Church’s pastoral services to Catholics in the U.S. military, is condemning the proposed livestream of the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan. Broglio, in a statement Monday, also stipulated that any Catholic soldier assigned to the U.S. Army firing squad should ask to be excused from that duty, which he described as contrary to the teachings of the church. (AP News)
Read MoreIn July, a House of Commons research briefing noted the reporting of common health disorders was higher in women than men in every age category — and among those aged 17 to 19 it was twice as high in young women (31.6 per cent) as in young men (15.4 per cent). (Smith, The TImes)
Read MoreFewer than half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced answered prayers, divine healing or demonic attack, the American Bible Society (ABS) said in its latest State of the Bible release, with most expressing complacency, doubt or disbelief that such exist. (Chandler, Baptist Press)
Read MoreArchbishop Paul S. Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is joining evangelical faith leaders and others in condemning plans by the Pentagon to livestream the execution of the man who shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, with the Catholic prelate calling the military’s proposal a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death.” (Jenkins, Religion News Service)
Read MoreSeveral dozen scientists from five countries, led by Professor Cenker Atila, an archaeologist at Sivas Cumhuriyet University in Turkey, have spent nearly 90 days on the formation this summer with drones, ground-penetrating radar and core drills, collecting about a thousand soil samples for laboratory analysis. What they have found is tantalising, but far from conclusive. (Hagan, The Times)
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