Resisting sports gambling sometimes a losing bet, faith leaders say
(RNS) — On Sunday, millions of Americans will gather with friends to eat snacks, laugh at the latest TV commercials and watch a little football as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.
Pastors oppose sports betting but often not actively
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) – With the Super Bowl this weekend, don’t expect many pastors to place a bet on Kansas City or San Francisco to win the game, but a few may have more than a rooting interest riding on the game.
Social media leaders receive heavy criticism over child exploitation in congressional testimony
WASHINGTON D.C. (BP) — In a dramatic moment, Mark Zuckerberg turned during a Senate hearing today and apologized to families whose children have been victims of online sexual exploitation through platforms such as his.
Most evangelicals chose Christ during childhood, new study finds
EXPORT, Pa. (BP) – Most adult evangelicals were saved in childhood with several factors influencing their decisions, according to newly released findings from Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research and Consulting.
Ohio legislature overrides governor’s veto of transgender bill
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio has banned gender transitions for minors and restricted biological males from participation on female sports teams . The state’s Senate followed the House in overriding Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of the bill designed to protect minors from harmful medications and surgeries.
Dislike of organized religion, maltreatment cited by many ‘Nones,’ Pew finds
WASHINGTON (BP) – More than half of religiously unaffiliated Americans, identified as ‘Nones,” say they don’t like organized religion or have been mistreated by religious people, Pew Research said Jan. 24.
Most U.S. adults respect religious diversity as hate crimes rise, poll finds
WASHINGTON (BP) -- More than 90 percent of American adults support religious pluralism, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty found in its latest Religious Freedom Index, contrary to acts of religious hatred and intolerance amid the Israel-Hamas War.
Wheaton College bars employees from using preferred pronouns
WHEATON, Ill. (RNS) — Wheaton College, a flagship evangelical school, recently updated its student and employee handbooks to restrict employees’ ability to designate personal pronouns and to elaborate on the school’s position on trans/nonbinary students and faculty.
FIRST-PERSON: Commending classical evangelicalism
The evangelical label has fallen on hard times. A growing number of Americans treat it almost like a slur, especially on social media.
On the YouVersion Bible app, Americans looked for hope in 2023
(RNS) — Bobby Gruenewald might know more about how Americans read the Bible than anyone else in the country. For the past 15 years, Gruenewald, an online entrepreneur turned pastor, has run the popular YouVersion Bible app — a free application that has been downloaded more than 700 million times in the U.S. and around the world.
