When Donald Trump won reelection last week, exit polls show he was propelled to victory by gains in a wide swath of demographic groups and buffered, once more, by strong support from Christian voters. In fact, Trump made gains in…
The Catholic Court
Evangelicals have gotten all the attention, but it is the Catholics that are reshaping American life. By Catholics, I mean the six Roman Catholics that comprise the conservative super-majority on the United States Supreme Court: John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel…
The costly victory of evangelicals and Catholics
Have evangelical leaders and Catholic bishops made a strategic blunder? When they decided the cultural war battlefield needed to be the Supreme Court, they engaged in a decades-long battle to have the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. In the…
Survey asks how Americans prioritize marriage and childbearing
Among all Americans, white evangelicals are most likely to say that prioritizing marriage and having children is better for society, but in real life they are not more likely to be married than other Christians — and previous studies have…
Americans growing less religious and more strictly religious at the same time
In the current sociology of American religion, there are two trends moving in opposite directions. The “nones” are growing in number, while among those who identify as Christian, varieties of fundamentalism are growing. Religion researcher Ryan Burge recently summarized this…
A conservative resurgence in U.S. Catholicism?
Many readers of this column will know that in my religious practice I am by now something of a hybrid, attending both Catholic and Baptist churches every week when possible. This is time-consuming, for sure, but it does offer me…
Church ‘religious exemption’ letters against COVID vaccination mandates likely won’t work
Churches in California and North Carolina are among those now offering congregants documentation for “religious exemptions” to the COVID-19 vaccine, a practice that is legally dubious and likely ineffective, according to labor lawyers. The practice has arisen as more employers…
America’s two largest Christian bodies continue to become more conservative
The continual shift of the Southern Baptist Convention to the right was echoed by the latest meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Last Friday, the USCCB voted to create a teaching document that could rebuke and exclude…
Remembering Christ’s death with chicken soup and Goldfish
It’s probably wrong to think this, but it feels good to hear that groups other than Baptists are fighting about stuff. Catholics are all in a snit about allowing the president to share Communion since he is a supporter of…