Guttmacher, CDC and Pew

Although we know a lot about the U.S. populace from our government census, it doesn't ask about religion. So when you see those figures, it's not from the government census. There may be other agencies and organizations that do count heads for religion, but the Pew Research organization is the only one I know, and the one most quoted. Here's what it says about Christians, and it should be marching orders for all churches.

"Christians continue to make up a majority of the U.S. populace, but their share of the adult population is 12 points lower in 2021 than it was in 2011. In addition, the share of U.S. adults who say they pray on a daily basis has been trending downward, as has the share who say religion is “very important” in their lives."

"As of 2021, 21% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Catholic, identical to the Catholic share of the population in 2014."

That means Catholics are holding their own and Protestants are not. Also, it means that lack of religious observances like regular prayer and church attendance are factors in the increasing divisiveness in our society,

Here's another tip about statistics. Researchers rely on the Guttmacher Institute for abortion statistics. It is the research arm of Planned Parenthood. CDC is our government agency that tracks health and the reproductive health of the nation. Although reproduction is the opposite of abortion, that's where to look for abortion statistics. If you read an article about abortion or contraception, there is usually a mix of statistics using both CDC and Guttmacher. Those are the only two the Pew Research articles quote from. Although it's odd, abortion statistics from Pew is classed with religion and assigned to its religious editor. As far as I can determine neither one tracks, records or is concerned about the negative effects of abortion on the health and welfare of women, especially not in the long run. For that you'll need smaller, more female friendly organizations.

I looked up the 2 Pew religion writers/editors and one specialized in American blacks and Muslims and Europeans and the other in Muslims. Do you see any specialization gaps here?

I look at strange things so you don't have to.

The rise in black violence due to the George Floyd riots

Alarming rise in youth gun deaths breaks down very differently by race (nbcnews.com)

You can read this NBC account (based on Pew Research) and never see a word about George Floyd or how black "leaders" including the current vice president encouraged the rise in violence among black teens (called children or kids in msm articles). That's because Democrats asked the Democrat run sanctuary cities to defund the police and allow rowdies to roam. They encouraged black mobs to assemble and riot during Covid restrictions too. Far more people were killed or injured and federal buildings damaged during the BLM political riots in most major cities than during the January 6 riot when only one person was killed--a white female Veteran killed by a capitol policeman. Democrats continue to fail black citizens of the USA.

You'll only hear about these (mostly homicides) deaths if a police officer is involved. Otherwise, black leaders and the media pay those families no mind. This story is all based on Pew Research which makes no mention of who is doing the killing.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/06/gun-deaths-among-us-kids-rose-50-percent-in-two-years/?

A Slavery Teaching Act named for Kamala Harris

"The "Kamala Harris Truth in Slavery Teaching Act" was filed Wednesday in both the Florida House and Senate. Under the bill, educators would need to meet several requirements when teaching "the history of African Americans."

The requirements include teaching which "political parties supported slavery," something its authors argue is currently ignored in most curriculums." Of course, that would be the truth about the Democrat Party's involvement in keeping black Americans down. Through the Civil War, KKK, Jim Crow, right up to the 60s and the Civil Rights Act--which wouldn't have passed without Republican support.

 
And if it were me, I'd add the truth about how Planned Parenthood, a campaign front for Democrats, has killed generations of black citizens through abortion campaigning.

Florida bill named after VP Harris would require teaching that Democrats supported slavery | WSTM (cnycentral.com)

Abortion in the U.S.: What the data says | Pew Research Center

I've often said we have 2 parties--the evil party and the stupid party.  Finally Republicans are starting to dish out what Democrats usually do.

Podcasts--true crime are the most popular

I'm not sure I knew what a podcast was until the summer of 2021, and now I have about 50 on my "library" list on my smartphone. It used to be I'd see them occasionally on YouTube and follow for awhile, but I really prefer the audio to the video.  It's easier to do other things. You can investigate a topic much more in 2 hours than in 30 seconds on the evening news. My list changes some as I learn more about the values and veracity of the host or if I don't like the quality of the host's voice or talking speed.  I first figured out that they were a popular form of entertainment and information when I watched the first season of   "Only murders in our building." Only Murders in the Building (TV Series 2021– ) - IMDb

"Follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it's too late."

Although it was very well acted the language was just too raw, so we stopped watching.  Now has finished up season three.

Pew Research says 24% of podcasts are true crime and about 10% are "politics and government." (Sort of the same thing, don't you think? 

"A new Pew Research Center study of 451 of the top-ranked podcasts in the United States shows this diversity of subjects: No single topic is the main focus of more than a quarter of these podcasts.

True crime is the most common topic, making up 24% of these top-ranked podcasts – perhaps reflecting the early popularity of Serial. The next most common topics are politics and government (10%); entertainment, pop culture and the arts (9%); and self-help and relationships (8%)." A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S. | Pew Research Center

Many of those on my list are former news reporters or programs I've known for years like Glenn Beck, Megyn Kelly, Hugh Hewitt, and Victor Davis Hanson.  I had either seen them on TV, listened to live programing on the radio, or read their columns. Probably ten are about religion, with some politics thrown in.  Another ten are politics, or politics with popular culture. Maybe ten are about health, or health related. I'd say five are "red-pilled"--they've left the Democrat party for a variety of reasons, usually Covid or Communism.  "Great books" is self-explanatory, as is "Boring books for Bedtime." Two are Canadian, Jordan B. Peterson, Dr. Gad Saad, others are American immigrants, like Patrick Bet David, born in Iran (business, entertainment, politics), or foreign, like Zuby, British citizen of Nigerian ancestry, Freddie Sayers, British with conversations on science, politics, free speech. Three are black and conservative, and they are also outspoken about their Christian faith. Jason Whitlock is sort of a two-fer x 2--black, conservative, Christian, and sports. A number of these have regular sidekicks or guest panels with whom they debate, disagree or affirm. Four of my favorites are medical shows. Often, they interview each other.  On the list I have a lesbian Jew journalist and a formerly gay man (very conservative Christian) who has a lot of Hollywood connections. 

I thought Covid had boosted the popularity, and according to Forbes.com in January 2023 it did. However,  "Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the art of the podcast became a full-blown renaissance. But in truth, podcasting predated the coronavirus, responding to the evolving wants and needs of young listeners who don’t just want to blast the radio in their cars. 

Around the globe, there are more than 400 million podcast listeners who tune in for all sorts of content. Because of that high listenership, there are over 2 million independent podcasts with tens of millions of episodes between them. That’s right: Over 2 million podcasts."

Gun deaths among kids rose 50%

Gun deaths among U.S. kids rose 50% from 2019 to 2021 | Pew Research Center

A discussion on gun deaths among children under 18 with friends last night promoted this search, and as I suspected, by far this is a young male problem. The Nashville Christian school case is one of the few I can remember where a female was the shooter, and we still haven't learned if she was on the testosterone treatment because transgenderism has become such a political bombshell. One other I remember from maybe 15 years ago was a young woman killing her dissertation committee.

Quotes from the Pew report:

"Boys, for example, accounted for 83% of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021. Girls accounted for 17%."

"Those ages 12 to 17 accounted for 86% of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, while those 6 to 11 accounted for 7% of the total, as did those 5 and under."

"In 2021, 46% of all gun deaths among children and teens involved Black victims, even though only 14% of the U.S. under-18 population that year was Black. Much smaller shares of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021 involved White (32%), Hispanic (17%) and Asian (1%) victims."

(Note, only statistics for Hispanic children reflect % of population.)

"In 2021, a large majority of gun deaths involving Black children and teens (84%) were homicides, while 9% were suicides. Among White children and teens, by contrast, the majority of gun deaths (66%) were suicides, while a much smaller share (24%) were homicides."

Suicides among white Americans are always at a higher percentage than other groups--I believe the highest rate of suicides is for white males over 85 and the next highest is the 74-85 group. This is a tragedy our media (and society) pay little attention to.

Also, as noted in the URL, the pandemic lockdown contributed to more than just lost years of schooling. For all we hear about school shootings, schools are still the safest place for children to be. For far too many their own homes and neighborhoods are not healthy places. Yet our government's--from federal to local--poorly conceived lust for power to having everyone be vaccinated and isolated instead of just the vulnerable and elderly has led to a 50% rise in childhood gun deaths, many suicides.

In my opinion, and my Christian belief, having mothers demand the right to kill their own children up through the 9th month of pregnancy (and beyond according to a new law proposed in New York) has not set us up with a good foundation for respecting the lives of children.

The statistics I mentioned in our discussion for homicides of children under 5 comes from a government report; but all homicides, even those for children, dropped drastically after the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill, now much maligned by liberals. Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008 (ojp.gov)

Catholics off the rails--the Pew Study and USCCB

John 6:66 "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."  

 Bishop Robert Barron addresses the problem that 70% of Roman Catholics believe the real presence is symbolic.  This problem was also addressed at the recent gathering (November 15-18) of U.S. Bishops. Many had hoped there would be condemnation or at least mention of Catholic politicians who push abortion, support same sex marriage and gender confusion. That didn't happen. This speech is from 2020, and lays the ground work.

https://youtu.be/UzCPu_lEhe8

One-third of U.S. Catholics believe in transubstantiation | Pew Research Center

"BALTIMORE — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted overwhelmingly to approve a teaching document on the Eucharist Wednesday that caused a great deal of controversy in its June meeting due to concerns that its section on worthiness to receive Communion would be perceived as aimed at prominent pro-abortion Catholic politicians like U.S. President Joe Biden.

The document did include a section on worthiness to receive Communion, reminding the faithful that “if a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to reject the defined doctrines of the Church, or knowingly and obstinately to repudiate her definitive teaching on moral issues” they “should refrain” from Communion, but contained no references to specific politicians. Compared to the three hours of heated debate its drafting spurred, there was only about a half-hour of comments from bishops before its passage by a vote of 222-8, with three abstentions."

It seems the document leaves it up to the local bishop, so Biden and Pelosi will continue to thumb their noses at the church and Jesus.

US Bishops Try to Keep Focus on Eucharist, Not Politicians, in New Document| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

The document "The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church" was developed by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was approved by the full body of the USCCB at its November 2021 General Meeting and has been authorized for publication by the undersigned.

The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church | USCCB

The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.pdf (usccb.org)

Should Biden get Communion given his abortion views? Catholics split by party | Pew Research Center

THOMAS AQUINAS - SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST - Quotes (crossroadsinitiative.com)