Items of interest from various sources of religious news and opinion, in print and on the web.
“Thou Shalt Not Murder.” –God. In an ever-shifting moral landscape, Americans have at least been able to agree that murder is bad. Until now, that is. In the wake of Luigi Mangione’s cold-blooded assassination of insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December, waves of support for the killer have swept across social media. Talking heads of the left excused his actions. Merchandise featuring Mangione’s image sprang up on Amazon. A video projection of his face was cheered at a rock concert in Boston. A crowdsourced defense fund quickly swelled with donations. Wanted posters appeared in Manhattan with pictures of other corporate CEOs. And these were not aberrations. In an Emerson College survey, 41% of Americans polled said that the killer’s actions were either “somewhat” or “completely” acceptable. Among young people it was worse: nearly 60% of 18- to 29-year-olds were unwilling to condemn the murder unequivocally. McDonald, Heather. “Luigi Mangione and the American Abyss.” Eye on the News. City-Journal.org, 23 Dec., 2024. Web. 23 Dec., 2024.
Belief in Supernatural Increasing Among the Educated? Statistics released by the federal government’s General Social Survey reveal something surprising about college-educated Americans—between 1991 and 2018, the percentage of those who say they “definitely believe” in miracles increased from 45% to 63%. Among post-graduate degree holders, the percentage more than doubled, from 30% in 1991 to 61% in 2018. Other survey questions querying about belief in various aspects of the supernatural reflected similar trends. How could this be, given a simultaneous and well-documented decline in religious affiliation? “Making sense of this apparent contradiction requires rethinking what it means to be ‘secular,'” said a writer at Breakpoint.org. “For example, just as rejecting religion is not the same as rejecting the supernatural, so an increased openness to the supernatural should not be equated with religious revival. . . . A softening toward ‘signs and wonders’ among college educated Americans may simply reflect the general resilience of supernaturalism, which is not the same thing as embracing faith, Christian or otherwise. Put differently, there is such a thing as a secular spirituality, and that may be what we are seeing today.” Stonestreet, John. “The Rising Belief in Miracles.” Articles. Breakpoint.org, 8 Jan., 2025. Web. 8 Jan., 2025.
Christians Disappear from Palestine, the Birthplace of Christianity. “The Christian population in areas governed by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas has plummeted drastically by up to 90% in some communities, a new study suggests, attributing the decline to violence, discrimination and economic hardships that threaten the survival of Christianity in its historical heartland. The Christian demographic in Palestinian territories has experienced a dramatic reduction over the past century. In 1922, Christians made up 11% of the population in geographical Palestine. By 2024, this number had dwindled to 1%, marking a nearly 90% decrease, according to a study conducted by the Israeli think tank Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. . . . The city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, serves as an example of this trend. In 1950, Bethlehem and its surrounding villages were 86% Christian. However, by the last census in 2017, the Christian population had dropped to about 10%.” Kumar, Anugra. “Christian population nearly wiped out under Hamas, PA rule in Christianity’s birthplace.” News. ChristianPost.com, 25 Dec., 2024. Web. 8 Jan., 2025.