American Culture

“The common explanation for knocking on wood claims the ritual is a holdover from Europe’s pagan days, an appeal to tree-dwelling spirits to ward off bad luck or an expression of gratitude for good fortune.” - The Conversation

“Back in 1994, I published Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture…. I thought of updating it, but too much has happened over the last quarter-century. So Post-Christian is a sequel to that earlier book, similarly designed to help Christians navigate the issues and mindsets and world-views of our day.” - Cranach

“Americans went to the library 10.5 times on average in 2019. The next most popular pastime was seeing a movie in a theater, at an average of 5.3 times in a year.

“The latest Gallup survey of Americans’ opinions and trust of specific occupations found clergy improving from 37% last year to 40% in 2020, marking the first increase in a decade. Overall, medical practitioners dominate the top of the list, with nurses ranked highest (85%) for the 18th straight year.” - Facts & Trends

“Though people have more money, better health care, better health, better housing and more education, and live longer than at any time in history, they — especially young people — are unhappier than at any time since data collection began.” - National Review

“While the church has more to offer an addict, even many Christians turn to 12-step programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous). Why? According to Dunnington, one reason is that churches aren’t calling people to confess their sins or admit they are sinners” - TGC

“When politics does come up from the pulpit, a majority of those in the pews (62%) say they agree with their leaders. The political overlap is particularly strong among evangelical Protestants, three-quarters of whom (76%) say they agree with their pastor’s political opinions, the survey found.” - Christianity Today

“In addition to identifying a steep increase in the rate of alcohol-related deaths, the study’s authors also presented other findings showing an increase in the annual number of alcohol-related injuries.

“The stats that Siegel cites are bleak: anxiety ‘rose 36 percent’ between 2016 and 2017, while America’s ‘suicide rate increased by 33 percent between 1999 and 2017.’” - Intellectual Takeout

“Both sides of the “Christian America” debate employ the same strategy: posit a world in which everyone is either a Christian or a deist, show the American founders weren’t in your opponent’s camp, and then claim, as a result, that they must’ve been in yours.” - TGC