American Culture

Pew Research: “More than 6 in 10 (61 percent) list that as their primary reason. Two-thirds attend to provide a moral foundation for their kids (69 percent), to become a better person (68 percent), or to find comfort in times of trouble (66 percent).” - BPNews

“In place of religion, we now have spirituality (or pseudo-spirituality). Instead of church, we do elaborate #selfcaresunday rituals. We get baptized at Burning Man. We pay tithings to yoga studios. Wellness has in many ways become our new religion, with practitioners, instructors, and coaches its priests, imams, and rabbis.” - Quartzy

“[T]hese trends may be less about our abandoning the supernatural and more about our abandoning each other.” - NReview

“What does our own sloppy dress tell us about ourselves? Are we too pressed for time to dress a little up rather than way down? Are we rebelling against the idea of beauty and culture? Or are we just too lazy to pull on a pair of slacks instead of wearing the sweats we slept in?” Intellectual Takeout

“The adults polled were presented with ten news-related statements, five that were demonstrably true or false and five that were opinions. Two ‘borderline’ statements were also presented. Only 26 percent of the adults polled recognized all five of the factual statements as such. About 35 percent recognized all of the opinion statements as opinion.” NReview

“[I]n the early 1900s, it was very unusual for children to live without their dads: According to our analysis of census data, fewer than 8 percent of kids under ten lived in a household not including their biological or adoptive father (a category that excludes stepdads and foster parents). Today, that number is one in four.” NReview

“67 percent approve of homosexuality, compared to 40 percent in 2001; 69 percent approve of premarital sex, compared to 53 percent in 2001; 76 percent of Americans say divorce is morally acceptable, compared to 59 percent in 2001; and 65 percent of Americans approve of childbirth outside of marriage, compared to 45 percent in 2002 when Gallup added the practice to its poll.” BPNews

“To learn more about the specific types of counseling Americans are seeking out, MidAmerica Nazarene University recently performed a study where they looked at and analyzed Google search data—and the results are surprising.” CToday

“During my years caring for patients, the most common pathology I saw was not heart disease or diabetes; it was loneliness” Governing