American Culture

“There was a time, believe it or not, when filmmakers were literally bound by contract to produce films that were morally and ethically sound. Even Hollywood producers knew the messages people absorb via film, television, and music are hugely impactful — and they took their influence seriously.” - W. Examiner

“Evangelist Greg Laurie, who leads the multi-campus Harvest Christian Fellowship, was recently forced to remove billboards promoting his annual SoCal Harvest event from two popular malls in Southern California because they featured him holding a nondescript Bible in his hand that some people found offensive.” - CPost

“PRRI finds most demographics have shifted in favor of religious freedom for small wedding business owners like Masterpiece Cakeshop’s Jack Phillips.” - CToday

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