American Culture

“In the open-ended question, Americans are mostly likely to say family is an important source of meaning (40 percent), and in the closed-ended question they’re most likely to report they find “a great deal” of meaning in spending time with family (69 percent)….almost a fourth (23 percent) find meaning in finances and money.” - Acton

“The survey released Dec. 24, shows 72 percent of Americans say religion is important in their lives, including 51 percent who say it’s ‘very important.’ …Only 46 percent of Americans say religion can ‘answer all or most of today’s problems’ — another record low and the first time the number has dipped below 50 percent.” - Christian Headlines

“The average American man dies five years before the average American woman, in part because of increased death rates among males from opioids, alcohol, and suicide.” - Intellectual Takeout

“The data… show that alcohol-related deaths have climbed steadily from the 19,469 deaths recorded in 1999. Deaths from misusing alcohol did not decline at any time since that period, and they included not only alcohol poisonings but also alcoholic liver disease and cirrhosis.

“While similar numbers disagreed in 2014 and 2018 (18 and 19 percent respectively), the percentage who said they were unsure if Christmas should be more about Jesus jumped from 3 percent four years ago to 16 percent today.” - Baptist Standard

Review of The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock ’n’ Roll - Christianity Today

“Pew Research Center found 59 percent of college-educated individuals have considered making changes in their religious congregation. However, only 38 percent of the participants who completed high school or lower types of education did the same.” - WRN

“The most important substance we should be looking at is alcohol, because it leads to some many things, including physical abuse and rape, that shouldn’t happen. We need to stop accepting that there isn’t anything we can do about it.”

“The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last week celebrated the 50th birthday of the movie rating scale, which started as an attempt to ward off censors and became a part of the collective consciousness of U.S. moviegoers.” - BPNews

“Taking a hint from Hegel, Kojève devoted his life to preparing the way for the universal state he believed would crown the end of history. Yet what is most remarkable about Kojève’s conception of a new world order is the candor with which he acknowledged its dehumanizing qualities.” - National Review