"For the first time since 2013, Americans’ confidence in the institution of the church increased in Gallup’s annual tracking poll. The percentage who say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church climbed from 36% to 42%." - F&T
"The results show that while 60% of U.S. adults held the view that religious belief is a matter of personal opinion in 2018, that number dropped to 54% in 2020." - C.Post
Many "evangelicals still believe the heresy of Arianism....Two-thirds of evangelicals (65%) affirmed the statement that 'Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.' This figure is lower than in the last two surveys (in 2018, 78% agreed; in 2016, 71% agreed)." - CToday
"The problem with the culture-war approach is not that it (rightly) discerns opposition from the world. The problem is in the chosen mode of response. By embracing the culture-war paradigm, many Christians adopt—likely inadvertently—an 'all’s fair in love and war' perspective....And so we employ battle tactics we normally would not find defensible" - TGC
"It’s been painful to see the church in America follow the national discourse..... Watching old college friends—who never expressed political opinions before—suddenly waging virtual war on Facebook regarding justice (on both sides) reveals just how all-consuming politics has become." - TGC
"Pew found that 57 percent of U.S. adults who identify as Christians believe that sex in a committed relationship is sometimes or always acceptable, while 49 percent think that casual sex (two consenting adults not in a committed relationship) is sometimes or always acceptable." - C.Leaders
“In today’s culture...we privilege instant answers to complicated questions. And wisdom is rarely speedy (Prov 29:20). This is not merely a problem of online media. Christian leaders in an effort to communicate effectively often (and understandably) give simple and speedy answers." - Wyatt Graham
We might have every reason to expect, given the extraordinary attention directed to this issue, that race relations would be improving in America. But instead, they seem to be getting worse. Why are race relations not improving?
As recently as World War II, the American military was largely segregated. Most units were White with some reserved for Blacks. Black Americans fought heroically for their country, many laying down their lives in defense of the United States. It seems incredible today that those who served with valor could be denied equal treatment with others who fought for the same cause. This is so clearly wrong, that younger Americans may be surprised to learn that such inequality ever existed. It did then, but no longer. Thankfully, such policies are not allowed in today’s America. Genuine progress has occurred.
It’s no secret that not too many decades ago, Blacks were forced to sit at the back of the bus and denied entrance into many restaurants and other places of business, but no longer, because significant progress has been made.
