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6 charts that illustrate the surprising financial strength of American houses of worship

  • Written by David King, Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies, IUPUI
Organized religion is faring better than it may appear.James Kirkikis/Shutterstock.com

Religion accounts for the largest share of the approximately US$425 billion Americans give away every year.

Even so, the charitable dollars channeled to churches and other houses of worship have slowly declined as a percentage of overall giving for decades. In...

Read more: 6 charts that illustrate the surprising financial strength of American houses of worship

Catholic activism, not repentance for sexual abuse, is what forces clergy to resign

  • Written by Brian Clites, Instructor and Associate Director, Case Western Reserve University
Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, at a news conference on Nov. 5, 2018, in Cheektowaga, New York. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

The Roman Catholic bishop of Buffalo, New York, Richard Malone, became the seventh U.S. bishop since 2015 to be forced out of power for his role in covering up clergy sexual abuse cases. Malone resigned on Dec. 4, stating that...

Read more: Catholic activism, not repentance for sexual abuse, is what forces clergy to resign

Evangelical gangs in Rio de Janeiro wage 'holy war' on Afro-Brazilian faiths

  • Written by Robert Muggah, Associate Lecturer, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)
In Rio de Janeiro, practitioners of the Afro-Brazilian faiths Candomble and Umbanda are increasingly under attack by evangelical crusaders. AP Photo/Leo Correa

The expression “evangelical drug trafficker” may sound incongruous, but in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, it’s widespread.

Charismatic Christianity is on the rise...

Read more: Evangelical gangs in Rio de Janeiro wage 'holy war' on Afro-Brazilian faiths

Transgender homeless Americans find few protections in the law

  • Written by Jonah DeChants, Postdoctoral Fellow in Social Work, Colorado State University
About 12% of transgender Americans have experienced homelessness in the last year.PLotulitStocker/Shutterstock.com

Ben Carson, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, made news earlier this year for his statements about transgender people.

In a September meeting with HUD staff, Carson remarked that he was concerned about...

Read more: Transgender homeless Americans find few protections in the law

Why Congress would keep working during a government shutdown

  • Written by Zachary Price, Associate Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings
Congress holds the power to propose and approve the federal budget.Patsy Lynch/ MediaPunch /IPX

Unless Congress passes new spending legislation by December 20, at least some federal agencies may need to cease operations and shut down, just as several agencies did for a month around this time last year.

But if current budget negotiations to avoid a...

Read more: Why Congress would keep working during a government shutdown

US-China trade deal: 3 fundamental issues remain unresolved

  • Written by Penelope B. Prime, Clinical Professor of International Business, Georgia State University
The game is far from over.rawf8/Shutterstock.com

The U.S. and China have reportedly reached a so-called phase one deal in their ongoing trade war.

While few details have been disclosed, the agreement principally seems to involve the U.S. calling off a new round of tariffs that were slated to take effect on Dec. 15 and removing others already in...

Read more: US-China trade deal: 3 fundamental issues remain unresolved

In impeachment spotlight, dueling views of professionalism appear

  • Written by Michael J. Brown, Assistant Professor of History, Rochester Institute of Technology
To some, White House aide Jennifer Williams and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman are impartial truth-tellers; to others, they are power-hungry bureaucrats.AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Impeachment hearings have thrust a handful of public servants into the spotlight, where competing ideas about government professionals – variously called the establishment,...

Read more: In impeachment spotlight, dueling views of professionalism appear

Impeachment is better than exile

  • Written by Peter C. Mancall, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, June 6, 2019.AP/Alex Brandon

When the framers of the Constitution created the process for Congress to impeach “all civil officers of the United States,” they rejected a much more severe punishment practiced in early America: exile.

That threat was real in the early colonial...

Read more: Impeachment is better than exile

Kids aren't getting enough exercise, even in sporty Seattle

  • Written by Julie McCleery, Research Associate & Lecturer, Center for Leadership in Athletics, University of Washington
There are many ways for children and teens to stay active.Margie Nicosia/Pocock Rowing Foundation, CC BY-SA

People who live in and around Seattle are among the nation’s most active. The region is an outdoor recreation haven for both locals and visitors who enjoy hiking, biking and kayaking.

I conduct research about coaching and youth sports....

Read more: Kids aren't getting enough exercise, even in sporty Seattle

Memo from a historian: White ladies cooking in plantation museums are a denial of history

  • Written by Kelley Fanto Deetz, Lecturer in American Studies, University of Virginia
Jermone Bias and Cheyney McKnight portraying enslaved cooks at Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown, Virginia, a National Park Service property.National Park Service

Fall is almost gone and winter is coming, as are hundreds of hearth cooking demonstrations at countless historic homes and plantations throughout the nation.

Like an automated clock,...

Read more: Memo from a historian: White ladies cooking in plantation museums are a denial of history

More Articles ...

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  4. Uber's data revealed nearly 6,000 sexual assaults. Does that mean it's not safe?
  5. Asking people with memory loss about past holidays can help them recall happy times
  6. As rural Americans struggle for health care access, insurers may be making things worse
  7. The Earth needs multiple methods for removing CO2 from the air to avert worst of climate change
  8. 'Organic' label doesn't guarantee that holiday ham was a happy pig
  9. The dangers of depicting Greta Thunberg as a prophet
  10. Why are whales big, but not bigger?
  11. How old should kids be to get phones?
  12. ‘Richard Jewell’ is only the latest film to depict a female journalist trading sex for scoops
  13. Supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy may have a friend
  14. Winter is coming: 5 essential reads about snow and ice
  15. Myths around mental illness cause high rates of unemployment
  16. Slave life's harsh realities are erased in Christmas tours of Southern plantations
  17. School resource officers aren't arrested often – but when they are, it's usually for sexual misconduct
  18. Myanmar charged with genocide of Rohingya Muslims: 5 essential reads
  19. Examining how primates make vowel sounds pushes timeline for speech evolution back by 27 million years
  20. USMCA: The 3 most important changes in the new NAFTA and why they matter
  21. Mexican Mennonites combat fears of violence with a new Christmas tradition
  22. Like 'Little Women,' books by Zitkála-Šá and Taha Hussein are classics
  23. We calculated emissions due to electricity loss on the power grid – globally, it's a lot
  24. Not every campus is a political battlefield
  25. 5 new ways for schools to work with families
  26. What happens when black Americans leave their segregated hometowns
  27. 'Robotic blacksmithing': A technology that could revive US manufacturing
  28. Paul Volcker helped shape an independent Federal Reserve – a vital legacy that's under threat
  29. What can drones do to protect civilians in armed conflict?
  30. Fat-shaming pregnant women isn't just mean, it's harmful
  31. Millions of burnt trees and rusted cars: Post-disaster cleanup is expensive, time-consuming and wasteful
  32. Taliban negotiations resume, feeding hope of a peaceful, more prosperous Afghanistan
  33. Super rats or sickly rodents? Our war against urban rats could be leading to swift evolutionary changes
  34. How the 'extreme abstinence' of the purity movement created a sense of shame in evangelical women
  35. In its anti-'Medicare for All' push, the health insurance industry pulls from an old playbook
  36. A brief guide to how the China-US trade war will affect your holiday shopping
  37. What the Roman senate's grovelling before emperors explains about GOP senators' support for Trump
  38. New studies show discrimination widely reported by women, people of color and LGBTQ adults
  39. Risk rooted in colonial era weighs on Bahamas' efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Dorian
  40. What makes wine dry? It's easy to taste, but much harder to measure
  41. Why the holidays are a prime time for elder abuse, and what you can do to thwart it
  42. Payday lenders have embraced installment loans to evade regulations – but they may be even worse
  43. Why are kids today less patriotic?
  44. Nicolas Bourbaki: The greatest mathematician who never was
  45. Courts have avoided refereeing between Congress and the president, but Trump may force them to wade in
  46. Why it can be hard to stop eating even when you're full: Some foods may be designed that way
  47. What makes Christmas movies so popular
  48. Why the US military usually punishes misconduct but police often close ranks
  49. American influence could take the hit as Putin, Zelenskiy try to make peace in Donbass
  50. Large-scale education tests often come with side effects