Religious "Nones" are Largest Group in US

Perhaps hierarchical religions are turning people off. So many religions think they are the one and only true viable alternative, placing themselves on top of a religious hierarchy that they create.

NPR reports that the Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/1226371734/religious-nones-are-now-the-largest-single-group-in-the-u-s

Gene Robinson: "I felt God called me out of the closet"

Gene Robinson was the first openly-gay bishop in all of Christendom.

Robinson is quick to point out that there have always been gay bishops in the Episcopal Church. "There have been a lot of us, let's just be clear," he said. "I'm just the first openly-gay one."

 "We forget what a big deal it was and how hard it was and how many people were opposed, and the pain it caused a lot of people," he said.

"I can tell you from my own experience, and it's one of the things that led to my coming out: it's an awful thing to stand in a pulpit and encourage people to live authentic lives when you know you're not being authentic," Robinson said. "It's why I felt God called me out of the closet."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bishop-gene-robinson-on-why-god-called-me-out-of-the-closet/

Elevated Access Flies People Across Texas Border for Reproductive Health Care

Texas made obtaining an abortion virtually impossible since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, . For a state as large as Texas, getting to where abortion is legal can be the challenge.

But volunteer pilots are giving flight to women in need of abortion care.

Elevated Access is an organization that coordinates small plane pilots with people in need of an abortion. The match-ups are done online. Elevated Access embraces anonymity. The pilots don’t even know the names of their passengers.

Privacy and secrecy is baked into the process of connecting people who need abortions with pilots who want to help. Elevated Access started a year and a half ago, and so far they’ve flown more than 600 missions for more than 800 people around the country. 

https://www.tpr.org/public-health/2023-12-28/volunteer-pilots-give-flight-to-women-needing-abortion

Ebony Alerts Will Be Used to Highlight Missing Black Children and Young Adults

Blacks make up 14% of the U.S. population but represent 38% of the missing children in the country.

Beginning in January, Ebony Alerts will debut to highlight missing Black children and young adults between the ages of 12 and 25, a tool to be used by the California Highway Patrol and other agencies. 

A larger percentage of missing Black children are classified as "runaways" in comparison to white children, who are classified as "missing," according to the Black and Missing Foundation. This discrepancy affects the information being sent out in Amber Alerts, which notify the public of missing children that are seen to be at risk.

https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2023/12/28/ebony-alerts-debut-in-january-to-draw-attention-to-missing-women-and-children-of-color

Russian Court Bans "LGBTQ Movement"

As part of global moves against LGBTQ+ inclusivity, Russia’s Supreme Court has moved to classify the “international LGBT social movement” as an extremist organization. 

This ruling criminalizes not just any activist working to advance human rights for queer individuals, but could also enable prosecutors to target anyone who supports LGBTQ+ people. 

“If you speak at all about LGBT rights, whether you do it by protesting peacefully, or just posting comments on social media by saying anything in public, anything at all, you're going to be in trouble,” says Tanya Lokshina, associate director for Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division.

https://time.com/6342383/russias-court-ban-of-the-lgbtq-movement/?fbclid=IwAR0V8qqZNBPniutOUkIsrbJNwC2f5-vITZDJrq0UBBcCdoHoqHfZYGCfASY

Chinese Women are Saying No to Stifling Patriarchal Roles of Women

Sexist state propaganda in China labels single professional women older than 27 as sheng nu, or leftover women. The Communist party wants China’s women to be docile, baby-breeding guarantors of social, economic and demographic stability.

But young Chinese women are defying rules of their society, delaying or shunning marriage and childbirth altogether, mirroring the journey of women in other, wealthier patriarchal East Asian societies such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. As individuals, these Chinese women are generally unwilling to challenge official policy. But through their reproductive choices, they collectively pose a radical and complicated problem for the Chinese Communist Party.

China's previous one-child policy attempted to rein in population growth. But this led to plummeting birthrates, an aging population and a gender imbalance as millions of female fetuses were aborted because of a traditional preference for male heirs. As of 2020, China still had about 17.5 million more men than women between the ages of 20 and 40. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/26/opinion/china-women-reproduction-rights.html

Blacks in Oklahoma Teach African American History Because School Teachers Can't Legally

Kristi Williams started offering Saturday lessons in African American History early this year in a community center in Tulsa, after an Oklahoma state law —  adopted by Republicans in 2021 — placed restrictions on how race and gender can be taught in Oklahoma's public schools.

The law has had a chilling effect on teachers who now fear that touching on race and racism in their classrooms could cost them their jobs if a student or parent complains that a lesson made them uncomfortable.

"They're just staying away from it and not teaching it," Williams said. "So I had to create a space for families to come in, and teach it."

https://www.klcc.org/npr-top-stories/2023-11-22/oklahoma-restricted-how-race-can-be-taught-so-these-black-teachers-stepped-up