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        <title>Christian Today | US</title>
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                                                        <item>
                <title><![CDATA[Cory Asbury takes down shirtless photo after backlash]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/cory-asbury-takes-down-shirtless-photo-after-backlash</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/cory-asbury-takes-down-shirtless-photo-after-backlash</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Foley]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiantoday.com/media/original/img/8/81/88167.jpg">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Cory Asbury]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Facebook/CoryAsburyMusic ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Cory Asbury wrote the song "Reckless Love." ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 10:54:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Christian singer Cory Asbury has taken down a shirtless picture of himself after receiving criticism that it lacked modesty and could be a stumbling block for others.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Christian singer Cory Asbury has taken down a shirtless picture of himself after receiving criticism that it lacked modesty and could be a stumbling block for others.
In an apology video posted on Instagram Thursday, Asbury addressed the controversy surrounding a photo he shared of himself posing beside fellow Christian musician Forrest Frank and a friend named Tony. 
“Honestly, I didn’t think much of it,” he said. “My heart was just to share highlights of the culture that we were [experiencing] on the road. … It was about mind, body, soul, health. So we were working out a lot, and one of those days, we were just looking at the progress and going, ‘Man … we’ve come a long way.’” 
“There was no intention for anyone to stumble or be a block of offense at all,” he added. “I guess there was a little controversy over that on the internet.”
The three men agreed to take the picture down because “that doesn’t need to live on the internet as a thing of offense that could possibly be a stumbling block.” 
“I realize a lot of different people share a lot of different opinions on modesty, and maybe one day we’ll weigh in on that, but for now, we just want to go ahead and take that down,” he added. 
Asbury also clarified that he was the one who posted the picture, not Frank. “I posted that photo,” he said. “It was from my account, so lay off my boy.”
“I just want to humbly, before everyone, say ‘I’m sorry,’” Asbury said, stressing that he “didn’t want it to be a thing” and “didn’t want it to offend anyone at all.
"It’s down. It’s gone. Push on toward the end goal of loving Jesus with humility.” 
The picture Asbury posted was one of several images included as part of a recap of his tour with Frank and other Christian artists called “The Jesus Generation Tour.”
The tour, which was designed to provide “a powerful night of music, worship and community,” consisted of stops in 29 cities with Frank as the headliner. All stops on the tour featured the Figs greeting fans as they arrived, Asbury leading worship and Christian musician Tori Kelly introducing Frank. 
The Jesus Generation Tour kicked off on June 1 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and concluded on Aug. 1 in Arlington, Texas. It included stops in 22 states.
© The Christian Post]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[US churches healthier than expected despite ‘massive discipleship gap’ – new study]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/us-churches-healthier-than-expected-despite-massive-discipleship-gap-new-study</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/us-churches-healthier-than-expected-despite-massive-discipleship-gap-new-study</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Obianuju Mbah]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiantoday.com/media/original/img/9/86/98669.jpg">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[woman, Bible, Christianity, faith, Bible study, women]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Getty/iStock) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:39:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[American churches are receiving high marks from those who regularly enter their pews, despite new research showing that more than half of self-identifying Christians attend services less than once a month.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
American churches are receiving high marks from those who regularly enter their pews, despite new research showing that more than half of self-identifying Christians attend services less than once a month.
The latest findings from the American Bible Society’s ‘State of the Bible USA 2026,’ which focuses on church health, suggest a mixed picture of the Church in the United States, with relatively strong levels of satisfaction among churchgoers contrasting with continued disengagement among large numbers of Christians.
The research was carried out over a three-week period in January, in partnership with National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, and based on responses from 2,649 adults. 
It found that just a quarter of Americans attend a Christian church service each week, while 37% say they do not take part in church services at all, whether physically or virtually. 
Among those who identify as Christian, 49% attend at least monthly. However, there are some indications that occasional churchgoing is increasing. 
The proportion of Americans attending “about every six months” has risen from 5% in 2024 to 8% this year, while the proportion who never attend has fallen slightly from 39% to 37%, amounting to around eight million more Americans attending church at least occasionally.
Attendance also varies considerably between Christian traditions, with Evangelical Protestants showing the strongest levels of participation.
Two thirds of Evangelical Protestants attend church at least once a month, while half are classified by researchers as “practising Christians” - those who go to church at least once a month and regard their faith as a central part of their lives.
Black Protestants had the next highest proportion of practising Christians, at a third, compared with just 14% of Mainline Protestants.
By contrast, 65% of Mainline Protestants and 60% of Roman Catholics were classified as “nominal” Christians, indicating a sizable gap between identifying with a Christian tradition and regularly participating in church life.
The research also found differences according to age and gender. Christian women were more likely than Christian men to attend at least monthly (51% vs 46%). More than half of Christian men (54%) attend less than monthly and one in 10 do not attend church at all. 
A fifth of male churchgoers participate in services online for at least half of their attendance, rising to 30% among female churchgoers.
There were also signs of changing attendance patterns between generations. 
Gen X recorded an increase in monthly churchgoing, from 49% in 2024 to 54% this year, while attendance among younger Christians remains a particular challenge. 
Gen Z was the only generation to see a decline, with the proportion attending church at least monthly falling from 46% in 2024 to 42% today.
Despite the wider attendance gap, the findings were considerably more positive when researchers examined the experiences of people who do participate in church.
Churchgoers were asked to rate their congregations on five areas of church health - whether their church challenges them to grow spiritually; helps them understand the Bible more deeply; provides opportunities for growth through relationships; fosters a culture of serving the community; and their pastor models spiritual growth.
Across the five measures, churchgoers gave their churches an average score of 8 out of 10, with 10 being the most common individual response.
A strong relationship between active participation in Christianity, engagement with Scripture and satisfaction with church life was identified in the study. 
Across the five measures of church health, 56% of practising Christians were “very satisfied”, compared with 15% of casual Christians and 16% of nominal Christians.
The difference was particularly pronounced when respondents were asked whether their church helped them understand the Bible more deeply, with 65% of practising Christians reporting that they were very satisfied, compared with 18% among the other groups.
Those classified as “Scripture Engaged” also reported some of the highest levels of satisfaction. 
Nearly three-quarters (74%) said they were “very satisfied” with how effectively their pastor demonstrates and encourages spiritual growth.
Church leadership appeared to play an important role in encouraging this engagement. 
Around two-thirds of churchgoers agreed that their leaders encourage them to read the Bible and help make Scripture relevant to their lives.
A majority (89%) of those reporting the highest levels of satisfaction with their church “agree or strongly agree” that they received encouragement from church leaders to engage with the Bible.
The findings were less positive among Gen Z men, who consistently reported lower levels of satisfaction with their churches than other demographic groups, suggesting that “something churches are doing across America isn’t connecting with the young men sitting in the pews - and their spiritual growth is suffering because of it”.
When asked whether their church gave them a deeper understanding of Scripture, Gen Z women gave an average rating of 7.9 out of 10, compared with 6.9 among Gen Z men.
“Church leaders need to think about how to approach and engage these young men,” Bible Society said. 
“As we have seen time and again in our research, Bible engagement is one of the most effective catalysts for spiritual growth. How can churches and ministries invest in young men’s spiritual formation and activate them in the local church body?” 
The American Bible Society said the findings suggest that while the US continues to face a significant gap between Christian identification and active participation in church, congregations are having a positive spiritual impact on many of those who regularly take part.
It stated: “Though there’s a massive discipleship gap in America, individual churches are healthier than we might expect.”]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Over 80% of US pastors have considered leaving ministry – survey]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/over-80-of-us-pastors-have-considered-leaving-ministry-survey</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/over-80-of-us-pastors-have-considered-leaving-ministry-survey</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Obianuju Mbah]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiantoday.com/media/original/img/9/90/99001.jpg">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Christian man, faith, Bible, prayer, pastor]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Getty/iStock) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:56:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Over 80% of pastors in the United States have contemplated stepping away from pastoral ministry at some point during the last five years, with problems surrounding church culture emerging as a leading factor, according to a new survey.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Over 80% of pastors in the United States have contemplated stepping away from pastoral ministry at some point during the last five years, with problems surrounding church culture emerging as a leading factor, according to a new survey.
The Culture Resurrection Index (CRI), commissioned by Virginia pastor and leadership coach Jared Fabac, surveyed 1,000 pastors about some of the challenges they face in church leadership.
It found that more than four in five (82%) respondents had thought about ending their pastoral ministry in the past five years. 
Among those who had considered leaving, 74% identified culture as the most significant factor. 
The findings suggest that difficulties surrounding leadership, staff relationships and organisational culture may be playing an important role in pastors questioning their future in ministry.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) said they had never received training in how to give difficult feedback effectively, while over three quarters (77%) said they would have valued more training in how leaders can model and develop a healthy culture within their churches.
Fabac, lead pastor of One City Church in Virginia Beach, said pastors can find themselves responsible for managing difficult organisational and interpersonal situations without having been adequately prepared for them.
He said: “Pastors aren’t leaving because they lost their faith. They’re leaving because no one taught them how to lead a broken staff, run a hard meeting, or model a healthy culture. Seminary trains the sermon. It rarely trains the system.”
The findings come amid wider concern about burnout, conflict and declining wellbeing among clergy.
Research from Barna Group published last month found that 52% of US Protestant senior pastors said their mental and physical health was an area in which they most needed support. 
While pastoral exhaustion has improved from pandemic-era lows, the proportion describing themselves as “very satisfied” with their vocation has fallen from 72% in 2015 to 52% in early 2026.
Separate research published by Lifeway Research last year found that conflict and burnout were among the reasons given by former Protestant pastors for leaving pastoral ministry. 
Of 730 former pastors surveyed, 18% identified conflict within a church and 16% said burnout, although the most common reason was a change in calling, cited by 40%.
Similar pressures have also been identified among clergy in England. 
The Church of England’s long-running Living Ministry research found persistent concerns around burnout, isolation, low morale and financial pressures. 
In its most recent survey, 40% of clergy reported experiencing isolation in their ministry, while almost three in 10 recorded symptoms indicating possible or probable depression.
The Church of England research suggested that the nature and organisation of ministry itself can contribute to burnout, with administrative burdens, parish finances and responsibility for church buildings among recurring sources of stress.
Despite these pressures, its findings also showed that many clergy continue to find a strong sense of purpose in their work, with 72% believed they were living out their calling through their ministry]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Jen Hatmaker says she no longer believes in Hell]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/jen-hatmaker-says-she-no-longer-believes-in-hell</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/jen-hatmaker-says-she-no-longer-believes-in-hell</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Gryboski]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiantoday.com/media/original/img/9/80/98084.png">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Jen Hatmaker]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: YouTube / Jen Hatmaker) ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Jen Hatmaker ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:42:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Jen Hatmaker, a prominent progressive Christian influencer and bestselling author who quit attending church last year, now says she no longer believes in Hell.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Jen Hatmaker, a prominent progressive Christian influencer and bestselling author who quit attending church last year, now says she no longer believes in Hell.
In an essay posted on her Substack last week, titled "There You Are. Laying down my belief in hell didn't cost me my faith — it rescued it," Hatmaker wrote about her Christian upbringing and growing up believing Hell existed. 
"From my first memory, all my ideas about God were tied to punishment," she wrote. "God was offended. God was punitive. God was vengeful. I was terrorized by an arbitrary, blood-thirsty God. We all were."
Hatmaker wrote that after a lengthy period of theological reflection, she had "quietly laid down my belief in a literal hell, and it is the best thing that ever happened to me."
She described the process as spanning "a couple of years of investigation," including formative conversations with fellow Christians, among them a lunch conversation roughly a decade ago with a friend she described as "verrrryyyyy prominent in evangelicalism."
“Rather than the crushing fear you might think I’d experience, I felt ten million pounds roll immediately off my shoulders. My head and heart came back into alignment, and my belief in God was rescued,” she wrote.
“Now love made sense. Everything about God made sense. I was no longer trying to maintain allegiance to a tyrant who willingly sent most of the world he created to an eternal fiery torment.”
Hatmaker asked what “if instead of assigning the darkest, cruelest, most murderous human traits to God, we understood he was the absolute best of every good trait times a million?”
She claimed that a faith without Hell is “purged of judgment, since we no longer get to be excited about sneering at people from heaven while they scream and burn and saying AMEN.”
“Self-importance and self-righteousness don’t make sense anymore,” she continued. “We’d have to purge our faith instruction of fear and shame-based threats. We could finally hang up our very embarrassing tools of evangelizing and proselytizing, and just be good, normal neighbors.”
While drawing this theological conclusion, Hatmaker wrote that she "won't go into the scholarship, which is massive, or the exegesis, which is thorough and serious," nor was she going to "list the endless theologians who have interpreted the few scriptures on 'hell' through a rigorous cultural and linguistic lens and come to a totally different conclusion."
In Christian theology, Hell is the place where people who do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior go to after they die, to be eternally separated from God.
In an entry about the subject, the apologetics website Got Questions noted that the Bible “explicitly teaches that hell is a real place to which the wicked/unbelieving are sent after death” and that “reality of hell was taught by Jesus.”
“The punishment of the wicked in hell is as never-ending as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Jesus Himself indicates that punishment in hell is just as everlasting as life in heaven (Matthew 25:46),” explained the site.
Got Questions quoted noted pastor and theologian Alistair Begg: “Is Jesus Christ true in what He says? And if we start from that premise, then we simply can’t excise the hard parts out of it. We’ve got to take him at his word. So that the most loving person who has ever lived spoke so straightforwardly about the awfulness of hell.”
Hatmaker first garnered controversy in Evangelical circles in 2016, when she expressed support for legalizing same-sex marriage. In response to the outcry, Lifeway stopped selling her books.
In 2020, Hatmaker announced that she and her husband, Brandon, were divorcing after 26 years of marriage. This was reportedly in response to her discovering infidelity on his part.
Last September, Time magazine published an interview with the popular social media influencer ahead of the release of her latest book in which she acknowledged that she had quit going to church.
"I'm out of the church right now. I don't know that I will ever go back, and I don't know that I will never go back," Hatmaker said. "My lifelong exposure has left me in a place where I know too much. I have been a part of the problem. So I need a break from the machine."
© The Christian Post]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Religion, immigration and abortion could shape key US Senate races, new polling suggests]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/religion-immigration-and-abortion-could-shape-key-us-senate-races-new-polling-suggests</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/religion-immigration-and-abortion-could-shape-key-us-senate-races-new-polling-suggests</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Obianuju Mbah]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiantoday.com/media/original/img/9/89/98984.jpg">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[America, USA, United States of America, Washington DC, Capitol]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Getty/iStock) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:45:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Religious demographics vary considerably across the five battleground states and could influence voter behaviour.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
New polling suggests religion, immigration and abortion could shape key US Senate races in battleground states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 
Research by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)  highlights significant differences in public opinion across Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio and Michigan.
The findings come from PRRI’s newly unveiled ‘Data and the 2026 Midterms’ project, which draws on its American Values Atlas to examine demographic and political trends in states expected to play a pivotal role in determining control of Congress.
According to PRRI, religious demographics vary considerably across the five battleground states and could influence voter behaviour.
Georgia and North Carolina have larger-than-average populations of white evangelical Protestants, a key Republican voting bloc, as well as moderately higher levels of Christian nationalist identification than the national average. 
Both states have Black Protestant populations that are double the national average, a demographic viewed as important to Democratic turnout.
Unlike Georgia and North Carolina, Michigan and Ohio are home to larger shares of white Catholics and white mainline Protestants. 
PRRI noted that these groups shifted towards Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election but said more recent polling indicates support for the president has significantly weakened.
Texas differs from the other battlegrounds because of its sizable Hispanic Christian population - 11% of Texans identify as Hispanic Protestants, while 18% identify as Hispanic Catholics, both figures being substantially above national averages.
The polling suggests Hispanic Christian communities could prove influential in the closely fought Texas Senate race. 
While Donald Trump made significant gains among Hispanic Christians during the 2024 election, PRRI said support has since declined among both Hispanic Protestants (from 64% to 37%) and Hispanic Catholics (from 43% to 23%). 
PRRI associated the fall in approval to concerns over the administration’s immigration policies, a shift that could present difficulties for Republican Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been one of the strongest advocates of Trump's immigration agenda.
Abortion remains another issue likely to influence the midterm elections, according to PRRI.
Nationally, 61% of respondents supported legal abortion in all or most cases.
Support remained above a majority in each of the five battleground states, ranging from 55% in Texas to 64% in North Carolina.
The report noted that abortion laws currently differ significantly between the states, with Michigan offering extensive legal protections while Georgia and Texas have some of the country’s tightest restrictions.
Beyond electoral issues, the survey highlighted broader cultural divisions.
White evangelical Protestants were the only major religious group in which a majority (60%) agreed that “society has become too soft and feminine”.
The survey further found that white evangelical Protestants were the most likely to say American culture has deteriorated since the 1950s (67%), followed by Hispanic Protestants (58%), white Catholics and Hispanic Catholics (57% each), and white mainline Protestants (56%).]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Olivet University granted permanent land-use for Anza campus in unanimous Riverside County vote]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/olivet-university-granted-permanent-land-use-for-anza-campus-in-unanimous-riverside-county-vote</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/olivet-university-granted-permanent-land-use-for-anza-campus-in-unanimous-riverside-county-vote</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Foley]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiantoday.com/media/original/img/9/90/99085.png">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Olivet University]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Olivet University) ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ The main gate of Olivet University's 1,000-acre campus in Anza, California — one of the largest Christian university campuses in the state. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 10:08:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Olivet University has been granted a permanent legal right, with no expiration date, to operate its educational campus in Anza, California, following a unanimous 5-0 vote by the Riverside County Planning Commission and strong support from neighbors and the community.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Olivet University has been granted a permanent legal right, with no expiration date, to operate its educational campus in Anza, California, following a unanimous 5-0 vote by the Riverside County Planning Commission and strong support from neighbors and the community.
“We appreciate the Planning Commission and the County staff for their professionalism and collaboration throughout this process,” said Jonathan Park, president of Olivet University. “We are also grateful to our neighbors who took their time to express their support. Their encouragement and confidence in our mission mean a great deal to us.”
The Riverside County Planning Commission approved Olivet University’s plot plan on Wednesday, giving the Christian university a formal land-use entitlement for its 1,000-acre campus. Previously, OU operated its Anza campus under a public use permit with a 50-year expiration date. The approval of the plot plan authorizes OU’s continued educational use of its Anza campus with no expiration date.
As part of the Riverside County Planning Commission’s formal review process, a public comment window allowed local Anza residents, business owners, and community leaders to weigh in on Olivet University’s application for permanent land use. The commission received 30 letters from the community, all in support of Olivet University’s plot plan, with zero opposition.
One letter came from Dennis Whitfield, vice president of the Community Hall Board, who voiced his support for OU’s plot plan, explaining, “The Olivet alumni, students and families have blended in with the Anza community and every year continue to support thru their personal participation of events and growth of this community. They are now an integral part of this community and their success is our success.”
Another longtime resident who submitted a public comment was Frank Miller, who said his “family has lived and/or owned land in Anza since 1956.”
“Regarding the proposed Plot Plan for Olivet University, the property in question is the only campus-like facility in Anza that can support a college, and my family and I consider education the highest and best use for the property,” Miller explained to the Riverside County Planning Commission. “Olivet University has been a good neighbor and has provided jobs and opportunities for local businesses. I urge you to support the proposed Plot Plan. The Anza community will benefit from having a land use designation that supports an educational institution.”
Meanwhile, local library branch manager James Wyatt described OU as a “big supporter of the Anza Public Library,” and Kevin Watson, a local Anza pastor, commended Olivet University for being “an active [partner] in serving our community through food banks and other functions such as church events.”
Reflecting on the plot plan’s approval, Nathanael Tran, chairman of the Olivet University Board of Trustees, said it will provide “greater certainty and stability for our students, faculty, staff, and the broader community as we continue our educational mission and future development.”
© The Christian Post]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Mums show support for abortion pill reversal against California lawsuit]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/mums-show-support-for-abortion-pill-reversal-against-california-lawsuit</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/mums-show-support-for-abortion-pill-reversal-against-california-lawsuit</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Staff writer]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[pregnancy]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Unsplash) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 08:41:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Californian officials have disputed the claims made about abortion pill reversal treatment.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Over 200 mothers who took treatment to counter the effects of an abortion pill have written an open letter in support of the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) and have denounced “efforts to characterize the provision of hope and information as misconduct”.
The letter centres on the issue of Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) treatment. When a pregnant woman takes the first of two abortion pills (mifepristone), she is essentially cutting off the supply of the hormone progesterone which maintains the pregnancy.
If a pregnant woman takes mifepristone and subsequently regrets it, taking progesterone can counter the effects of the mifepristone and make it possible for the pregnancy to continue.
However, the Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta, has initiated a lawsuit against APRN provider, Heartbeat International, accusing the group of false advertising, reports Life News.
Specifically, the case takes issue with claims that mifepristone can be “reversed” by progesterone, that APR is safe and effective, and that thousands of pregnancies have been saved by APR.
California is seeking to impose penalties on the group of up to $20m.
Heartbeat International has called the lawsuit an attempt to suppress its free speech and limit the ability of women to make informed choices. According to Heartbeat, as many as 8,000 babies have been saved by APR treatment.
In their letter of support for APR, the group of mothers say, “Every woman deserves access to accurate information about her pregnancy and the freedom to make informed decisions about her health. This includes women who, after beginning a chemical abortion, experience regret and seek information about whether there is a possibility of continuing their pregnancies.
“Regardless of one’s views on abortion, women facing life-altering decisions should never be denied information simply because others disagree with it. Nor should they be criticized, dismissed, or silenced for seeking help.”
Apparently referring to the lawsuit, the letter says, “Recent efforts to characterize the provision of hope and information as misconduct are deeply concerning. In a free society, women should be able to seek second opinions, ask questions, explore alternatives, and make decisions in consultation with healthcare professionals. Restricting access to information does not empower women. It limits their choices.”]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Poll shows drop in support for same-sex marriage in the US]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/poll-shows-drop-in-support-for-same-sex-marriage-in-the-us</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/poll-shows-drop-in-support-for-same-sex-marriage-in-the-us</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Foley]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[gay marriage]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Getty/iStock) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:57:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A new poll shows reduced support for same-sex marriage compared to other recent surveys.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A new poll shows reduced support for same-sex marriage compared to other recent surveys, as multiple polls that have found a supermajority of Americans back same-sex marriage continue to record declines from the record highs measured in recent years.
The Economist/YouGov poll, released Tuesday, was based on responses from 1,559 U.S. adults collected between July 25–27, with a margin of error of ±3.3 percentage points. The survey asked Americans for their opinions on a wide range of issues, including the legality of same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in all 50 states since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which ruled state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. In 2022, then-President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, codifying the Obergefell decision into federal law.
The survey found that 54% of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal, while 32% think it shouldn't be. The remaining 13% said they were "not sure." 
While 54% still constitutes majority support, and a significantly larger share of respondents favor same-sex marriage than oppose it, that figure is noticeably lower than support measured in other recent public opinion surveys. In a poll published earlier this year, the Public Religion Research Institute pegged support for same-sex marriage at 65%, down from a high of 69% in 2022.
The most recent Gallup poll asking Americans for their views on LGBT-related issues, released in June, 65% of respondents supported same-sex marriage, while 32% opposed it. This marked a decline from the record high of 71% support in 2022 and 2023. 
Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council, addressed the decline reflected in the Gallup poll in an op-ed published by The Christian Post. "The promise of 'marriage equality' was that it was simply about allowing committed same-sex couples to formalize their relationships. Americans were assured that nothing else would change," he wrote. "But that is not what happened."
Perkins pointed to "pride parades in major cities where public nudity and sexually explicit displays are celebrated in full view of families and children," as well as "major corporations, universities, and professional sports organizations pressuring employees and athletes to affirm an ever-expanding list of sexual identities" and "a growing commercial surrogacy industry that intentionally deprives children of either their mother, their father, or both" as reasons he believes public support for same-sex marriage is falling.
He also cited the performance of gender transition procedures on trans-identified youth as well as the allowance of trans-identified males in women’s spaces and women’s sports as additional factors that have caused support for same-sex marriage to decline.
“Once marriage is detached from the complementary union of man and woman, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain why mothers and fathers matter, why men and women are different, or why children have a right to both,” he concluded. 
Recent polls from The Economist/YouGov have consistently shown lower support for same-sex marriage than other surveys, with support pegged as low as 51% and opposition measured as high as 34% in May 2026 and support measured as high as 55% in March, January and December 2025. 
© The Christian Post]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[US Religious Liberty Commission takes swipe at British abortion clinic buffer zones]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/us-religious-liberty-commission-takes-swipe-at-british-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/us-religious-liberty-commission-takes-swipe-at-british-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Staff writer]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Adam Smith-Connor]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom) ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Adam Smith-Connor (R) with his legal counsel, Jeremiah Igunnubole (L) of the Alliance Defending Freedom. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:34:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The intervention has been welcomed by Adam Smith-Connor, who was criminally convicted in the UK for praying silently in an abortion clinic buffer zone. ]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The Religious Liberty Commission established by US President Donald Trump has raised concerns about the UK. 
While primarily focused on religious freedom in the US, a 224-page report warned about a case in the UK that relates to controversial abortion clinic buffer zone prosecutions.
“Even in other Western countries, governments have adopted many such policies [that threaten religious freedom]," the report said.
"In the United Kingdom, police recently arrested army veteran and physiotherapist Adam Smith-Connor for the crime of silently praying.”
Smith-Connor was found guilty of breaching abortion buffer zone laws in Bournemouth. A number of other individuals have been found guilty of breaching abortion buffer zones, including Isabel Vaughan-Spruce and retired pastor Clive Johnston, who delivered an open-air sermon within an abortion zone that made no mention of abortion. 
Speaking to The Telegraph, Smith-Connor welcomed the interest shown in his case by the commission.
“I am grateful to the US religious liberty commission for highlighting the growing threat to freedom of thought, religion, and speech in the UK. I was investigated and convicted for nothing more than silently praying," he said. 
"I hope my case serves as a warning that liberty cannot be taken for granted – it must be actively defended. No genuinely free and democratic society should criminalise peaceful, even silent, expressions of faith.”
Another case to have raised concerns in the US was that of Päivi Räsänen, a Christian politician who was recently convicted in Finland over a pamphlet on same-sex marriage she authored over 20 years ago. Räsänen was recently denied a travel authorisation to the UK.
The report was welcomed by Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is supporting Smith-Connor, Vaughan-Spruce and Räsänen.
“The cases of Päivi Räsänen and Adam Smith-Connor are stark warnings of what follows when societies abandon their commitment to free expression and religious liberty," he said. 
"Päivi endured years of criminal proceedings for publicly expressing her Christian faith in a Bible verse tweet and a church pamphlet published decades ago.  
“Adam was punished not for anything he said, but for the private thoughts and silent prayers in his own mind while standing outside an abortion facility, grieving his deceased son.
"As the Commission rightly recognises, this is not a series of isolated incidents, but a dangerous drift towards state control over speech, belief, and conscience itself.  
"The Commission’s clarion call to defend fundamental rights and freedoms must be heeded in the United Kingdom and across Europe. These liberties are foundational to Western civilisation, and we ignore their erosion at our peril.” 
The intervention was also welcomed by campaigners for Christian freedom at the Christian Legal Centre. Andrea Williams, the group’s Chief Executive said, “For many years, the freedom to live and speak as a Christian has been eroded – often in the name of equality."
She added, “The first step to fixing this is to admit that we have a problem. I hope that President Trump’s remarks lead to a major course correction for the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.”
The commission's report also raises concerns about religious freedom in the US, finding that some arms of the state in the US are preventing “religious individuals and perspectives from contributing to public life” and so are diminishing “the quality of freedom for all citizens”.
As part of its investigations, the commission spoke to 100 witnesses who described cases that “compromised the religious liberty of students and teachers, parents and children, service members and chaplains, healthcare professionals and patients, employers and employees, and religious institutions and the communities they serve”.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Is politics driving Gen Z away from church? New study raises questions]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/is-politics-driving-gen-z-away-from-church-new-study-raises-questions</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/is-politics-driving-gen-z-away-from-church-new-study-raises-questions</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Duncan Williams]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: JDA Worldwide) ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Faith leaders praying for Trump at the White House. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 07:05:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A new study has found that the close association between Christianity and US President Donald Trump has become a barrier to church attendance for many young adults, including a significant number who identify as Christians.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A new study has found that the close association between Christianity and US President Donald Trump has become a barrier to church attendance for many young adults, including a significant number who identify as Christians.
Research by the Billy Graham Center Research Institute surveyed 2,365 American adults aged 18 to 28 through NORC's AmeriSpeak panel between August and September 2024. The study was supported by the Lilly Endowment and led by Professor Rick Richardson of Wheaton College.
Participants were asked whether they agreed with the statement: "Christians’ support of Trump has made me less likely to go to church."
Across the full sample, 48% agreed with the statement to some degree, while around 1 in 5 (20%) said they strongly agreed. A similar proportion (21%) strongly disagreed.
The findings differed significantly depending on religious identity. 
Among Gen Z adults who identified as atheists, 72% said support for Trump among Christians had made them less likely to attend church. The figure was 65% among agnostics, while a slim majority of those describing themselves as having no particular religion also agreed.
However, the researchers cautioned that the findings do not mean politics is the only reason young adults are staying away from church. Many respondents may have little interest in attending religious services for a variety of personal, social or philosophical reasons, with political associations representing only one factor.
The research found that the issue affects some young adults who identify as Christians. Among those describing themselves simply as Christian, 44% said the association between Christianity and Trump had made them less likely to attend church. The figure was 42% among Catholics and 30% among Protestant young adults.
The study also examined whether political associations were affecting those who already attend church.
Among young Christians who attend weekly, 38% said Christians’ support for Trump had been a barrier to them attending more often. Among Christians who never attend church, the figure was 40%.
The researchers said the findings should not be interpreted as evidence that young Christians would automatically return to church if political links disappeared. 
However, the results suggest that a significant number of young adults see the perceived relationship between Christianity and Trump as an obstacle to becoming more involved in church life.
Around 20% of Generation Z adults in the survey said they attend church regularly. Among the remaining 80%, respondents were almost evenly divided between those who said politics had no impact on their attendance and those who said the association between Christianity and Trump had made them less likely to attend.
The study comes amid continuing debate in the United States about the relationship between Christian identity and political affiliation, particularly among evangelical Christians who have strongly supported Trump during recent elections.
The researchers concluded that the connection between faith and politics is likely to remain an important factor in shaping the future of American Christianity, particularly as younger generations decide how they relate to churches and religious communities.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Could smartphones be behind falling birth rates? Study suggests iPhone plays major role]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/could-smartphones-be-behind-falling-birth-rates-study-suggests-iphone-plays-major-role</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/could-smartphones-be-behind-falling-birth-rates-study-suggests-iphone-plays-major-role</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Obianuju Mbah]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[smartphone, phone, digital technology, social media, digital, online, AI, women, woman]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Getty/iStock) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:07:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The introduction of the iPhone may have contributed substantially to America's falling birth rate, suggesting smartphones changed social behaviour in ways that led to fewer pregnancies, researchers have argued.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The introduction of the iPhone may have contributed substantially to America's falling birth rate, suggesting smartphones changed social behaviour in ways that led to fewer pregnancies, researchers have argued.
A new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) says that early smartphone adoption could explain between 33% and 52% of the decline in the US general fertility rate between 2007 and 2011.
The paper, authored by economist Caitlin K Myers of Middlebury College and her stepson, researcher Ezekiel Hooper, is the latest contribution to a long-running debate over why US birth rates have continued to decline even after the recovery from recession.
It notes that the general fertility rate has dropped by around 22% since 2007 despite no single economic explanation emerging. 
In their paper, ‘Is the iPhone Birth Control?’, Myers and Hooper argue that any convincing explanation must be “big,” “dated,” and “broadly distributed” across demographic groups.
Building on earlier research that identified the iPhone, email and social media as possible drivers of a “cohort-level shift in priorities,” they sought to test whether the arrival of smartphones could have had a measurable impact on birth rates.
To do so, they took advantage of what economists describe as “a natural experiment.”
When Apple launched the first iPhone on June 29, 2007, it could only be used on AT&T's mobile network under an exclusive agreement that lasted until February 2011. 
Counties with extensive AT&T 3G coverage therefore gained access to the iPhone years before counties where its coverage was limited.
Comparing counties with more than 90% AT&T coverage against those with less than 10%, the researchers found consistently larger declines in births where early smartphone access was greatest.
Their estimates suggest early iPhone access was linked to births among women aged 15 to 19 being 4.5% to 8% lower than they might otherwise have been. Births among women aged 20 to 24 were similarly affected, being an estimated 3.2% to 6.6% lower.
Smaller but statistically significant reductions were also observed among older age groups.
Overall, the authors estimate that smartphone adoption explains between a third and half of the decline in the US general fertility rate during the study period.
The effects appeared broadly similar among white and Hispanic women, although the researchers said they could “estimate no effect” for black women - a finding they acknowledge is “harder to reconcile with the broad smartphone-diffusion story”. 
The study also found no meaningful differences according to marital status or whether women had previously given birth, although there was some variation by education level - ranging from a 2.1% decline among college graduates to a 5.8% decline among women with some college education but no degree.
To test whether their findings were simply reflecting differences between mobile networks rather than smartphones themselves, the researchers carried out placebo tests using Verizon and Sprint coverage during the period when those carriers did not yet offer the iPhone.
They found no comparable effect before 2011 but did observe similar declines once Android smartphones became available on those networks. 
The authors argue that this corroborates the “broader smartphone reading” rather than undermining their conclusions.
The paper does not argue that smartphones in themselves reduce biological fertility. Instead, it proposes three possible behavioural mechanisms that could have contributed to fewer pregnancies: reduced face-to-face socialising, greater access to contraception and reproductive information, and increased consumption of online pornography.
Myers and Hooper stress that these mechanisms are not causally tested but are supported by descriptive evidence showing Americans spent less time with friends, reported declining rates of recent sexual activity alongside increased contraceptive use, and exhibited rising online interest in pornography during the study period.
The researchers suggest that if smartphones have fundamentally altered relationship formation and social interaction, governments seeking to reverse falling birth rates may need to rethink current policy approaches to take these into consideration.
They note that conventional pronatalist policies such as cash payments and subsidised childcare “do raise fertility, but modestly and at steep cost”. 
If declining fertility is increasingly driven by changes in relationships rather than the financial burden of raising children, they argue, existing policy tools may be addressing the wrong problem.
“The operative margin may be less about the cost of raising a child and more about whether the relationships and sexual activity that produce children are forming at all,” the researchers wrote. 
The authors acknowledge that attempts to estimate the effect among individual iPhone owners are “fraught”, since smartphones likely influence behaviour at a broader social and network level rather than only through personal ownership.
Nonetheless they conclude: “We do not claim that the iPhone is the sole cause of the post-2007 decline, nor that no policy lever can move the trajectory. But over the 2008–2011 window that our design identifies, our estimates imply that the introduction of the modern smartphone played a sizable role in the decline in US births.” 
The study has already attracted discussion among other researchers.
Speaking to CNN, Dr Alison Gemmill, an epidemiologist at UCLA whose work examines US fertility patterns, agreed smartphones may have influenced relationship patterns but cautioned that they have done so alongside “major changes in housing costs, education, labour markets, gender norms, and social life,” adding that “untangling those factors is challenging.”
Also speaking to CNN, Ohio State University sociologist, Dr Sarah Hayford, questioned whether a technology introduced in 2007 could explain a decline that stretches back many decades. She also pointed to expanding access to longer-lasting contraception during the same period as another important factor.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Pastors are still struggling but relief remains out of reach for many]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/pastors-are-still-struggling-but-relief-remains-out-of-reach-for-many</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/pastors-are-still-struggling-but-relief-remains-out-of-reach-for-many</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christian Daily International]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Christian man, faith, Bible, prayer, pastor]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Getty/iStock) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:36:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Pastoral satisfaction has dropped 20 points since 2015 but the measures many pastors believe would help are often unattainable.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
More than half of Protestant pastors in the United States say they need help with their physical and mental health, while the burnout-relief measures they believe would work best remain largely out of reach, according to new research from Barna Group.
The findings, published July 6 from a survey of 507 U.S. Protestant senior pastors conducted in early 2026, come as pastoral exhaustion has eased and confidence in calling has largely recovered from pandemic-era lows. Vocational satisfaction, however, has not followed. The share of pastors who describe themselves as "very satisfied" with their vocation has dropped 20 percentage points since 2015, from 72 percent to 52 percent.
When asked which area of their lives needed the most support, 52 percent of pastors named mental and physical health—well ahead of close relationships (41 percent) and financial stability (36 percent). Spiritual connection came in at 30 percent.
Age and gender shape those priorities. Pastors under 45 flag health concerns at higher rates than older colleagues—62 percent versus 51 percent. Female pastors prioritize health at even higher rates, with 66 percent naming it a top need compared to 49 percent of male pastors. Men, meanwhile, are somewhat more likely to identify close relationships as a pressing concern.
On the question of what would actually help, pastors were asked to rate a set of burnout-relief actions by both helpfulness and difficulty. Three responses stood out as high on both dimensions: extended rest such as a sabbatical, delegating responsibilities to staff or other leaders, and restructuring one's role to better match personal gifts and limits. Pastors say these measures would make the most difference. They also describe them as the hardest to take.
Sabbaticals require congregational backing and staffing cover. Delegation depends on having people to delegate to. Role restructuring requires a leadership team or board willing to raise and sit with uncomfortable questions. None of these can be accomplished unilaterally.
"There's a difference between recovering from burnout and actually resolving it," said Daniel Copeland, Barna's vice president of research. "Consistent rest, boundaries, and personal spiritual practices build the weekly rhythms that keep a pastor healthy. But the deeper question—whether your role is genuinely an expression of your gifts and strengths—requires a different kind of time and attention altogether."
Several relief measures that pastors find more accessible also registered as meaningful: consistent personal spiritual practices, clearer expectations around role and schedule, short breaks such as a long weekend, and honest conversations with close friends or family. These ranked as helpful and relatively achievable.
At the bottom of the helpfulness rankings, the Barna research found, are resources and curricula specifically designed for burned-out pastors—despite their wide availability. The gap between what is offered and what pastors say would help is substantial.
Support structures within ministry show a similar unevenness. Eighty percent of pastors say they rely on a spouse as their primary personal support, and 65 percent turn to a fellow pastor or ministry leader. Forty-two percent name a close friend outside the church. Mentors or spiritual directors are cited by 30 percent, and only 18 percent say they rely on a counselor or therapist.
Female pastors draw on a wider range of support: they are more likely than male pastors to name friends outside the congregation (51 percent vs. 38 percent), family members (52 percent vs. 32 percent), mentors (36 percent vs. 28 percent), and therapists (29 percent vs. 14 percent).
Copeland said the data points to a gap between the institutional support structures churches typically offer and the conditions pastors say they actually need. "Pastors deserve the time to step back and ask honestly whether their role is an expression of their actual gifts," he said. "If there's any vocation we want liberated from the mundane, it's this one."
The research was conducted by Barna Group as part of its State of the Church initiative, produced in partnership with Gloo.
© Christian Daily International]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[July 4, 1776: The founding of a Christian nation?]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/july-4-1776-the-founding-of-a-christian-nation</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/july-4-1776-the-founding-of-a-christian-nation</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Martyn Whittock]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[American Declaration of Independence, American Independence, American history, USA, America]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo: Getty/iStock) ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:55:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The American Declaration of Independence, of 1776, was a truly historic event. ]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
This year is the 250th anniversary of a momentous event in the history of North America and the world. The celebration is of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. Well, to be a bit picky there are three dates that could vie for this formal point of departure from British rule.
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted for independence (the ‘Lee Resolution’). One of the so-called ‘Founding Fathers’ – John Adams – thought this would become the great national anniversary. On July 4, 1776, Congress approved the final text of the Declaration. On August 2, 1776, most delegates to the Congress signed the engrossed parchment copy that survives today; a few signed later.
But it’s July 4 that is the standout date and it is that which forms the basis of the current commemorations.
Words with great power
Within its opening words are ones that ring with almost prophetic authority, power and purpose:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
A sentence earlier in the preamble had asserted the right of the American colonies to break free from British rule and “assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.”
A – contested – place in history 
At the time, people thought that it was a momentous event and that they were making history in a dramatic way; and with huge impact on themselves and their national community:
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epoch, in the History of America." (John Adams, writing to Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776, regarding the passing of the ‘Lee Resolution’.)
“We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” (This is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who reportedly said it at the signing, recognising the huge risk being taken by the signatories as they sought to break free from British rule.)
“The Declaration of Independence ... [was] an expression of the American mind.” (From Thomas Jefferson, looking back in 1825. The wording may be apocryphal.)
Later, in the 1850s, Abraham Lincoln saw it as the key to understanding US political character and legitimacy. It was, he wrote, “the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation's destiny” and “The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles.” 
Others were rather more reserved as they assessed its lofty ambitions. The confident claims could be contested. The African American Frederick Douglass posed a disturbing question in 1852: “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” This reminded everyone that the inspiring words that “all men are created equal” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” – which include “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” – did not apply to Black slaves. It took a bloody civil war (1861-65) to achieve that – and Black equality continued to be contested.
It did not apply to Native Americans either who, in 1776, still occupied most of the North American continent. That land ownership was about to change! Women were excluded – which was par for the course at the time, though even then there were some who noted the omission of a lot of free American citizens from the rights being confidently claimed.
A Christian nation? 
As well as the alarming fact that there were huge numbers of people living in North America in 1776 who did not come into the category of “all men” because they were – for one reason or another – not accorded the full value of human dignity, is the question of what kind of spiritual nation was coming into being.
Some later Americans were confident that what had come into being in 1776 was a Christian nation. Woodrow Wilson (US president 1913-21) stated that “America was born a Christian nation.” Ronald Reagan (US president 1981-89) claimed that “America was founded by people who believe that God was their rock of safety.” Current President Donald Trump, in a 2017 speech to the Values Voter Summit, pledged to defend “our Judeo-Christian values" and has closely aligned himself with the values held by US Christian nationalists. There are reports that a draft of the 2020 State of the Union speech contained the sentence "America has always been a Christian nation” and (if true) reveals, at least, how someone close to the Trump presidency was feeling.
Conservative evangelical Christians (or the evangelical right) would concur. Pat Robertson, it is reported, once put it this way: “The founding document of the United States of America acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ because we are a Christian nation.” It should be noted that this quote is hard to source in its original form (though frequently quoted) but seems very much in line with his general outlook; and many on the evangelical right would say ‘Amen’ to these words.
Robertson (1930–2023) was one of the most influential American evangelical leaders of the late 20th century. He founded the Christian Broadcasting Network in 1960, hosted The 700 Club, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, and later founded the Christian Coalition, which became a major force in Republican politics.
We might ask: do these statements mean (a) the 18th-century founders created a Christian nation, (b) America was founded as culturally Christian, (c) America derived its principles from Christianity, or (d) America should be regarded as (made into?) a Christian nation?
These are four very different things, and the last one is particularly explosive in a multi-faith, multi-cultural, secular democracy, if political power is going to be deployed to achieve it.
A recurring idea expressed at recent US prayer rallies and religious-right gatherings has been that America should be ‘rededicated’ to God (which suggests it once was) and that the nation possesses Christian foundations that ought to be publicly (re)affirmed.      
Arguably, a striking thing that emerges from analysis of the most recent written and spoken evidence is that many leading US evangelicals no longer use the straightforward 19th - and early-20th-century formula ‘America is a Christian nation.’ Instead, they tend to speak of America as having Christian foundations, Christian heritage, Judeo-Christian values, or having a need to return to its Christian roots. Those formulations are often politically more effective and historically easier to defend than the older slogan.
Among many of these contemporary US Christian leaders, there seems to have been a shift from descriptive claims (‘America is a Christian nation’) to normative claims (‘America should return to its Christian roots’). However, they still assume that what was formed in 1776 was, in some sense, a Christian political community, to which the modern US should return.
History, though, is a little more complex …
A complex faith journey …
There is no doubt that Christian faith made a huge contribution to the founding of what became the United States. From the Mayflower settlement of 1620 onwards, the ‘Bible Commonwealths’ of New England had Christian faith at the heart of their community character. That is why the founding of Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620) and the Winthrop Fleet arriving in Boston (in 1630) makes for a more satisfying US origin story than the violent, testosterone-driven, nature of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.
This had an enduring legacy, but a lot happened between 1620 and 1776. The godly experiment in semi-theocratic government was brought to heel by the British crown. In 1684, the Massachusetts Bay charter was annulled. Then, from 1686, the various colonies of New England were unified as the Dominion of New England. Theocracy was brought under royal authority and curtailed. In 1689, power was briefly wrested back to these colonies but, in 1691, King William III issued another charter which unequivocally unified the colonies under royal authority. This area was styled the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
More fundamental for Puritan politics than a name and boundary change was the decision imposed on the province which extended voting rights to non-Puritans. This was a gamechanger. The move effectively put an end to the godly semi-theocracies. 
However, Christian faith continued to decide the overall mood music of the 18th-century colonies. Consequently, it was more than simple Enlightenment rationalism that drove the formation of the Declaration of Independence when it was approved by the Continental Congress in 1776. There was a local, and Puritan-derived, element to it too that was rooted in the concept of covenanting communities, entered into by mutual consent, which possessed a confidence that they were an inspiring ‘city upon a hill’ for the world to see.
Despite this, the Founding Fathers were still very much products of the 18th-century Enlightenment. When it came to religious beliefs, most fell somewhere on a spectrum between orthodox Christianity and Enlightenment rationalism, with (in some cases) a touch of Deism (belief in a non-interventionist Creator). Hence, the references to God in the Declaration of Independence are tellingly non-confessional: “Creator,” “Nature’s God.”  Benjamin Franklin made just one – but highly significant – edit to the Declaration’s famous beginning. As a result of this, “self-evident” replaced the original phrase “sacred and undeniable."
Consequently, it rooted the Declaration in the Enlightenment concept of natural law, rather than religious faith. 
Other evidence supports this:
The Treaty of Tripoli was concluded between the USA and Tripolitania and took effect in 1797.  Article 11 of this treaty made a statement that would cause shock and alarm among evangelical Christians in the 21st century. It unequivocally states:
“The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on  the Christian Religion.”
As far back as 1802, Thomas Jefferson had spoken of “a wall of separation between Church and State.”  This clear principle is contained in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, of 1791. This states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” 
In other words, the government cannot restrict individuals from practising their religion, nor can it force them to participate in religious activities. Citizens are free to hold whatever religious faith they choose to (or no religious faith at all). Article Six of the US Constitution also specifies that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” It is sometimes forgotten that ‘freedom from imposed religious faith and practice’ is the other side of the coin to ‘freedom of religious faith and practice.’ It is in such an outlook that the concept of modern secular democracy is rooted. It is that originalist concept that is now being stress-tested by 21st-century US evangelicals, who claim to be returning the USA to its foundational roots.
Incidentally, Thomas Jefferson – Deist-leaning and sceptical regarding divine intervention – did not declare any Thanksgivings during his presidency (1801-09). And Thanksgiving itself was an evolving tradition through the 19th century. In 1817, New York State was the first to announce an annual Thanksgiving holiday. Other states followed, although there was no unanimity regarding the day(s) chosen. And these later developments moved away from the formal and solemn events that 17th-century New Englanders would have recognised as a ‘Thanksgiving’ and more towards one of community and family celebration and festivities.
Things became more complex in the USA during the 19th century because many in positions of power felt that – whatever the Founding Fathers actually said, did or stood for – Christian faith (and that usually meant Protestant faith) should enjoy a privileged position.  
Legal judgments in cases such as ‘The People v. Ruggles’ (1811) and ‘Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States’ (1892) revealed that the person of Christ and Christianity enjoyed a legal protection unlike that extended to other faiths. This seems a long way from the Treaty of Tripoli and the vague theologies of some of the Founding Fathers and the wording of the Declaration of Independence. Time had moved on and, as usual, people seek justification in history, even when history is, in reality, rather messy. The USA is, to all intents and purposes, a secular republic but at the same time Christianity (usually in its Protestant form) has had a huge input into political conversations and decision-making.     
By the 1890s, because of the ‘Great Awakenings’ (revivals) of the 19th century, most American Protestants were part of what one can describe as ‘evangelical’ denominations. Right-leaning evangelical Protestants have been involved in politics for much of the 20th century and their activities are not simply a modern phenomenon, although it is during the past thirty-five years that they have come to increasing prominence. As far back as the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, anxieties about the perceived threat of communism and changing patterns of social behaviour had caused many with this outlook to gravitate towards the Republican Party as a way of defending what they would have described as the ‘Protestant-based moral order.’   
In this period of development, opposition to Catholic influence also drove the movement to a significant extent. This declined in the 1970s and ‘80s, as common cause was found on matters of sexual ethics and concerns regarding the moral freedoms of the 1960s and the rise of secularism. These were the origins of the modern ‘culture wars.’ Accelerating political campaigning occurred within the US evangelical community, declaring that the USA has a Christian nature, and rooting this in claims about its foundation. This has become sharper even as evangelical numbers have fallen as a percentage of the US population in the last decade.  
Happy 250th Birthday, USA! 
The American Declaration of Independence, of 1776, was a truly historic event. The world was different after it. Its contribution to the development of democracy, political and personal freedom and a politically engaged citizenry was enormous; as was the challenge it posed to the established order as seen in contemporary 18th-century states. US freedoms and US confidence are rooted in it. It was a key point on a trajectory that would lead to superpower status.      
However, as the celebrations take place, it is also worth remembering those, in 1776, who were excluded from its inspiring claims, because the USA was as complex and contested at its birth as it is on its 250th birthday. And we need to be rather more candid about the complex faith-history of the USA, from 1776 to 2026. A birthday is a time for looking backward, as well as looking forward. And the past is often more complex than we like to imagine!
Happy 250th Birthday, USA!
Martyn Whittock is an historian, columnist, commentator, and Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England. He is the author, or co-author, of fifty-eight books, on a wide range of historical and theological themes. His recent books include Trump and the Puritans. How the Evangelical Religious Right Put Donald Trump in the White House (2020), along with many op-eds on US politics and, especially, the Christian input into US culture.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Born on the 4th of July]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/born-on-the-4th-of-july</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Irene Lancaster]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[America, USA, United States of America, Washington DC, Capitol]]></media:title>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:47:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster reflects on the special significance of the 4th of July this year.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster reflects on the special significance of the 4th of July this year.
This year July 4th is a particularly auspicious date. It is the 250th birthday of the USA.It is the 50th anniversary of Operation Entebbe.It is my granddaughter’s 2nd birthday.
The Torah reading for this day is Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1).
Do all these events happening on July 4th have a common theme, and if so, what?Let’s take the USA first. President Trump has called for a national Shabbat to recognize the Jewish contribution to the United States over the centuries and their vital role in its upbuilding.
As in Great Britain, Jews started arriving in America in the mid 1650s. But there the similarity ends. Both groups were Sephardi. The oldest Shul in New York, Shearith Israel, was led at one time by Rabbi Marc Angel, two of whose books I recently reviewed for CT.Why did President Trump choose Shabbat as the symbol of the American Jewish contribution to the nation? 
What is Shabbat all about? Shabbat is about humility, the acknowledgement that we humans are not all-powerful. Even G-d created the world in six days and rested on the 7th - after creating man. ‘What a piece of work is man’, we intone during prayers. You can say that again, in more ways than one. Maybe G-d needed a bit of a rest after creating man!
Creativity also needs values and that’s what Jews have bequeathed to the world. This Jewish contribution was recognized not only by the Founding Fathers, but also by many of the original 17th century Pilgrims and others who were steeped in Bible, Hebrew and general Jewish learning. These pioneers often also learned from their Jewish neighbours. This was not the case anywhere else in the world, where Jews were always regarded as an embarrassment.
Both Rashi and Rambam, towering figures in Torah and Talmud interpretation, stated that Shabbat extends beyond Judaism and represents what the world was missing after Creation - ‘menucha’ - rest.
Rest is the completion of creation and is embedded in the structure of existence itself. It is this gift of ‘menucha’ which Jews have given the world and which the President of the USA has publicly acknowledged. Keeping Shabbat is not just good for us - for all of us - it’s essential.
Anniversary number 2 is the story of Entebbe. Yoni, older brother of Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, sacrificed his life in order to rescue fellow human beings held hostage through a plane hijacking in Entebbe, Uganda. This rescue took place on July 4, 1976.
The plane had been on a commercial Air France flight between Tel Aviv and Paris, stopping in Athens. There they were joined by the hijackers, German and Palestinian. The flight was forced to fly to Tripoli in Libya and then to Entebbe airport in Uganda. In Uganda they were joined by further terrorists, as well as the Ugandan leader, Idi Amin, who sent reinforcements to help the hijackers.
The episode has been turned into two films, the Israeli one more accurate, and made Yoni Netanyahu a world hero. The Operation was called Operation Yonatan, Operation Entebbe and Operation Thunderbolt.
The Jews were separated from the other passengers who were released and flown to Paris. The Air France crew remained with the hostages. 
Meanwhile, back in Israel, Mossad, in conjunction with the Labour Government under Yitzhak Rabin, decided to go ahead with the rescue, including armed confrontation with Amin’s Ugandan army. Rabin had actually urged caution, but was persuaded by Defence Secretary, Shimon Peres, to go ahead with the daring mission.
On the night of July 3, the operation took off from Israel. Three hostages were killed. One hostage, 74-year-old Dora Bloch from the UK, was murdered by Ugandans in her hospital bed. 
Yoni Netanyahu, who had led the rescue effort, was the only Israeli fatality. Israel received assistance from Uganda’s neighbour, Kenya. Amin then ordered the murder of all Kenyans living in Uganda. This led to an exodus of 3,000 Kenyans from Uganda. The remainder were massacred on the order of Amin. 
It is probably an understatement to conclude that this traumatic and heroic episode in Israeli history has left its mark on the country as a whole and especially on younger brother, Benjamin Netanyahu. The moral? Caution is sometimes not enough. Peres was right and PM Rabin was right to listen to him on this occasion. 
Anniversary number 3. My granddaughter’s father is Israeli, born of American parents. On learning she was pregnant, my daughter had to leave northern Zfat in autumn 2023 with the onslaught from Hezbollah in Lebanon. She moved to Jerusalem where she relied on the kindness of strangers, some from the UK, but others who were originally American.  
After the birth of her baby on July 4th 2024, a caring community in neighbouring apartments provided meals for three weeks and generally looked after them. I like to believe that being born on America’s special day, as well as Entebbe Day, has left its positive mark on this very young new Israeli. 
And now to the Torah reading.
In his new book, ‘BaMidbar, the Book of Numbers’ (Kasva Press), Rabbi Nathan Lopez Cardozo states that Pinchas ‘is the most dangerous parashah in all of the Torah, seeming as it does to allow one to take the law into one’s own hands. It appears not only to justify, but even to praise, outright murder.’
In this story, G-d states that Pinchas, ‘son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My passion.’
What a good translation! So often the word ‘jealous’ is used for the Hebrew ‘kinah’. But ‘jealous’ has changed its meaning through the centuries and is now regarded as wholly negative in nature. Passion, on the other hand, means that G-d cares and that Pinchas cares. 
But Aaron, his grandfather, represents peace and compromise. Remember the Golden Calf episode (Exodus 32) where Aaron tries to appease the children of Israel in the absence of Moses. Maybe Pinchas is making up for grandfather, Aaron’s placid attitude at a time of crisis. 
Sometimes, as in the case of Pinchas, actions have to supersede due process. After Entebbe, for instance, many international organizations blamed Israel rather than the hijackers, the terrorists, or Idi Amin for the entire episode! And as for our day, who exactly is getting the blame for October 7, 2023?
As Rabbi Cardozo says (p 169): ‘occasionally the law must be violated for the sake of a greater good - even when the greater good is not obvious and the price is very high.’ An example was the curtailing of freedom during the Covid pandemic, despite ‘enormous emotional and social damage’.
‘Pinchas realizes that the spiritual state of Israel is at risk. The nation is on the verge of of moral collapse.’ The law is inadequate ‘for moments of total breakdown. The law itself is refined by moral insight. There are many instances in which the Sages quietly reshape or soften biblical law because they sense that it’s literal form does not reflect G-d’s deeper will’ (p 170).
‘Pinchas stands at the edge of the precipice where law, morality and responsibility collide. He saves the people and then pays the inner price.’
This leads us to the question of ‘unchecked tolerance.’ What are the limits of tolerance?
Rabbi Cardozo cites Karl Popper’s ‘The Open Society and its Enemies’ (1945). What is ‘the paradox of tolerance’? ‘Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant … then the tolerant will be destroyed.’
Or as former UK Chief Rabbi Jacobovits used to say: ‘If you are kind to the cruel, the cruel will destroy the kind.’ Don’t we see this insidious poison daily in our own lives, where DEI reigns supreme and the majority population are the subject of pernicious discrimination. As for the experience of the Jewish community in this situation, you could write a book about it.
Popper, a refugee from Nazi Austria, ‘argued that a society committed to tolerance must paradoxically refuse to tolerate intolerance.’ Rabbi Cardozo asks: ‘Is [tolerance] truly a virtue? Or has it become a disguise for apathy, confusion, or cowardice?’ 
He cites Ogden Nash: ‘Sometimes with secret pride I sigh,How tolerant am I.Then wonder what is really mine:Tolerance or a rubber spine.’
Tolerance has now become ‘what we personally find comfortable. When does tolerance become dangerous permissiveness, and when does intolerance mask itself as moral integrity?’
Pinchas is one among many Bible heroes, including the prophets, who were ‘moral pioneers.’ So let’s circle back to this special day in the human calendar, the 250th anniversary of America’s birth. There is no doubt that the Pilgrim Fathers and others who followed them can be considered as ‘moral pioneers’. And so were the Jewish refugees and others who eventually made their homes in the USA. And unlike in Europe, including the UK, Jews were not simply ‘tolerated’ but made at once to feel part and parcel of their new homeland, which they did so much to build up.
After all, who do we feel more akin to, George III of Great Britain or Founding Father George Washington? Was the American Revolution merely an act of rebellion or a passionate desire for freedom? Probably the latter!
Let’s cite George Washington himself, from his address to the Jews of Newport Rhode Island on August 21st 1790: ‘The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of a large and liberal policy - a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. ‘It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under their protection shall demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
‘It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.‘May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants - while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid [Micah 4:4].
‘May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.’
This foundational letter in American history was later developed into the famous First Amendment of the US Constitution of 1791, protecting freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and petition. 
As we have seen, America is full of generous, giving people and I have encountered many, especially on Zoom calls during Covid as well as in Israel.
America is more than a nation, it is the living out of a dream. And this is what that country shares with the State of Israel. ]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Religion treated as a 'problem' in US public life]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/religion-treated-as-a-problem-in-us-public-life</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/religion-treated-as-a-problem-in-us-public-life</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Brown]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[USA, United States, America]]></media:title>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:28:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A new report warns that such an attitude has served as the basis for increasing conflicts that have permeated American society and compromised religious liberty at various levels.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Commissioners of the White House Religious Liberty Commission delivered their final report to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, following their yearlong investigation into the emerging threats to faith in the United States, which they confirmed are increasing.
The report, which spans more than 200 pages and was compiled from findings from the commission's seven hearings since Trump established it last year, drew on the testimony of more than 100 witnesses regarding growing encroachments.
Some of the testimonies came from mothers who were lied to by their children's school administrators, children who were bullied because of their religious beliefs, healthcare workers who faced retaliation for opposing transgender procedures, as well as workers and military service members whose careers were destroyed because they objected to vaccine mandates.
"Although their circumstances differed, their stories shared a common theme," the report said of the witnesses, who were diverse in ages, backgrounds and faith traditions. "Far too often in our national life, religion is treated not as a protected and valued contribution to public life, but as a problem or annoyance to be managed, restricted, or sidelined."
The report warned that such an attitude has served as the basis for increasing conflicts that have permeated American society and compromised religious liberty at various levels.
"Among our conclusions, we believe that safeguarding religious liberty requires more than defending legal rights after they have been violated. It requires cultivating a culture that understands why those rights exist in the first place," it said.
The report concluded that the metaphor of "a wall of separation between church and state," which it noted is not found in the U.S. Constitution, has been misapplied and weaponized to exclude religious Americans from the public square.
During the final commission hearing in April, Texas Lt. Gov. and Chairman Dan Patrick said the phrase, which comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote about religious liberty to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, has become "the biggest lie that's been told in America since our founding."
He reiterated his assertion during the gathering of the commissioners in the Oval Office on Friday, warning that "the left has used that one phrase ... to batter and hammer people of faith for the last 70 to 80 years."
The report emphasized that none of America's founding documents suggests that faith was ever intended to have no influence upon the government, or that the First Amendment's aim was "to exile the practice of religion from public life." It offered instead the analogy that religious liberty serves as "a bridge between church and state," and that the institutions can "strengthen and support one another."
At the event in the Oval Office, clinical psychologist and TV personality Phil McGraw said he was shocked during his time on the commission to discover how pervasive rising instances of religious discrimination against Americans had become.
Emphasizing that the commission was not "performative," McGraw said, "What stuck out for me is how many Americans showed up saying that they were persecuted — in healthcare, military, education, different walks of life — for living their faith and standing up for their faith."
"It's not just the liberty to choose which house of worship they want, it's actually getting into their daily life, and they're being persecuted in their jobs, in their professions. And that's where the fight for liberty is actually showing up," he continued, going on to praise the witnesses for their courage in stepping forward.
The report offered 12 specific recommendations to strengthen religious liberty, beginning with instructing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue guidance clarifying the proper understanding of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the separation of church and state.
Another recommendation included the DOJ, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issuing "Know Your Rights" posters to inform students, parents, public school teachers and administrators, religious leaders, religious institutions, healthcare workers and military service members.
The commission also recommended that the DOJ, HHS and EEOC create religious liberty violation hotlines and online portals for students, parents, teachers and healthcare workers to obtain support when they face potential religious liberty violations.
Other recommendations include nominating federal judges who respect religious liberty; combating antisemitism through civil rights laws; instructing the DOJ to establish a religious liberty task force to track and prioritize litigation to protect religious liberty; and working to restore retirement or re-enlistment eligibility for service members who refused the COVID-19 injections.
It also called for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 federal tax code provision that prohibits tax-exempt organizations from directly or indirectly endorsing or opposing political candidates. Trump has called for its repeal in the past, a move that would require an act of Congress.
The report's release came the same day Trump delivered an address to the Faith & Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C., during which he highlighted the importance of religious liberty, the commission's work, and what he characterized as state-sanctioned hostility toward Christians under the Biden administration.
"They turned a nation founded on freedom for believers into a place where Catholics were targeted by the FBI, where pro-life grandmothers were put in jail for praying and where members of our military were thrown out of the armed forces for their religious lives," Trump said of his predecessor's administration.
"The radicals responsible for these offenses would have loved nothing more than to mark America's 250th anniversary by driving God from our public square once and for all. They wanted to do that. I don't know how anybody could vote for these people."
Trump warned that members of the political left and the Democratic Party are radicalizing in their antipathy toward Christianity as they drift further into overt communism, which he called a "godless" ideology that has failed repeatedly.
"They want to resume the transgender immunization of our children. They want to restart the war on Christians and churches, and as you saw with the communists elected in New York City recently ... they want to completely destroy the traditional American way of life," he said, warning that Democrats will effectively reduce the country to "a disaster area" if they are allowed to regain power.
"These are not social Democrats; these are hardcore, godless communists. They're godless communists. All communists are godless. They don't believe in God. This is the most serious threat to our country since its existence, in my opinion, 250 years ago. This is a major threat to our country," Trump said.
The White House Religious Liberty Commission had been fraught with controversy and infighting in recent months as religious questions increasingly took center stage in the national discourse.
In February, conservative Catholic activist and former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from the commission following a tense exchange with Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon about Gaza, Zionism and the definition of antisemitism. Sameerah Munshi, a Muslim adviser to the commission, subsequently resigned in protest of Boller's removal and the war in Iran.
© The Christian Post]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Five Christian footballers using football’s biggest stage to point people to Christ]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiantoday.com/news/five-christian-footballers-using-footballs-biggest-stage-to-point-people-to-christ</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiantoday.com/news/five-christian-footballers-using-footballs-biggest-stage-to-point-people-to-christ</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Obianuju Mbah]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Marc Guéhi]]></media:title>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2026 10:50:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Amid the goals, trophies and celebrations, some players are using football’s biggest stage to point beyond themselves and give glory to God. ]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The World Cup is underway, capturing the attention of millions of fans across the globe. Every four years, the tournament sparks passion, drama and national pride, creating unforgettable moments. Yet amid the goals, trophies and celebrations, some players are using football’s biggest stage to point beyond themselves and give glory to God. 
For these footballers, faith is not simply a private belief reserved for Sundays. It shapes how they handle success, respond to setbacks and use their platform. Here are five Christian players to watch at this summer’s World Cup.
Marc Guéhi (England)
England defender Marc Guéhi has become one of the most respected defenders in world football. Born in the Ivory Coast before moving to the UK as a child, Guéhi was spotted by a Chelsea scout at the age of six and developed through the club’s academy system.
After a successful spell at Crystal Palace, where he captained the club to FA Cup success in 2025, Guéhi moved to Manchester City and is a key figure for England's national team at the 2026 World Cup.
His Christian faith has been central to his life from an early age. His father, John Guéhi, pastors a church in South London, and Marc has often spoken about the influence of his upbringing. He regularly has Bible verses inscribed on his boots, including Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon forged against you will prevail.”
Guéhi made international headlines when he wrote “Jesus loves U” on a Rainbow Pride captain's armband during a Premier League fixture. While the gesture resulted in a reprimand from the Football Association, it also sparked widespread discussion about faith, freedom of expression, and Christian witness in professional football.
Bukayo Saka (England)
Few players have captured the hearts of England supporters quite like Bukayo Saka. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Saka came through Arsenal’s academy and has become one of the club's brightest stars, helping them secure the Premier League title during the 2025-26 season.
Internationally, Saka has been a crucial player for England, featuring in the Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 finals and scoring three goals at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Despite his rapid rise, Saka consistently places his faith above football. In an interview during the 2022 World Cup, he said: “It's really important to obviously have the presence of God in me all the time, and it gives me more confidence that God’s plan is perfect so I can go on the pitch and know that God has my back.”
Saka has repeatedly spoken about the importance of his Christian faith and the role it plays in every area of his life. At Arsenal, he has been part of a group of Christian players affectionately known as the “Bible brothers,” alongside Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke. Teammates have often noted how his faith influences his attitude, humility and character both on and off the pitch.
Christian Pulisic (United States)
Nicknamed “Captain America,” Christian Pulisic has become the face of American soccer.
Raised in Pennsylvania, Pulisic moved to Germany as a teenager and developed at Borussia Dortmund, where he emerged as one of the Bundesliga's most exciting young talents. A transfer to Chelsea followed in 2019, and since joining AC Milan in 2023 he has become one of Serie A’s standout attacking players.
For the United States men's national team, Pulisic has already established himself among the country’s greatest players, becoming one of its leading goalscorers and helping guide the team into the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup with a decisive goal against Iran.
Throughout his career, he has frequently spoken about his dependence on God. After a Champions League match in 2021, Pulisic said: “I've had to continue to prove myself over and over again. But, as always, I reach out to God and He gives me strength. With that behind me, nothing can stop me, really.”
His comments reflect a recurring theme among many Christian athletes: confidence rooted not in personal ability alone, but in trust in God's presence and purpose.
Alisson Becker (Brazil)
Brazil has produced some of football's greatest players, and goalkeeper Alisson Becker is widely regarded as one of the best in his position.
Alisson began his career with Internacional in Brazil, winning the Campeonato Gaúcho in 2014 and 2015 before moving to Roma in Italy in 2016. His performances earned him a transfer to Liverpool in 2018 for what was then a world-record fee for a goalkeeper. Since arriving at Anfield, the team has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, while also receiving the Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper award.
Now Brazil's first-choice goalkeeper for a third consecutive World Cup, Alisson remains outspoken about his faith. Writing about his Christian journey, he explained: “Real faith came to me later in life. Faith is not something that can be seen, or even put into words. It is a force that is more powerful than just a feeling of emotion, or a slogan. It is the complete trust in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.”
His faith is evident beyond public statements. In 2020, Alisson baptised Liverpool teammate Roberto Firmino in the swimming pool at his home. He has also spoken about the difference between religion and a personal relationship with Christ, saying: “I'm not religious. I'm a follower of Christ. Religion is often tied to traditions that have clouded the true message of Christianity. Jesus is far greater than religion.”
Noah Sadiki (DR Congo)
At just 21 years old, Noah Sadiki represents one of the rising stars of this World Cup.
Born in Brussels, Sadiki progressed through Anderlecht's academy before spells with Union Saint-Gilloise and Sunderland. Since joining Sunderland in 2025, he has quickly adapted to Premier League football and earned praise for his energy, athleticism and technical ability.
Although he represented Belgium at youth level, Sadiki chose to play internationally for the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 2026 tournament marks a historic moment for the nation, which is making its first World Cup appearance since 1974, when it competed as Zaire.
Sadiki is also unapologetic about his Christian faith. “I feel well talking about my faith because it's giving me peace and I thank every day my Lord and Savior to give me another day to enjoy the sport I did since I was young,” he said.
Following his first Africa Cup of Nations appearance, journalists asked him about the secret behind his strong performances. Rather than giving a lengthy answer, Sadiki simply held up his Bible.
Final thoughts
The World Cup is often a showcase of extraordinary talent, national pride and sporting drama. Yet for these players, the tournament is also an opportunity to bear witness to something greater than football.
Whether through Bible verses on boots, public testimonies, baptisms, post-match interviews or simple acts of gratitude, these players remind fans that faith and sport do not have to exist in separate worlds.
As millions tune in to watch the action unfold, they will be hoping to lift football’s most coveted trophy. But they are also among a growing number of players seeking to use the world's biggest sporting stage to point people towards Christ.]]></content:encoded>
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