The Daily Populous

Tuesday March 30th, 2021 night edition

image for U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time

As many Americans celebrate Easter and Passover this week, Gallup updates a 2019 analysis that examined the decline in church membership over the past 20 years.

The following analysis of declines in church membership relies on three-year aggregates from 1998-2000 (when church membership averaged 69%), 2008-2010 (62%), and 2018-2020 (49%).

The decline in church membership is primarily a function of the increasing number of Americans who express no religious preference.

Most of the rest of the drop can be attributed to a decline in formal church membership among Americans who do have a religious preference.

In addition to Protestants, declines in church membership are proportionately smaller among political conservatives, Republicans, married adults and college graduates.

These groups tend to have among the highest rates of church membership, along with Southern residents and non-Hispanic Black adults.

A focus on some of these factors may also help local church leaders encourage people who share their faith to join their church. »

Opinion: Sports world should boycott Georgia over racist voting law

Authored by edition.cnn.com
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(CNN) Gov. Brian Kemp and a slew of Georgia Republican lawmakers sped a sweeping election bill into a Jim-Crow-like law Thursday, imposing new voting restrictions in the battleground state.

Not only that, but if Georgia keeps its new voting law, the National Black Justice Coalition urged the Professional Golf Association Tour to keep major tournaments out of Georgia, starting with next week's Masters Tournament.

That is, Georgia Republican politicians gave the blueprint for their counterparts elsewhere to spit on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by disenfranchising Black voters. »

US suspends all diplomatic trade engagement with Myanmar after weekend of violence against pro-democracy protesters

Authored by edition.cnn.com
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Under that agreement the US cooperated with Myanmar on trade and investment to support the country's integration into the global economy.

More than 100 civilians, including children, were killed in demonstrations protesting the military coup across Myanmar on Saturday, sparking international condemnation.

The US is suspending diplomatic trade engagement with Myanmar established under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. »

Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century

Authored by newyorker.com
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They admit the lesser-known provisions in the bill that limit secret campaign spending are overwhelmingly popular across the political spectrum.

The speakers on the call expressed alarm at the broad popularity of the bill’s provision calling for more public disclosure about secret political donors.

“When presented with a very neutral description” of the bill, “people were generally supportive,” McKenzie said, adding that “the most worrisome part . »

New York bar infamous for defying COVID-19 lockdown laws padlocked by sheriff's deputies

Authored by abcnews.go.com

A New York City bar infamous for its owners repeatedly defying Gov. Andrew Cuomo's COVID-19 restrictions was padlocked by sheriff's deputies after a judge heard evidence that it was serving alcohol without a license -- again.

New York Sheriff's deputies slapped padlocks on the doors of Mac's Public House in Staten Island on Friday after New York State Supreme Court Justice Catherine DiDomenico issued the latest in a series of temporary closure orders.

In early December, several hundred supporters of the bar owners protested outside the watering hole after it was shut down and Presti was arrested. »