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Children Of Divorce More Likely To Leave Religion? It's Not That Simple, Study Says

 

New research from Baylor says other factors have greater effect on future beliefs.

 

New research from professors at Baylor University suggests prior studies purporting to show a link between divorce and children's religiosity as adults may be overstated.

 

The link may exist, says Baylor assistant professor of sociology Jeremy Uecker, but previous research has left out or downplayed key factors that may be more relevant to an individual's faith experience than the role of divorce itself.

 

According to Baylor, the link between divorce and religion mainly occurs because children of divorced parents are more likely to be "separated from one of their parents, and parents are usually considered the primary source of religious training for children."

 

But other factors within the church itself, such as stigmatizing a single mother or the "logistical difficulty" of attending, may cause a child of divorce to resent or drift away from God. CT previously has reported on the topic of divorce and how it impacts children when parents split. CT also noted the release of a study emphasizing the important role of ministry to non-traditional families. –By Melissa Steffan/ Christianity Today/March 13, 2013

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School Bans The Word ‘Easter’ From Easter Festivities To Not ‘Infringe On The Rights Of Others’

 

Heritage Elementary School in Madison, Alabama is taking the word “Easter” out of Easter, according to WHNT19 News.

 

What does that mean? Well, they’ll still tolerate someone dressed as a giant bunny, but it will no longer be called the “Easter bunny.” Similarly, “Easter eggs” are just “eggs,” and it might be better just to use “different shapes.”

 

School principal Lydia Davenport said with a smile: “Kids love the bunny, and we just make sure we don’t say ‘the Easter bunny’ so that we don’t infringe on the rights of others, because people relate the Easter bunny to religion. A bunny is a bunny and a rabbit is a rabbit.”

 

[Davenport] informed staff no activities related to or centered around any religious holiday would be allowed in the interest, she says, of religious diversity among students.

 

There is nothing biblical about Easter bunnies or colorful plastic eggs or synthetic iridescent grass clippings — but the perceived need to modify the student egg hunt has many parents upset; less upset, they say about the need to preserve religious freedom and more about their students’ freedom to simply be a kid.

 

One Heritage parent wrote in an email response:

 

“I don’t get upset about too many things, but this upsets me. What is this world coming to? I am a Christian and proud to announce it. But even non-believers enjoy a good egg hunt. Kids need to enjoy being kids.” -By Erica Ritz/The Blaze/March 26, 2013

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Dolan Says The Catholic Church Should Be More Welcoming To Gay People

 

On Easter Sunday, weeks after he helped elect a new pope for a church struggling with declining numbers and controversy over social issues, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said that the Roman Catholic Church could be more welcoming of gay men and lesbians despite opposing same-sex marriage.

 

In recorded interviews with George Stephanopoulos on the ABC News program “This Week” and Bob Schieffer on “Face the Nation” on CBS, Cardinal Dolan, the archbishop of New York and one of the leading voices of the Catholic Church in the United States, did not suggest any changes in church teaching. He defined marriage as “one man, one woman, forever, to bring about new life,” but, he told Mr. Stephanopoulos, “we’ve got to do better to see that our defense of marriage is not reduced to an attack on gay people.”

 

“And I admit, we haven’t been too good at that,” the cardinal continued. “We try our darnedest to make sure we’re not an anti-anybody.”

 

Speaking just days after the Supreme Court heard arguments in two same-sex marriage cases, Mr. Stephanopoulos asked Cardinal Dolan what he could say to gay men and lesbians who felt excluded from the church.

 

“Well, the first thing I’d say to them is: ‘I love you, too. And God loves you. And you are made in God’s image and likeness. And — and we — we want your happiness. But — and you’re entitled to friendship,’ ” Cardinal Dolan said. “But we also know that God has told us that the way to happiness, that — especially when it comes to sexual love — that is intended only for a man and woman in marriage, where children can come about naturally.”

 

He gave a similar answer on “Face the Nation” when Mr. Schieffer questioned him about whether the church would embrace more liberal teachings as public opinion shifts.

 

The cardinal acknowledged that the church had a problem staying relevant: “How to remain faithful to what we believe are God-given, revealed, settled, unchanging principles without losing our people, who more and more question them.”

 

“I think what we can’t tamper with what God has revealed,” he added. But, he said, “we can try to do better in the way we present them with more credibility and in a more compelling way.”

During Easter Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, Cardinal Dolan hinted at more sweeping changes. And he hailed a rebirth of the church as Pope Francis celebrated his first Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

 

“The church, with a capital C, is undergoing renewal, repair, resurrection,” he said. “I kind of think we’re seeing it today in a particularly fresh and new way with our beloved new Holy Father.” -By Vivian Yee/New York Times/March 31, 2013