RELIGION HEADLINES MON 6-29

(SRN NEWS)-

(  )  The Supreme Court’s decision not to allow a Rastafarian to sue prison officials for cutting his hair is being seen as a rare defeat for religious freedom at the high court.  Experts say that the case underscores the complexity and far-reaching nature of religious freedom laws in the United States and the increasingly diverse faith traditions to which they apply.  Christians now represent 62 percent of the American population, down from 78 percent just 20 years ago.  About 30 percent of adults have no religious affiliation and the rest belong to other faith traditions.  The Rastafarian case gained support from many groups across the religious landscape.

(  )  The Trump administration is moving to restart the specialized LGBT option for youth who contact the 988 crisis intervention hotline.  That phone number offers specialized options for certain groups, such as veterans and Spanish speakers. A year ago, the Trump administration stopped offering the “press 3” option for LGBT youth.  The administration said it ended the service because the funding ran out.  It is now working to bring it back by the end of the year because Congress directed officials to allocate 33 million dollars toward LGBT specific interventions for youth.  Democratic lawmakers were behind the funding directive.

(  )  According to a new poll released by Talker Research, 17 percent of Americans do not believe Gay Pride Month should be celebrated at all, while another eight percent believe it’s “too much” and should be scaled back.  The survey also finds that 28 percent of respondents think Pride Month is important and should be supported and 21 percent say they support the idea of it, but admit they don’t really care about it in practice.  Researchers report that these divisions run parallel to political party ideologies.  Belief in the importance of Gay Pride is more than twice as high among Democrats while about a third of Republicans say it should be canceled.

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