China’s Gene-Editing Scientist Jailed for Three Years in Modified Baby Case
(South China Morning Post) — Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who created the world’s first “gene-edited” babies, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan (US$430,000). He, along with two others named Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou,
The Hidden Cost of Tax Exemption
Churches may someday lose their tax-exempt status. Would that be as bad as it sounds? In theory, churches should make attractive neighbors. They are places of prayer, worship, and good works. When you see a sign pop up in an empty
Texas Church Had Fed Gunman Who Opened Fire During Service, Was Watching Him Before Rampage
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (USA Today) — A gunman who was fatally shot by parishioners after opening fire at a Texas church service had been given food by the church many times and was being closely watched before his rampage began,
Texas Church Grieves Two Leaders Shot by Visitor in Disguise
Armed security guards protected the Fort Worth-area flock against “evil” in the pews. The West Freeway Church of Christ, a close-knit congregation of about 280, didn’t get to finish its Sunday morning worship assembly. So Monday night—roughly 30 hours after a
What A Church Does, in Dollars and Cents
University of Pennsylvania sociologist Ram Cnaan has been researching the economic value of churches for more than two decades. Because some congregations would almost certainly close their doors without tax exemptions, Cnaan thinks proponents of taxing churches are misguided. Your research
The New Face of Medical Missions
As the rainy season nears an end in Africa’s Rift Valley, the boys harvesting avocados start falling out of trees. If a boy breaks a bone, he may go to Kibuye Hope, a rural mission hospital in the East African
US Religion Census Maps Changing Churches, Declining Denominations
Church historians, sociologists, and statisticians are going county by county, denomination by denomination, group of believers by group of believers, to compile the most complete record of organized religion in the country: the 2020 US Religion Census. The official decennial census
