Some GOP-Led States Are Chipping Away at Sex Education in K-12 Schools

For the Associated Press, Hannah Fingerhut reports that a dozen state and county agencies have withdrawn from federal grants meant to curb teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Several states have banned discussion on sexuality and safe sex in early elementary school, including Florida where materials on sex education for any grade must be approved by state officials. PRRI finds that just 8% of Americans say comprehensive sex education is never appropriate to teach in public schools.

Hispanic Catholics, Unaffiliated Most Likely Religious Groups To Acknowledge Human-Caused Climate Change

Zack Budryk at The Hill writes that PRRI’s latest survey found broad support among Americans for the idea of a religious obligation to be good stewards of the planet. This was true among Latter-day Saints and white evangelical Protestants who were the least likely of all religious groups to acknowledge human-caused climate change. Meanwhile, the survey found that 61% percent of Americans overall believe human behavior is causing climate change, including 83% of Democrats, 64% of independents, and 28% of Republicans. Data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service indicates that 2023 is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded.

America’s Proclivity for Extremism Has Religious Roots

At TIME, John Fanestil examines the foundations of American extremism, suggesting that by simply affirming or denying that the United States was “founded as a Christian nation,” both sides of the ideological debate fail to properly comprehend that a warped version of Christianity is intrinsically American. As PRRI survey research shows, attitudes associated with white racism thrive along a spectrum and can be found within every Christian denomination. PRRI surveys conducted in 2018 found that white Christians are nearly twice as likely as religiously unaffiliated white Americans to say the killings of Black men by police are isolated incidents rather than part of a pattern of how police treat African Americans. Instead of white Christian nationalism being a fringe movement, this “shadow side of our national heritage” played a critical role in the founding of the U.S. and has never ceased from shaping our public life.

Divergent Perspectives: The Unique Views of White and Hispanic Catholic Americans

As the Catholic Church’s global synod enters its second week, a new PRRI Spotlight Analysis examines American Catholics’ attitudes on social and political issues and satisfaction with Church leadership. When it comes to inclusion and women’s leadership, PRRI finds that 64% of Hispanic Catholics and 72% of white Catholics agree that their church is welcoming to everyone, including LGBTQ people, and more than half of American Catholics (52%) say they desire more women in Church leadership. When asked what political issues affect their vote, abortion and access to guns are the two issues most likely to be a litmus test for U.S. Catholics, with immigration a close third.

What’s Buzzing?

Read PRRI’s new report, “The Faith Factor in Climate Change: How Religion Impacts American Attitudes on Climate and Environmental Policy” here.