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Last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a study on the current state of religious affiliation in America. Its polling suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a trend of a country becoming more secular. In its findings, 20 percent of respondents described their religion as nothing in particular, up from 14 percent 10 years ago. According to last years Gallup poll, Americans who said they belonged to a church, synagogue, or mosque fell to 47 percent, and, for the first time in history, church membership in the U.S. fell below 50 percent.

Surprisingly, the pandemics role in shifting Americans away from religious observance did not extend to education. Sensing an advantage over self-serving teachers unions that kept public schools shut during the pandemic, religious schools spent considerable financial resources to reopen schools safely. By acknowledging that children learn better by attending school in person, Catholic and Jewish schools benefited from the Lefts misguided COVID policies by welcoming more students into their classrooms.

And while matriculating more children is a positive development, schools that serve families who choose them based on the convenience of in-person education rather than religious conviction will inevitably face new problems. More specifically, by appealing to a broader swath of Americans, religious schools risk succumbing to progressive pedagogies that are pervasive in contemporary society, such as the infamous CRT.

Today, Americas Catholic schools are emerging as a viable alternative to public institutions, reversing a decades-long drop in enrollment. Efforts to continue in-person learning resulted in Catholic schools welcoming an additional 62,000 students during the 202122 academic year, reflecting a 3.8 percent increase in registration.

Yet some of those Catholic schools are introducing into their curricula Critical Race Theory (CRT), an ideology whose precepts state that racism is systemic in American institutions and that individuals are either oppressors or victims. This despite the fact that upholding values consistent with dignity and respect for humankind is central to Catholicism.

Last year, the Conference of Sacred Heart Education, representing a consortium of 25 Catholic schools in North America, issued a statement affirming its commitment to work towards racial equity and the end to systemic racism. National Review also noted the appointment of Belkise Dallam, who will serve as the first director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Regis High School, an all-boys Catholic school. In her role, Dallam will work closely with and report to the newly formed DEI committee and school president.

Florida also is not immune to controversy surrounding questionable Catholic school practices. In Tampa, Anthony and Barbara Scarpo alleged that the Academy of the Holy Names was distancing itself from mainstream Catholicism and embracing the new, politically correct, divisive, and woke culture. In November, their lawsuit requesting that the school return their $1.35 million gift and grant them a tuition refund was dismissed. The courts decision was preceded by an open letter signed by over 500 Academy of the Holy Names graduates supporting the school and refuting the Scarpos criticism.

In Jewish education, attempts to repackage Judaism to fit within liberal doctrine are occurring at several Jewish schools. Educational mission statements often emphasize social justice above Torah values. At the same time, anti-Semitism is increasingly presented only as a product of the extreme right rather than emanating from the intersectional left, where its center of gravity lies. Rather than focus on biblical texts, schools are redefining the daily morning prayer service to include options such as creative expression, where students are taught to be open-minded and reflective. Within the classroom, instruction at schools like the Abraham Joshua Heschel School highlights CRT and gender ideology, with former Heschel parent Harvey Goldman telling the New York Post last year that instructors were teaching inappropriate lessons on race and gender, including asking fourth-graders, If they were transgender, what would their pronoun be?(READ MORE from Irit Tratt: Radical Gender Ideology Is Still Spreading in Schools)

A natural outgrowth of promulgating such intersectional myths, beyond the damage to the children themselves, is that support for Israel is inevitably compromised. During the COVID pandemic, when travel to Israel was scarce and large-scale advocacy was on hold, anti-Israel politicians, like Democrat Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), were invitedto address Jewish students. Bowman, who recently co-sponsored a resolutionwith fellow Squad members calling Israels founding a catastrophe, spoke to children at Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy (SAR), a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school. He was given a warm reception by the schools Rabbi, who told Bowman SAR was blessed to have had him as a recent visitor to the school.

And at other academic establishments, diversity statements are supplanting any mention of Israel, its bolstering no longer presented as a core value to the progressive leanings of many Jewish schools.

Rather than confront these challenges alone, parents across the religious spectrum should cultivate relationships, establish after-school partnerships, and respond to the evolving landscape in Americas religious day schools. Successfully committing to an education rooted in tradition and free of politicization requires collaboration. Advocating for our childrens future is an issue that, by uniting parents, will also transcend religious boundaries.

Irit Tratt is a writer who resides in New York. The authors work has been published in the Jerusalem Post, the Algemeiner, JNS, and Israel Hayom.

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Religious Schools Are Progressives Next Target - The American ...

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In the face of disasterbecause thats exactly what the overturning of Roe is for countless families, caretakers, future generations, all of usPresident Biden seems to have his hands tied. The looming battle ahead, he believes, will fall on voters to fight. You can have the final word, the president told Americans in a somber address on Friday. This is not over.

But for many of us watching, Bidens attempt to galvanize amid tragedy had something of an opposite effect. It felt demoralizing. After all, Roe and reproductive rights were on the ballot the last go-around, and this is where weve landedand thats with (albeit extremely slim) control of Congress. So when Biden, along with Democratic leaders, claims that Roe is on the ballot this November, Ive got to wonder, is it really?

For me, what is on the ballot will largely depend on how far this White House will be willing to go amid an unprecedented attack that foretells a bigger war on so much else. Lacking filibuster-proof votes in the Senate, the president has already signaled that his executive options are highly constrained. But in the exceedingly rare chance that he changes his mind, here are some neat ideas he could take on, from his fellow Dems, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren who kicked off the Sunday morning news circuit with a booming call to expand the Supreme Court.

I believe we need to get some confidence back in our court, and that means we need more justices on the United States Supreme Court, Warren told ABC News. Its happened before, weve done it before. We need to do it again.

It looks like a bunch of other popular Democrats want the same thing.

Okay. Biden has expressly rejected that one. What about the filibuster? Could it finally be time to ditch the senatorial tool in order to codify Roe? Doesnt look like it to Joe. But for a growing number of Democrats, the urgency of the moment has well and truly arrived.

In the coming months, well see if Biden is willing to go beyond please vote.

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Progressives Turn Up the Heat on Biden to Do Literally Anything About the Supreme Court Mother Jones - Mother Jones

Often, it can feel like Democrats abandon debates about crime under a false assumption that they cant win them. But a couple of progressive Democrats are showing the rest of the party what it looks like to go toe-to-toe with Republicans on crime and public safety.

One of them is Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia. As The Associated Press reported, Abrams and her team are looking to make tightening gun laws and stemming gun crime a focus of her campaign. Some areas of Georgia have experienced a surge in violent crime over the past two years, thanks in large part to the proliferation of guns.

In recent months, Abrams has publicly tied gun policies backed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, to crime and public safety issues in the state.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is another progressive Democrat whos not ceding ground in the crime debate to Republicans.

Last week, Newsom announced hed made an account on former President Donald Trumps struggling social media platform Truth Social. His first post? A video addressing the red state murder problem, referencing data showing that states that voted for Trump in 2020 accounted for eight of the 10 highest murder rates that year.

I know were all on this platform in search for the truth, but the truth is, Ive not been able to find a simple explanation for the fact that we have a red state murder problem, Newsom said in the video.

To many progressives online, this was a welcomed troll attempt by a figure increasingly known for publicly and proudly opposing right-wing policies. Democrats should heed Abrams and Newsoms strategies here, because when it comes to policies designed to curb crime, they have the high ground over conservatives.

Progressive social welfare policies like providing affordable housing, accessible education, health care and supplementary income have proven to be deterrents from crime. On the other hand, lax gun measures supported by conservatives like the gun show loophole have been proven to drive crime throughout the United States and the Western Hemisphere. And studies have repeatedly shown that conservative-backed, tough on crime policies like capital punishment and harsh mandatory minimum sentences dont actually reduce crime or recidivism rates.

Abrams and Newsom are showing how Democrats can and must rebut Republican talking points about crime. Progressives need to frame the debate around the facts, which favor them. If they dont, Republicans will spin their own stories about crime and fancifully cast themselves as saviors.

Ja'han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He's a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include "Black Hair Defined" and the "Black Obituary Project."

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Progressives are beating Republicans on the crime debate - MSNBC

A festering rot of racial animosity exists in our society that we willfully ignore socially and politically. It is a rot that eats away at the flesh of our civil society and spoils the greatness of our multicultural nation.

Progressives continually tell us we have blinders on when it comes to racism in American society. Theyve shoved their ideological solution of anti-racism to force us to deconstruct what they believe is an inherently deep-seated racist nation. I, as a black American, am supposed to rejoice in the presence of our self-appointed saviors, but I peeked behind the veil and saw who they really are.

Understandably, detractors of the decision have found themselves angry and anguished at last weeks Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade. Six judges found it necessary to overturn, but just one has been elected the face of all political animus: Clarence Thomas, who didnt even write the courts opinion.

They say that in times of stress, anger and anguish, you see who people really are. These moments are rare but special because you get to see how much of their rhetoric manifests in action and how much is lip service.

With overwhelming anger seeping through their pores, Democrats saw only one viable target who would satisfy their rage. There was only one person for whom they felt comfortable exposing themselves by lifting the veil of their true hatred and indifference for black people.

In a matter of hours, Uncle Clarence was trending on Twitter, a reference to the racist pejorative Uncle Tom. I witnessed multiple conversations between white progressives questioning if Clarence knows hes black, chastising him for being married to a white woman and even going so far as to feel completely comfortable calling him a nger.

Dont believe me? Do a Twitter search yourself.

Just one example: Left-wing Canadian pollster John Corbett tweeted, Clarence Thomas: Just another dumb field nger.

Even more disappointing, many black progressive Democrats stood by and said nothing. I listened to a Twitter Spaces discussion in which a white man said, verbatim, Clarence Thomas is a nger on a mostly black panel, and no one said a thing. Why would they allow this without pushback? Because they arent principled either.

White progressives feel emboldened to use racially inflammatory language like Uncle Tom and coon directed at black people who dont behave the way they feel is acceptably black because black progressives allow it to happen.

Samuel L. Jackson, for example, gave the racist bat signal to all his white elitist progressive allies when he tweeted, Hows Uncle Clarence feeling about Overturning Loving v Virginia??!! Today, its Uncle Clarence, but tomorrow it can be Uncle Samuel, and thats the point hes missing.

Hows Uncle Clarence feeling about Overturning Loving v Virginia??!!

You cannot claim to be pro-black while selectively caring about which black person takes racial abuse. You cannot claim to be anti-racist if some racism is OK with you. You do not have to support Clarence Thomas political positions to find something highly unconscionable about how the man has been treated based simply on his race.

The veil has been lifted, and this is who they are. The progressive movement is a sham along with its boutique anti-racism ideology. The deep-seated hatred that progressives claim exists among the American public actually rots inside them, not us.

While everyone else has had their fingers clamped firmly on their noses to avoid the stench, Ive been smelling this rot spread throughout my old political party for years. I used to believe Democrats were the party of fairness, liberal values and rationality, but theyve allowed the rot to spread to all their messaging and have willfully leaned into the stench.

Instead of being repelled by the putrid smell of superficial identity politics, theyve convinced themselves its a perfume-like fragrance everyone should enjoy. Theyve allowed racist leftist ideologues to smell up the joint, forcing many black Americans like me to choose political homelessness over a home that reeks of immorality.

This isnt about Clarence Thomas; it is about addressing what is right and what is moral. Thomas doesnt need my defense; hes a grown man and can handle himself when labeled a misbehaving Negro.

If you are OK with white people calling any black person a nger, you are part of the rot. If you are OK with white people calling black people they disagree with politically Uncle Toms, you are part of the rot. If you cannot smell the rot, it is because you are it.

The veil has been lifted; this is who they are. Believe them.

Adam B. Coleman is the author of Black Victim To Black Victor and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing.

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Calling Justice Thomas 'Uncle Clarence' exposes the rotten sham that is the progressive movement - New York Post

For two decades California politicians have promised to spend more money on mental health care, drug rehabilitation and housing, but the problem has only grown worse. Between 2010 and 2020, Californias homeless population increased 31% even as it has declined 18% in the rest of the US.

One reason Californians have not demanded change is because many of us are able to escape the chaos in the cities by living in hilly neighborhoods in a manner similar to the rich in the 2013 sci-fi movie, Elysium, where the wealthy leave Earth to dwell in a satellite in space, while the poor persist in violent shanty towns back on our planet.

I am one of those Californians. I am based in the Berkeley Hills and, like everyone who lives on a hill, I can go about my days without ever coming across somebody screaming psychotically at invisible enemies, overdosing on drugs or defecating on the sidewalk.

Over the last two years, when I would tell my neighbors I was writing a book on the homeless crisis, several wrinkled their faces and whispered, Thats why I dont go downtown. On Twitter, many people who claim to be progressive believe they have successfully debunked our documentation of human depravity in downtown San Francisco by posting selfies of themselves in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, or atop Lombard Street, where there arent homeless encampments.

But one of the biggest and least discussed reasons that Californians dont demand change is what one might call the Big Lebowski Syndrome, or BLS, for short. In the Coen Brothers 1998 cult classic, the main character, Jeffrey Lebowski (played by Jeff Bridges), calls himself the Dude. The Dude captures the liberal slacker energy of many Californians when it comes to homelessness.

When you raise the issue of, say, people camping on sidewalks, many progressive Californians say, Take it easy, man, one of the Dudes aphorisms. When you point out that it is neither compassionate nor safe to let mentally ill people and addicts sleep on sidewalks, many progressives just shake their heads. Take it easy, man. But even the Dude loses his cool when things become too chaotic, as has happened in Californias cities of late.

Nearly three weeks ago, California voters seemed to finally be saying no more to rampant crime and homelessness. On June 7, San Franciscos uber-liberal voters recalled the citys progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin for no longer prosecuting many crimes, including open air drug use and dealing. And, in the race for Los Angeles mayor, more voters initially seemed to have chosen Rick Caruso, a Republican-turned-Democrat developer over Rep. Karen Bass, a longtime leader of the states progressive Democratic machine.

But with the mail-in votes now being tallied, its clear that Californias future still remains on a political knife edge. The recall of DA Boudin was 55% in favor and 45% opposed, a far smaller margin of victory than the landslide 61% that advocates claimed on election night. And while Caruso first celebrated a primary win after vote counts showed him leading Bass 42% to 37%, that tally has since reversed, with Bass leading Caruso 43% to 36%. The final winner will be declared in a November run-off.

Whats more, LA voters elected members to the city council who are even more radical than the already progressive incumbents they defeated. Two of them advocate defunding the police while one advocates abolishing the force outright. All support maintaining, rather than removing, homeless encampments. The same is true for two of the candidates headed for November run-off elections for controller and city attorney.

Still, the backlash to crime and homelessness is slowly gaining steam in Americas most populous and liberal state. It is rare for voters anywhere to recall a sitting politician from office for his policies, much less a progressive politician in San Francisco.

And it is remarkable that liberal LA voters chose a white, male billionaire to compete in the mayoral run-off. Meanwhile, Los Angeles super-progressive District Attorney George Gasconis facing backlash after two police officers were fatally shot while responding to a possible stabbing at a motelearlier this month. A total of 35 cities in the Golden State have now issued a vote of no confidenceagainst Gascon, who is now also facing a possible recall.

Political identity remains a powerful mental shortcut for Californias voters, most of whom identify as Democrats. Most people dont think very long or hard about who they vote for, especially in the 2022 primary elections. In 2020, 71% of people in the city of Los Angeles and 85% of people in San Francisco voted for Joe Biden. And Governor Gavin Newsom is a shoe-in for re-election, and will likely defeat his Republican opponent by the same 62-38 vote margin that he won in 2018.

LAs liberal voters put a high premium on Bass being a black woman, while Carusos status as a rich white billionaire elicits a more mixed response, with his success earning him respect but also suspicion. Of the 18 political races in California that involved affluent candidates who self-financed their own campaigns, just one of them, mega-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, won. The most spectacular defeat belonged to eBay CEO Meg Whitman who spent $150 million of her own money in 2014 losing to Gov. Jerry Brown.

Both Bass and Caruso are warm, intelligent, and well-liked. An actress in Venice Beach summarized a widely-held attitude, telling me, When Bass came here for a campaign event, everybody liked her and nobody thought she would change anything. Peter Savodnik, an LA voter and political journalist, said, This thing is wide open. The fundamentals look good for Caruso for all the obvious reasons: crime, homelessness, the economy, housing and so forth. Even so, if he is to win, he needs a sharper message onhomelessness and crime.

Whatever the electoral outcome, California is gradually changing. Gov. Newsom has promised a whole new court system to deal with mentally ill homeless people, while Bass has called for a new psychiatric hospital and FEMA involvement in sheltering LAs 44,000 homeless people.

Californias cities need thousands more police officers and beds in shelters, rehab clinics and mental hospitals. It will take years to solve its problems. But, if Gascon is recalled, and Caruso is elected, California will get new leaders who at least recognize them.

Michael Shellenberger came in third as an independent candidate in Californias June 7 gubernatorial primary election and is the author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities.

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Californians are starting to reject progressive policiesbut not fast enough - New York Post