Americans are having a harder time trusting anyone these days—including pastors. The country’s perception of clergy hit a new low in recent Gallup polling‚ with fewer than a third of Americans rating clergy as highly honest and ethical. People are more likely to believe in the moral standards held by nurses‚ police officers‚ and chiropractors than their religious leaders. Clergy are still more trusted than politicians‚ lawyers‚ and journalists. The continued drop in pastors’...

Father Thaddeus Wang Yuesheng was consecrated bishop of Zhengzhou‚ China‚ on Thursday‚ bringing an end to a 70-year-long sede vacante.  The Holy See Press Office announced on Thursday morning that Wang was appointed by Pope Francis as the bishop of Zhengzhou on Dec. 16‚ 2023. The report noted that the decision took place “in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.”   The Vatican Fides News Agency‚ which is part of...

MSNBC host Ali Velshi remarked that Moms For Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice “liked to say the word dildo” on Friday after Justice used the word a number of times during an interview with MSNBC’s Joy Reid. During the interview‚ in which Justice defended her organization’s fight to ban sexually explicit books with themes of rape‚ incest‚ and sex toys in school libraries‚ she repeatedly said the word “dildo‚” using it four times in the span of just four minutes....

MSNBC's Joy Reid on Friday had a sparring match with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice on the nationwide debate of what books should or should not be available in public schools.  The liberal host began by asking Justice‚ who had been outspoken on protecting "parental rights‚" whether "liberal" parents‚ "African American" parents‚ and "LGBTQ" parents have those same rights‚ which Justice repeated "every parent" has. She then pressed why a select few of activist parents...

In an interview this week‚ MSNBC host Joy Reid argued that schoolchildren should be allowed to have access to explicit books in their school libraries. This includes books with depictions of rape and incest.  The remarks came in a discussion on Reid’s show with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice about the pro-LGBTQ+ book “All Boys Aren’t Blue.”  As Townhall has covered‚ the book is a memoir by LGBTQ+ activist George Johnson. It includes explicit descriptions...

Russian courts on Thursday imposed prison sentences in two telling cases connected to the war in Ukraine‚ with one serving as a threat to pro-war Russians who criticize the military’s performance on the battlefield and another‚ much harsher sentence‚ as warning that Russians aiding Kyiv in this war will see no mercy. In St. Petersburg‚ a military court sentenced Daria Trepova‚ a young antiwar activist‚ to 27 years in prison on terrorism charges connected to the killing of a prominent...

President Joe Biden is coming for your guns— if you needed any more of a reason to vote him out of office.  On Thursday‚ the White House announced that Biden would use executive action to further restrict law-abiding American citizen's right to the Second Amendment.  However‚ this time‚ the president's actions will be designed to take action against gun storage.  Biden's executive action will "promote safe storage of firearms that implement President Biden's Executive...

Tesla (TSLA.O)‚ opens new tab is recalling nearly 200‚000 Model S‚ X‚ and Y vehicles in the U.S. due to a software malfunction that could obstruct drivers' visibility while reversing‚ the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday. The development comes less than two months after the company recalled nearly all its vehicles in the United States to install new safeguards in its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system. The rearview malfunction‚...

Donald Trump testified on Thursday in the defamation trial brought by writer E Jean Carroll‚ but his much-anticipated time on the stand was kept brief. The former president - who has already been found to have defamed Ms Carroll for comments he made about her in 2019 - was under strict rules on what he could say. But he told the jury that he stood "100%" by a deposition given in 2022 in which he strongly denied her sexual assault allegations and called her a "whack job". Other comments...

Kenneth Eugene Smith‚ 58‚ was executed in Alabama on Thursday night with nitrogen gas‚ a controversial method that causes oxygen deprivation that has been criticized as inhumane‚ following a failed last-minute legal battle.  Smith‚ a convicted murderer‚ was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. local time at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.  Prior to Smith's death sentence being carried out‚ the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the second time in as...