“Why grow up?” is a political question: Our cult of youth is no accident — and it has dire consequences – SCOTT TIMBERG

Whether you look at superhero-besotted Hollywood, the clothes alleged grownups wear in public, or the spread of video games out of the suburban family room, it’s hard to miss noticing that much of contemporary culture is caught in childhood. Susan Neiman, an American philosopher who lives in Berlin and directs the Einstein Forum, tries to figure out the causes and …

WHAT THE NUMBERS DON’T TELL US: RELIGION IS A LIVED, SHIFTING EXPERIENCE – KAYA OAKES

Having spent most of the last two years in conversation with Nones, seekers, doubters, and those who feel culturally bound to a religious tradition even while they don’t participate in one, the latest Pew survey results come as no surprise. It’s been clear for years that Mainline Protestant Christianity in America is on the decline. That Catholicism also is in precipitous decline—and the …