Below are this week's Articles of Interest as compiled by Mr. Van Baker. This collection of articles is cultivated by Mr. Baker with the goal of highlighting some of the trends, upheavals, and things to watch for in our society. These articles are not necessarily the express views of the United Church of God, Mr. Baker, or me as the pastor, but they are informative of what is occurring in our nation and culture. In accordance with Christ's warning to correctly discern the times (Matthew 16:1-4), it is wise to be aware of what is going on around us. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Americans Lose Trust in Media and Government, Faith in the Bible Is Starting to Grow – Consistent polling shows trust in America continues to fade – in government, institutions, even religion. Yet one new report finds that many still turn to the Bible, even as others question its relevance in modern life.
https://cbn.com/news/us/americans-lose-trust-media-and-government-faith-bible-starting-grow

Louvre Heist Encapsulates a Western Culture That Will Not Defend Itself – All across the continent, fertility rates have plummeted, and the Christianity that defined the civilization for two millennia is viewed as a quaint relic of a bygone era. The combination of modern European Union political and economic integration on the one hand, combined with imposed mass immigration from foreign (namely, Islamic) cultures on the other hand, has led to a place where sense of home and hearth is diminished — and along with it, community, meaning, and purpose.
https://spectator.org/louvre-heist-encapsulates-a-western-culture-that-will-not-defend-itself/

Why Some Academics Are Told Not To Acknowledge Jewish Holidays – A lot of effort goes into finding creative ways to discriminate against Jews on college campuses, but this is a new one. The Telegraph has interviewed several Jewish professors in Britain, and one of them tells the paper that her school’s diversity team sends out greetings on Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh holidays, but not Jewish ones. When she asked them to include Jewish holidays as well, she got a pretty incredible response: “I was told that Jews could only be mentioned when marking a religious festival that makes no reference to the land of Israel—which possibly leaves one, a minor festival called Purim.”
https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/why-some-academics-are-told-not-to-acknowledge-jewish-holidays/

Why China’s war on religion matters to the U.S. – Americans should care for reasons that go well beyond our sympathy. Freedom of religion is a security stabilizer, and a growing body of research shows it is also a growth strategy. Cross-country studies over the past two decades consistently find that when governments protect peaceful religious practice, they experience fewer sectarian flash points and lower levels of social violence. When repressive governments criminalize ordinary worship, they don’t extinguish faith. They drive it underground, where grievances sometimes harden and make society more combustible and less peaceful. You might expect the Chinese Communist Party to recognize the benefits of protecting faith: greater social trust and less sectarian violence. Instead, it fears any community it cannot control. That fear is ecumenical.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oct/27/chinas-war-religion-matters-us/

[estimated] 183,720 Babies Were Killed in Abortions Last Year in California – The state of California does not collect or publish abortion data through its Department of Public Health. In light of the state’s lack of reporting, CLI will summarize the existing 2024 abortion estimates from the Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study (MAPS) and the Society of Family Planning’s (SFP) #WeCount initiative. Guttmacher estimated that 180,070 abortions were performed in the state in 2023, meaning there was a 2% increase in abortions performed in California from 2023 to 2024.
https://www.lifenews.com/2025/10/29/183720-babies-were-killed-in-abortions-last-year-in-california/

Homicide is the Leading Cause of Death for Pregnant Women in America – Homicide (particularly femicide committed by intimate partners) is the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the United States, according to national studies. The data underscores a devastating reality: women are at their most vulnerable during a time that should be filled with hope and anticipation.
https://www.lifenews.com/2025/10/28/homicide-is-the-leading-cause-of-death-for-pregnant-women-in-america/

The Erie Canal: How a ‘big ditch’ transformed America’s economy, culture and even religion – The Erie Canal, whose bicentennial is being celebrated all month, is an engineering marvel – a National Historic Monument enshrined in folk song. Such was its legacy that as a young politician, Abraham Lincoln dreamed of becoming “the DeWitt Clinton of Illinois.” As a historian of the 19th-century frontier, [the author is] fascinated by how civil engineering shaped America – especially given the country’s struggles to fix its aging infrastructure today. The opening of the Erie Canal reached beyond Clinton’s Empire State, cementing the Midwest into the prosperity of the growing nation. This human-made waterway transformed America’s economy and immigration while helping fuel a passionate religious revival.
https://religionnews.com/2025/10/22/the-erie-canal-how-a-big-ditch-transformed-americas-economy-culture-and-even-religion/

People are using AI to talk to God – In India and around the world, worshippers are turning to purpose-built AI for religious worship and spiritual guidance. What happens when the machines become our new spiritual middlemen?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251016-people-are-using-ai-to-talk-to-god

Your latest prescription is to get outside – Find a shady spot under a tree, take a breath of fresh air and call me in the morning. Health care providers have long suggested stressed-out patients spend time outdoors. Now hundreds of providers are going a step further and issuing formal prescriptions to get outside. The tactic is gaining momentum as social media, political strife and wars abroad weigh on the American psyche.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/latest-prescription-outside-130747008.html

Without Jupiter, Earth may have spiraled into the sun long ago – Jupiter was shaping Earth's fate before our planet even existed, carving gaps in the early solar system that kept its building blocks from plunging into the sun, a new study finds. Led by scientists at Rice University in Houston, the study suggests Jupiter's early growth cut off the flow of gas and dust toward the inner solar system, preventing the material that would one day form Earth, Venus and Mars from spiraling into the sun. In doing so, scientists say the planet's gravity not only stabilized the inner planets' orbits but also shaped the structure of the solar system, carving out rings and gaps that influenced how, and when, rocky bodies formed.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/jupiter/without-jupiter-earth-may-have-spiraled-into-the-sun-long-ago