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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

America’s Forgotten Religious Holiday – Thanksgiving is America’s forgotten religious holiday. Not simply a holiday, it was meant to be a true "holy day." That it is forgotten as such runs counter to the original Thanksgiving. It also runs counter to logic. And it also runs right into those who seek to imbue it with their own cultural causes. “Holiday” has become just a secularized term for a day when many break from their routines. However, Thanksgiving is one holiday that truly is a holy day — or at least it was to the Pilgrims who held the first one. To them, Thanksgiving was utterly religious.
https://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2025/11/24/thanksgiving_americas_forgotten_religious_holiday_1149309.html

Germany wants to build Europe’s strongest army – a new conscription bill is moving that closer – The coalition government is hoping a new bill agreed upon last week will help make this a reality, bolstering Germany’s forces in the face of the perceived threat from Russia and a significant shift in US foreign policy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ar-AA1QYjbh

As Religion Weakens, Socialism Strengthens – Per new polling reported by Gallup, religion is no longer important to most Americans. In response to the question “Is religion an important part of your daily life,” 49% said yes. Ten years ago, in 2015, 66% responded affirmatively. What are the practical implications?
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/11/21/religion-weakens-socialism-strengthens/

Iran Experiencing Record Drought, Tehran Faces Evacuation – Iran is experiencing such a severe drought that the nation’s president is warning the capital city of Tehran may have to be evacuated. The Guardian reported, “In Tehran, only 1mm of rain has fallen this year, a once-in-a-century event (the capital’s average annual rainfall between 1991 and 2000 was 350mm, [13.8 inches]). All this comes on top of five previous years of drought. The second half of November is normally the snow season in the capital.”
https://www.westernjournal.com/divine-judgment-iran-experiencing-record-drought-tehran-faces-evacuation/

Vatican Reaffirms Monogamous Marriage – The Vatican on Tuesday [11/25] doubled down on the value of monogamous marriage between a man and woman, responding to concerns raised by African bishops about the practice of polygamy in their flocks. In recent years at Vatican meetings of bishops, African delegates have regularly complained that polygamy is widely practiced among their flocks and asked the Vatican for guidance.
https://apnews.com/article/vatican-marriage-polygamy-africa-pope-samesex-monogamy-f64177dd3bb0ce827f7c7ce9bd12268a

Homeschooling Hits Record Numbers – Whether called homeschooling or DIY education, family-directed learning has been growing in popularity for years in the U.S. alongside disappointment in the rigidity, politicization, and flat-out poor results of traditional public schools. That growth was supercharged during the COVID-19 pandemic when extended closures and bumbled remote learning drove many families to experiment with teaching their own kids. The big question was whether the end of public health controls would also curtail interest in homeschooling. We know now that it didn't. Americans' taste for DIY education is on the rise.
https://hotair.com/headlines/2025/11/24/homeschooling-hits-record-numbers-n3809212

Elon Musk says that in 10 to 20 years, work will be optional and money will be irrelevant thanks to AI and robotics – “My prediction is that work will be optional. It’ll be like playing sports or a video game or something like that,” Musk said. “If you want to work, [it’s] the same way you can go to the store and just buy some vegetables, or you can grow vegetables in your backyard.” The future of optional work will be thanks to millions of robots in the workforce able to usher in a wave of enhanced productivity, according to Musk. The tech mogul, worth about $470 billion, has made the recent push to expand Tesla beyond just electric vehicles, working on consolidating his sprawling business interests into his broader vision of an AI-fuelled, robotic-powered future.
https://fortune.com/2025/11/20/elon-musk-tesla-ai-work-optional-money-irrelevant/

Mystery of how turtles read their magnetic map solved – Loggerhead turtles are able to sense the Earth’s magnetic field in two ways, but it wasn’t clear which sense the animals use to detect the magnetic field when navigating using the magnetic map they are born with. Now researchers from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reveal in Journal of Experimental Biology that hatchling loggerhead turtles "feel" the Earth’s magnetic map to tell them where they are on their epic migration routes.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105885