The Weekly is a rundown of news by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission highlighting the week’s top news stories from the public square and providing commentary on the big issues of our day.

5 Facts About Christmas in America

Christmas is the most widely observed holiday in the world. Here are five facts you should know about the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus in the United States:

1. Nine-in-ten Americans (90 percent) and 95 percent of Christians say they celebrate Christmas, according to a Pew Research Survey. But only 55 percent of U.S. adults say they celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, including 46 percent who see it as more of a religious holiday than a cultural holiday and 9 percent who celebrate Christmas as both a religious and a cultural occasion.

2. About half of Americans (52 percent) say it doesn’t matter how stores greet customers during the holidays. About a third (32 percent) prefer to have stores greet them with “merry Christmas” while 15 percent prefer “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings.”

3. According to LifeWay Research, more than 6 in 10 Americans (63 percent) say the holiday season should include a trip to church. The survey also found 61 percent say they typically attend church during Christmastime, and of those who don’t attend, 57 percent said it is likely they would attend if someone invited them.

4. The Christmas season is the time of the most giving in America. The average amount people in the U.S. estimated they’d spend on Christmas presents in 2017 is $906. An estimated 42.7 percent of charitable giving also occurs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

5. Most Americans believe that elements of the biblical Christmas story reflect actual historical events, according to Pew Research. Two-thirds (66 percent) say Jesus was born to a virgin, compared with 73 percent who said this in 2014. Three-fourths ( 75 percent) believe he was laid in a manger (down from 81 percent in 2014). Similarly, the shares who say they believe that wise men, guided by a star, brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, and that an angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus also have declined. A slight majority of American adults (57 percent) believe that all four of these things actually happened, down from 65 percent just three years ago. Belief in these events, according to Pew, has declined not only among people with no religious affiliation, but among Christians as well. Overall, about one-in-five Americans (19 percent) now say none of these things actually happened.

This week on ERLC podcasts: Daniel Darling talks to Bob Lepine, host of Family Life Today, about marriage and family. On the Capitol Conversations podcast, Matt Hawkins and Travis Wussow talk to Lauren and Michael McAfee about the Museum of the Bible. And on the new ERLC podcast series, “How to Handle,” Trillia Newbell talks to Tim Challies about biblical literacy.

Other Issues

American Culture

Why America Won’t Let the Little Children Come
Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, Christianity Today

Efforts to make international adoption safer have constricted supply, while demand among evangelicals remains high.

Bioethics

'Longest-frozen' embryo born 24 years on
BBC

A baby has been born from an embryo frozen for nearly 25 years - possibly the longest gap between conception and birth since IVF began.

Six Things You Need to Know about Physician-Assisted Suicide
Nancy Valko, Public Discourse

Is the real healthcare crisis not enough physician assisted suicide laws? Or is it the staggering and increasing number of people losing their battles with mental illness and committing suicide?

Christianity and Culture

Roy Moore Was ‘a Bridge Too Far’ for Alabama Evangelicals
Jeremy Weber, Christianity Today

Al Mohler says Senate election “sends a signal” to the Republican Party—and to conservative Christians.

Reformed theologian, pastor R.C. Sproul dies
Baptist Press Robert

Robert Charles “R.C.” Sproul, the Reformed theologian, pastor, teacher, and lecturer who founded and chaired Ligonier Ministries and authored close to 100 books, including “The Holiness of God,” died Thursday (Dec. 14). He was 78.

Family Issues

How We Ended Up With 40 Percent of Children Born Out of Wedlock
Robert VerBruggen, Institute for Family Studies

43% of unwed pregnancies resulted in a shotgun marriage in the early 1960s; this is down to 9% today, per a new report.

International Issues

100 Christians killed in clashes with Nigerian herdsmen
Diana Chandler, Baptist Press

More than 100 Christians have died in December clashes with militant Fulani herdsmen in northeastern Nigeria, and the military is suspected of aiding the attackers, Christian leaders there told World News.

Pakistani Christians Bury 11 After ISIS Attacks Methodist Church
World Watch Monitor

Pakistani Christian mourners buried their dead on Monday, only a week before the celebration of Christ’s birth.

USCIRF Issues New Report On Iraq
Howard Friedman, Religion Clause

With the defeat ISIS in Iraq, last week the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a Policy Update on Iraq.

Religious Liberty

What the Founders Understood About Religious Freedom That We Must Recover
Michael Berry, The Daily Signal

Given the national discussion in recent days over whether the government may compel speech from an ordinary baker, now is an especially good time to consider the very first words of our charter document: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

In small win for Democrats, the final tax bill will not include a provision allowing churches to endorse political candidates
Heather Long, Washington Post

In a minor win for Democrats, the final GOP tax bill will not include a repeal of the Johnson Amendment, a change that would have allowed religious institutions and all nonprofit entities organized as 501(c)3s to endorse political candidates.

New HHS abortion/contraception mandate rules blocked
Tom Strode, Baptist Press

A crucial win for objectors to the Obama-era abortion/contraception mandate is now on hold.

Judge Challenges Atlanta Policy Used to Fire Christian Fire Chief over Devotional
Tom Strode, Baptist Press

Court considers city restrictions an unconstitutional violation of free speech.