Record Number of Investigations, Censorships of Students in 2025; Belief in God Growing Among Finnish Youth; Trump Administration Bans Abortions by the VA cover art

Record Number of Investigations, Censorships of Students in 2025; Belief in God Growing Among Finnish Youth; Trump Administration Bans Abortions by the VA

Record Number of Investigations, Censorships of Students in 2025; Belief in God Growing Among Finnish Youth; Trump Administration Bans Abortions by the VA

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 It’s Wednesday, Christmas Eve, December 24th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes written by Jonathan Clark and heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. Filling in for Adam McManus, I’m Ean Leppin. (Contact@eanvoiceit.com) Christians Arrested in Mass in China A large police force in China carried out mass arrests of Christians over the last two weeks. On December 13, over a thousand police officers, SWAT units, and anti-riot forces descended on Yayang Town in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang. The operation led to the arrests of several hundreds of Christians. The arrests came after the local church known as “Yayang Assembly” opposed government intrusion into their practices. ChinaAid warned, “Amid tightening policies and information blockades, a campaign to purge faith communities may be unfolding in a more systematic and covert manner.” Belief in God Growing Among Finnish Youth Evangelical Focus reports a new survey found belief in God continues to grow among young people in Finland. The study evaluated young people in confirmation classes. Seventy-five percent of Finnish youth attend such classes. Sixty-seven percent of boys from this year’s classes believe in the existence of God, up from 36 percent in 2019. Fifty-six percent of girls believe in God, up from 35 percent over the same time period. Jouko Porkka, Doctor of Theology, analyzed the research. He noted, “Today, boys in confirmation preparation are much more religious than girls. This has been the case for five years.” More Adults in the U.K. Attending Church this Christmas A new survey by Tearfund shows more adults in the U.K. are going to church this Christmas. The poll found 45 percent of U.K. adults plan on attending a church event this year, up from 40 percent last year. This church attendance is driven by younger generations. Gen Z is the largest generation to say they plan to attend church this Christmas. Psalm 122:1 says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’” British Pro-Life Woman Charged for Praying Outside Abortion Mill Police in the U.K. charged a pro-life woman last week for praying silently outside an abortion mill. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, Director of the March For Life UK, is the first person in Britain to face charges under the new abortion buffer zone law. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department spoke to The Telegraph about the case. The spokesman said, “The decision to prosecute a woman engaged in silent prayer is not only concerning in terms of its impact on respect for the fundamental freedoms of expression and religion or belief, but is also an unwelcome departure from the shared values that ought to underpin U.S.-U.K. relations.” Trump Administration Bans Abortions by the VA In the United States, the Trump administration banned the Department of Veterans Affairs from performing abortions last week. This reverses a Biden-era policy that allowed the VA to kill unborn babies of pregnant veterans. Josh Craddock is Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. He wrote the memorandum opinion on the issue for the VA. He noted that existing law “unambiguously commands that VA may not provide abortions when furnishing medical care.” U.S. Economy Grows During Third Quarter The U.S. economy saw unexpected growth during the third quarter of this year. U.S. gross domestic product from July through September grew at an annual rate of 4.3 percent. That’s up from 3.8 percent during the April-June quarter. It’s also the fastest economic growth in two years. The growth was driven by consumer spending despite inflation remaining elevated. Record Number of Investigations, Censorships of Students in 2025 The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression reports a record number of campus incidents involving attempts to investigate, censor, or otherwise punish students for protected expression in 2025. It documented 273 efforts this year in which students and student groups were targeted for their constitutionally-protected expression. This breaks the previous record of 252 set back in 2020, the first year of the Students Under Fire database, during the unrest prompted by COVID-19 lockdowns and the murder of George Floyd. Researcher Logan Dougherty said, "These findings paint a campus culture in which student expression is increasingly policed and controversial ideas are not tolerated. College is supposed to be a place where ideas are freely shared, not where students should be concerned about whether their comments will be subject to university scrutiny.” Pew Research’s Study on Americans’ Childhood Religion And finally, Pew Research released a new study on Americans who leave their childhood religion. The study found 56 percent of U.S. adults still identify with their childhood religion. Thirty-five percent left their childhood religion, and 9 percent said they were never ...
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