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The eye-popping headlines have become commonplace, announcing life-altering contracts for baseball’s most-prized shortstop prospects. 

Saikat Chakrabarti, who's running for Congress, got the cold shoulder from his former boss Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

More Young Men Than Young Women Now Say Religion Is 'Very Important' To Them, Gallup Finds

Authored by Mark A. Kellner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Young men in the United States are more religious than young women for the first time in 25 years, according to a Gallup poll released on Thursday.

A man reads scripture while viewing the casket of Reverend Billy Graham in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on Feb. 28, 2018. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images

The data show that 42 percent of men aged 18 to 29 say religion is “very important” in their lives. That figure stood at 28 percent just two years ago. Young women’s attachment to religion held steady at about 30 percent during the same period.

The 14-point jump among young men represents a sharp departure from typical demographic trends. It has caught the attention, tempered with caution, of researchers who study religion in America.

“The magnitude of the jump they’re talking about [is] humongous—religious importance is up from 28 percent to 42 percent in two years. That’s not how demographics typically work,” Ryan Burge, a political scientist and statistician who studies religious trends, told The Epoch Times. “You don’t see a metric rise by 50 percent in two years.”

The Gallup findings, authored by Frank Newport and Lydia Saad, are based on biennial aggregates of religion data from 2000-2001 through 2024-2025. The 2024-2025 results draw from 4,015 U.S. adults, including 295 men and 145 women aged 18 to 29.

The reversal is confined to the youngest age group. Among adults 30 and older, women remain more religious than men.

At the start of the millennium, young women led young men by 9 percentage points on the importance of religion. That gap widened to 16 points in the early to mid-2000s before narrowing over the next decade.

By the mid-2010s, the difference had shrunk to about 5 points. The latest data mark a clear break.

The shift extends beyond attitudes about the importance of religion. The share of young men reporting monthly—or more frequent—attendance at religious services rose 7 points to 40 percent. That is the highest level since 2012-2013. Young women’s attendance rose three points to 39 percent.

Young men and young women are now statistically tied on attendance. On religious affiliation, 63 percent of young men report identifying with a faith, compared with 60 percent of young women.

Yet Burge, author of “The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us,” urged caution in interpreting the results. He noted that while the importance measure surged, other religious indicators did not show the same dramatic increase.

“To make the claim that now young men are coming back to religion en masse based on this one data point would be statistically inappropriate,” Burge said. “But I think it does move us closer to a preponderance of evidence that the gender gap has now clearly closed between young men and young women, and maybe possibly reversed.”

Burge described the importance-of-religion question as a “vibes metric” but perhaps not proof of religiosity.

“It’s not asking, ‘Are you religious, or do you go to church?’ But, ‘Do you think religion is important?’” Burge said. “So, are there people who never go to church who say religion is very important? They’re called conservatives.”

Gallup’s analysis points to partisan politics as a key driver. Religious attendance rose 7 points among young Republican men and 8 points among young Republican women since 2022-2023. Among young Democratic men, attendance rose 3 points. Young Democratic women showed little change.

The political dimension matters because 48 percent of young men identified as or leaned Republican in 2024-2025. Only 27 percent of young women did the same. Among young women, 60 percent identified as or leaned Democratic.

Burge said the political sorting concerns him.

“My worry is that these young men are being drawn towards church because of the politics of the church, you know, and that will only make evangelicalism and Catholicism even more conservative than it already is,” Burge said.

He argued that churches need political diversity to serve a healthy function in society.

“We need to seek out religious spaces that are diverse. I mean, but I mean moderate. I just don’t mean everyone’s a moderate. I mean for every conservative [there’s] a liberal,” Burge said. “You know, where it balances out to the middle.”

Burge said young women’s departure from religion has its own logic. He pointed to the #MeToo movement and concerns about patriarchal institutions.

“Young women are being pushed away from religion, and it has a lot to do with politics,” he said. “They’re seeing the church as being, you know, very paternalistic, very masculine, very patriarchal.”

Meanwhile, young men find institutions that still value their leadership, Burge said. Catholicism restricts the priesthood to men. Many evangelical denominations limit the roles of women.

“It kind of makes sense that young men would go one direction; young women go the other direction.”

Gallup did not immediately respond to questions about its findings.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 20:05

A Texas tech executive accused of helping funnel millions out of the Los Angeles Unified School District pleaded not guilty Friday.

Aliyah Boston is, for now, the richest player in WNBA history. Or, at least she will be in a few years. Boston has inked a four-year, $6.3 million deal to remain with the Indiana Fever, leading the team alongside Caitlin Clark for the foreseeable future. Clark, by the way, is very happy about this and...

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The report comes as Malik revealed he was rushed to the hospital with a mystery illness on Friday.

The report comes as Malik revealed he was rushed to the hospital with a mystery illness on Friday.

That’s too efficient for the Hawks to accept.

The model details a details a drunken night out at the club the pop star.

The model details a details a drunken night out at the club the pop star.

Saniyah Hall should fit right in at USC.

Trump Turns The Screws On Israel In Biggest Pressure Move To Reign In Bibi Yet

The Lebanon ceasefire appears to be legitimate and holding, and the biggest evidence of this is that Lebanese citizens themselves are pouring back into the war-ravaged south of the country, seeking to recover to their homes which are in some cases 'unlivable'.

"Thousands of families displaced by weeks of fighting filled the main highway to southern Lebanon on Friday in hopes of returning to their homes, as a 10-day cease-fire in Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah went into effect," writes NY Times on Friday.

via Reuters

This comes after the Rubio-mediated meeting between the Israel and Lebanon governments in Washington D.C. this week, which was a first in decades. However, Hezbollah was not represented and has rejected direct talks with Israel.

The situation and uneasy truce, which has for now seen Israel halt its bombing campaign over Lebanon (though dozens of airstrikes were reported in the south just on Thursday) - has been subject of some confusion and contradictory messaging.

First, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declared that the fight with Hezbollah is not over, while at the same time confirming Israel's agreement with the 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

"One hand holds a weapon; the other is extended for peace," Netanyahu said in a fresh speech. "I will say honestly, we have not yet finished the job," he continued. "There are things we plan to do regarding the remaining rocket threat and the drone threat, which I will not detail."

Israel seeks to "dismantle" Hezbollah, Netanyahu continued, "but this will not be achieved tomorrow. It requires sustained effort, patience, and careful navigation in the diplomatic arena."

President Trump meanwhile in a Friday morning Truth Social message said Israel has been "PROHIBITED" from attacking Israel by the US.

But Trump at the same time contradicted Tehran's stance: "This deal is in no way subject to Lebanon, either, but the USA will, separately, work with Lebanon, and deal with the Hezbollah situation in an appropriate manner. Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer," he wrote.

BREAKING: President Trump says Israel 'prohibited' by US from bombing Lebanon pic.twitter.com/wpuhtPxNV4

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) April 17, 2026

Crucially, he added of the Israeli military: "They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the USA. Enough is enough." The NY Times says this has put Netanyahu in a tough spot:

Now, the prime minister’s critics, and even some of his allies on the right, have seized on what appears plain as day: his inability to resist Mr. Trump’s pressure, not just in pushing to bring the long-distance war with Iran to a close but even in demanding a truce with an enemy directly across Israel’s northern border.

“A cease-fire must come from a position of strength and be an Israeli decision, reflecting leverage that serves negotiations,” said Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff whose new centrist opposition party, Yashar, is gaining in the polls. “A pattern is emerging in which cease-fires are being imposed on us — in Gaza, in Iran and now in Lebanon.”

This actually constitutes some of the toughest talk and restrictions ever imposed on Israel from this administration. This suggests the White House is indeed serious about cobbling together a final offramp.

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Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 19:40

The proposal rebuffed the idea that such payments would be inflationary.

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Beware of any politician who gleefully celebrates taxation like normal people would a sacred holiday. Unfortunately, it’s too late for us New Yorkers. Our city foolishly elected Zohran Mamdani, who promised big government and the “warmth of collectivism.” Zohran Mamdani gleefully announced a new tax for the wealthy in New York City. And in a...