By Christy Barritt

Richest Cities in the U.S.

A new report listed the top 10 cities in the United States that have the highest average income. Washington, D.C. topped the list, with an average annual household income of $86,680. Only eight percent of households there live below the poverty line.

The report was based on the 2011 Census Bureau American Community Survey.

Some of the factors in deciding which cities topped the list were employment rates and what type of work was being carried out in each city.

High tech jobs, for instance, tend to pay higher salaries and are more likely to be located in areas with affluent residents, according to the report. Jobs in lower-income metro areas tend to be in retail, service, agriculture, and low-tech manufacturing.

Also on the list were:

San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, California;

Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Connecticut;

Trenton/Ewing, New Jersey;

San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, California;

Anchorage, Alaska;

Boston, Massachusetts; and

Boulder, Colorado.

Protestants No Longer a Majority in U.S.

A new study has found that Protestants now make up 48 percent of Americans. In the 1970s, that same group made up nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population.

That information was the conclusion of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

“It’s a slow decline but a noticeable one,” said Cary Funk, a Pew senior researcher. He said that a major factor driving the decline is an increase in religiously unaffiliated Americans to 20 percent, up from 15 percent five years ago.

Two-thirds of the religiously unaffiliated still say they believe in God, but they overwhelmingly expressed disenchantment with religious organizations for being too concerned with money, power, rules, and politics.

The study showed that the trend toward dropping away from organized religion was even across gender, income, and educational levels. It was most apparent in the Northeast and the West and among the young.

The study was based on a national survey of 2,973 adults.

Court Rules in Favor of Billy Graham Group

A federal court has ruled in favor of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in a suit brought against the organization by a former employee alleging racial discrimination. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina ruled that the BGEA did not racially discriminate against an employee when they fired an African-American worker at their executive office.

“A jury could not reasonably find or infer that discrimination was a motivating factor in any of the challenged employment decisions of BGEA,” wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Voorhees.

The former employee filed a suit in 2009. While working for the BGEA, she had claimed that the organization was not reaching out to African-American churches. She said that not long after that, her position was cut.

The BGEA said the cut was made because of the budget and the need to reduce work force.

Democrats Support Abstinence Education

Nearly 80 percent of Democratic parents with school-aged children support abstinence education.

The National Abstinence Education Foundation (NAEF) surveyed 1,683 parents from across the country. They asked questions focused on the approach and themes of abstinence education. Of the group surveyed, 76 percent of parents who said they were Democrat support abstinence education, as did 87 percent of Republican parents.

“Critics portray abstinence education as a religious or political issue that has no place in our public schools,” said NAEF President Valeria Huber. “But this survey shows abstinence education is a women’s issue, a Hispanic issue, an African-American issue, a health issue, and a common-sense issue with strong support across ethnic groups, age demographics, and political affiliation.”

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons.
www.christybarritt.com