The New York Times: Putin Took Credit for the Boom. Now There’s a Bust

As leader of the world’s biggest country, a nuclear power intent on asserting itself on the world stage, Mr. Putin has far more pressing concerns than Pikalevo’s myriad troubles. But throughout his 16 years in power, whether as president or prime minister, Mr. Putin has presented an image of an omniscient and omnipresent leader interested in and capable of addressing his country’s most microscopic concerns.

“He is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in Russia,” said Maxim Volkov, the chief executive of the Pikalevo factory visited in 2009 by Mr. Putin, the largest of three interdependent but, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, separately owned plants. “This is very good but also very bad.”

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Los Angeles Times: Op-Ed Don't judge me for my Jesus memes

According to the Pew Research Center, “none” is “the single most common religious identity among those born between 1980 and 2000.” In the United States, the study projects, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050, while nones will increase from 17.1% to 25.6% in the same time period.

So I sometimes feel I’m on the wrong side of history, and that makes me self-conscious about opening conversations about faith. But sharing posts, memes and tweets makes me feel like I might be able to, at the very least, let the nones know that Christianity isn't what they may think it is.

The schism in Christianity these days runs far deeper than arguing over the pros and cons of accepting offerings online, or whether or not playing Christian rock during services constitutes pandering to millennials. The Ku Klux Klan, it has been reported, wants you to start thinking of it as a Christian group. A recent Washington Post/ABC poll revealed that American Christians, more than the non-religious, are likely to support torture. And then there’s good old Parson Donald Trump, bungling a Corinthians reference in one breath and condemning immigrants in the next. The old hippie folk hymn paraphrasing John 13:35 says: “They will know we are Christians by our love.” Not based on my news feed.

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