Washington Post: “White evangelicals had a substantially different reaction when asked about Trump or Clinton. When primed to think about Trump, only 6% of them say that an elected official who acts immorally in private is incapable of being ethical in public life. But when Bill Clinton is mentioned, that rises to 27% — a 21-point increase.”

“By comparison, Catholics differed by only 5 points when asked about Trump or Clinton. And, as we might expect, mentioning Clinton makes secular Americans less likely to worry about the public ethics of a privately immoral official.”

“In short, white evangelicals are far more likely to shift their view of a politician’s private behavior when asked about a Trump than when asked about Bill Clinton.”

“For the first time ‘No Religion’ has topped a survey of Americans’ religious identity, according to a new analysis by a political scientist. The non-religious edged out Catholics and evangelicals in the long-running General Social Survey,” CNN reports.

“Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University and a Baptist pastor, found that 23.1% of Americans now claim no religion. Catholics came in at 23.0%, and evangelicals were at 22.5%.”

“Breaking years of silence on major church affairs, Pope Benedict XVI has written a lengthy letter devoted to clerical sex abuse in which he attributes the crisis to a breakdown of church and societal moral teaching and says he felt compelled to assist ‘in this difficult hour,'” the Washington Post reports.

“The 6,000-word letter, published in tandem Thursday by a Catholic outlet and an Italian newspaper, decries the 1960s sexual revolution, laments the secularization of the West and describes seminaries filled with ‘homosexual cliques.'”

“I’m reluctant to comment on another person’s faith, but I would say it is hard to look at this president’s actions and believe that they’re the actions of somebody who believes in God. I just don’t understand how you can be as worshipful of your own self as he is and be prepared to humble yourself before God. I’ve never seen him humble himself before anyone.”

— Pete Buttigieg, in an interview with USA Today, when asked if President Trump is a Christian.

“I never said he was the best example of the Christian faith. He defends the faith. And I appreciate that very much.”

— Evangelical leader Franklin Graham, in an interview with Axios, on why he supports President Trump.

Washington state Rep. Matt Shea (R) acknowledged he had distributed a four-page manifesto titled “Biblical Basis for War,” which describes the Christian God as a “warrior,” details the composition and strategies of a “Holy Army” and condemns abortion and same-sex marriage, the Seattle Times reports.

The document is organized in 14 sections with multiple tiers of bullet points and a smattering of biblical citations. Under one heading, “Rules of War,” it makes a chilling prescription for enemies who flout “biblical law.”