Daily Links, July 16: Surveys, science, and sports

In a new poll from Gallup [1], we hear today that only 44 percent of Americans have confidence in "the church or organized religion." One analysis suggests that if churches back off of politically partisan messages [2], people might gain more confidence in them.

Another survey [3] released today from the National Geographic Society shows that not only are Americans bringing up the rear in sustainable practices, we don't feel much guilt [4] about not living a green lifestyle.

The Atlantic profiles women in the Minneapolis suburbs [5] who are uniting across political and economic lines to protest "what many of them call an embarrassment to Minnesota"--the proposed state constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage.

Apparently, the discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle (or the "God particle") was an act of faith [6].

It's looking like Suri Cruise will be attending Catholic school [7] after all.

And now, for the most church-and-sports-related links ever to appear in the Daily Links (that don't feature Tim Tebow)!

Read about what the English Catholic Church is doing [8] to prep for the London summer Olympic games.

Also, the Olympic games will feature the first-ever Palestinian athlete [9] who qualified on his own merit (and not on a special invitation from the IOC).

And here's another article on the similarities between the Penn State and Catholic church sex abuse scandals [10], after a new investigation has revealed that former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno was not as innocent as a lot of people thought  (or hoped).