Puritans

• Religion is likely to play a big role in voters’ choices in the 2024 presidential election – much as it did in previous years.
• Despite an overall shift away from participation in organized religion in the U.S. populace, religious rhetoric in the political arena has intensified.
• In the 2016 race, evangelical voters contributed, in part, to Republican nominee Donald Trump’s victory.
• Historical evidence can help identify trends that will likely influence the mix of religion and politics in the year ahead.

1. End-times rhetoric

• End-times rhetoric has long played a prominent role in American politics.
• Ever since Puritan John Winthrop first called America a “city on the hill” – meaning a shining example for the world to follow – the threat of losing that divinely appointed status has consistently been employed by presidential candidates.
• John F. Kennedy employed that exact image of the “city on the hill” in a 1961 speech on the cusp of his inauguration, claiming that – with “God’s help” – valor, integrity, dedication and wisdom would define his administration.

• By March 2023, at the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference, he predicted that “if they [Democrats] win, we no longer have a country.” Biden has likewise drawn on the image of final battles.
• In a speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on Sept. 1, 2022, he said that he and his supporters are in “a battle for the soul of this nation.”

2. Divine mandate

• Since the establishment of the republic, many U.S. political leaders have claimed a divine mandate.
• Scholars have long documented how those in power employ claims of divine authority to legitimize their role in a host of different countries.
• Recently, some U.S. politicians and public commentators have shifted to claiming divine authority for anti-democratic actions.
• Regardless of the outcome of the 2024 election, the switch from historical claims of divine authority for democracy to divine authority to challenge democracy is already obvious and apparent.

3. White supremacy and Christian nationalism

• Likewise, the unapologetically white supremacist “alt-right movement” that coalesced in 2010 around the philosophies of biological racism and the belief in the superiority of white peoples around the world have likewise mixed overt white supremacy with religious doctrines.
• This close connection between religious claims and white supremacy among overtly racist organizations has shown up in mainline political arenas as well.
• Evangelical leaders have consistently failed to condemn or disassociate themselves from leaders with overt white supremacy connections.
• In spring of 2023, 26 members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee refused to sign a letter denouncing white supremacy.

Tobin Miller Shearer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• They are experts in classification, pedagogy, data science, social media, disinformation, health sciences, music, art, media literacy and, yes, storytelling.
• They are defending the rights of readers and writers in the battles raging across the U.S. over censorship, book challenges and book bans.
• Book challenges are an attempt to remove a title from circulation, and bans mean the actual removal of a book from library shelves.
• The drive to challenge, ban or censor books has not only changed the lives of librarians across the nation.

More than shelving books

• I have personally gone through such a program and now teach in one.
• Reasons for challenges can be personally subjective, and claims that books present divisive topics that should be excluded from collections are increasing.
• George Johnson, author of the frequently banned book “All Boys aren’t Blue,” has said that he believes books are challenged to eliminate narratives that elucidate the truths of marginalized groups and depict the everyday diversity of their lives.

The new librarians’ education

• But with the current controversies about racially diverse and LGBTQIA+ books, policies are no longer enough to demonstrate the integrity of professionally curated library collections.
• Neither policies nor book reviews nor professional expertise are keeping library workers from being called pedophiles, groomers, indoctrinators and pornographers.
• Libraries have been sued and library workers are so threatened and harassed that they are getting sick and leaving their careers.
• The current threats to librarians and the books they circulate are necessitating a shift in the content of graduate library education.

• The company will be at Booth #1125 during the event, which is the largest microbial sciences gathering in the world.
• Puritan will highlight Puritan's key business lines—and core product offerings—to thousands of scientists, researchers, and healthcare professionals who are on the forefront of medical advancement.
• In the following month, Puritan will attend the 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo, hosted by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.
• "We are America's swab experts, and we look forward to discussing it at two pivotal trade shows this summer," said Bob Shultz, President and CFO at Puritan.

• The Company continues to expect approximately 45% of full year 2023 revenue in the first half, and approximately 55% in the second half.
• This trading update is based upon unaudited management accounts and has been prepared solely to provide additional information on trading to the shareholders of Abcam plc.
• The Company reiterates reported revenue guidance of approximately £420 million to £440 million, representing 15% to 20% constant exchange rate revenue growth.
• The Company will provide first half trading results in July and present half-year 2023 results on 31 August 2023 at 4:30pm EDT.