Hundreds of Christians gathered recently in front of the United States Capitol building on a cold and rainy day. They began a public reading of their holy book, the Bible. They kept reading for 90 hours. The event is called the U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon. It marks the National Day of Prayer and has been taking place for 27 years. Pastor Jeffrey Light of NOVUM Baptist Church in Reva, Virginia spoke to VOA about the event. He said its goal is to show the importance of religion in American life. It’s foundational for who we are as human beings to know our purpose, and our purpose comes from our creator, Light said. Few know the part of religion in America better than Alan Cooperman. He leads study of the subject for the Washington-based Pew Research Center. The center did two major studies on religion in the U.S. in 2007 and 2014. The research found that the American public is growing less religious.
Title: Bible Event Held at Capitol As Fewer Americans Identify as Religious
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/bib_audio.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Bible Event Held at Capitol As Fewer Americans Identify as Religious' data-article-id='1530'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='9875'>Hundreds of Christians gathered recently in front of the United States Capitol building on a cold and rainy day.</span> <span data-start-time='9875' data-end-time='15417'>They began a public reading of their holy book, the Bible.</span> <span data-start-time='15417' data-end-time='19521'>They kept reading for 90 hours.</span> <span data-start-time='19521' data-end-time='25500'>The event is called the U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon.</span> <span data-start-time='25500' data-end-time='33375'>It marks the National Day of Prayer and has been taking place for 27 years.</span> <span data-start-time='33375' data-end-time='43354'>Pastor Jeffrey Light of NOVUM Baptist Church in Reva, Virginia spoke to VOA about the event.</span> <span data-start-time='43354' data-end-time='51042'>He said its goal is to show the importance of religion in American life.</span> <span data-start-time='51042' data-end-time='62854'>It’s foundational for who we are as human beings to know our purpose, and our purpose comes from our creator, Light said.</span> <span data-start-time='62854' data-end-time='70000'>Few know the part of religion in America better than Alan Cooperman.</span> <span data-start-time='70000' data-end-time='76771'>He leads study of the subject for the Washington-based Pew Research Center.</span> <span data-start-time='76771' data-end-time='87063'>The center did two major studies on religion in the U.S. in 2007 and 2014.</span> <span data-start-time='87063' data-end-time='93396'>The research found that the American public is growing less religious.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/bible_img.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=6166 data-hint-location='19521' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/what_does_marathon_mean.m4a'>What does marathon mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='an event or activity that lasts an extremely long time'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/an_event_or_activity_that_lasts_an_extremely_long_time.m4a'><span>an event or activity that lasts an extremely long time</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/to_search.m4a'><span>to search</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/strong_belief.m4a'><span>strong belief</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/to_move_in_one_direction.m4a'><span>to move in one direction</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=6167 data-hint-location='9875' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/what_were_the_people_reading.m4a'>What were the people reading?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='Bible'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/torah.m4a'><span>Torah</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/bible.m4a'><span>Bible</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/harry_potter.m4a'><span>Harry Potter</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/quran.m4a'><span>Quran</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=6168 data-hint-location='43354' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/the_goal_is_to_show_the_importance_of__blank__in_american_life.m4a'>The goal is to show the importance of <span class='blank'>religion</span> in American life.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='religion'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/reading.m4a'><span>reading</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/education.m4a'><span>education</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/money.m4a'><span>money</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1046/religion.m4a'><span>religion</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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