Showing posts with label christianity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christianity. Show all posts

Thursday 10 June 2021

Gradual decline by American Christians

When we see documentaries about the North American people we get a picture that they are 'very religious'.

Christianity, which was once shared by a majority of Americans, has seen a gradual decline as fewer people hold to the core tenets of the faith.

The latest research by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University continues the survey series American Worldview Inventory 2021 in examining biblical and competing worldviews of American adults.

According to the most recent release from the study, there has been a sharp decline in the status of Christianity across the nation in the past several decades. In 1980, more than 90 percent of Americans claimed to be Christian. That percentage dropped to 80 percent by 1990, in which the proportion lasted until after the turn of the millennium. By 2010, only three in four adults claimed to be Christians, with a further decline today as just under two out of three make the same claim.

In the previous century confidence in religion was still important.
About two-thirds of American adults had high confidence in religion in the 1970s. By the 1980s, however, that confidence was waning, and Christianity’s influence was declining.
At the start of the millennium, 56 percent of adults had confidence in religion. That number continued to decline, and now, barely four in ten adults hold a high degree of confidence in religion.

No wonder, you could say, when we look at how ministers used their institutions to gain money and trick people into their 'business'. Small personal family churches were taken over by mega churches where one got lost in the group and where there was not a special bond between teh believers.

A great problem is also that the majority of those churches are Trinitarian churches, where they worship Jesus as their god. Though people came to see the weakness of that person and the contradictions they can find in Scriptures, having a Jesus who can not do a lot of things and does not know a lot of things, whilst the Bible tells us God can do everything and knows everything.

The Bible is also increasingly rejected as a trustworthy and relevant document of life principles. Not many people want to know about the values and ethics presented in the Holy Scriptures.

In 1991, 86 percent of people believed in the existence of God as the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules the world today. Today, that percentage has dropped to 46 percent.

In a lot of the American churches there was not much time spend on the Word of God. Ministers only took some verses, often out of context, to bring a long sermon, often with a lot of shouting and crying about damnation and danger to burn into hell. Often people could not find a relation between the words of the pastor and the words written in the Bible. That undermined the relevance of the Holy Scriptures in the daily life.

Regarding the belief that the Bible is the accurate and reliable Word of God, the decline shifted from 70 percent in 1991 to 41 percent in 2021. On the topic of salvation, 36 percent of adults believed in salvation through confession of sin and accepting Jesus as Saviour in 1991. Today, that amount is 30 percent. The survey also noted that this measured as high as 45 percent and was 39 percent in 2011.

The percentage of Americans possessing a biblical worldview also significantly decline (12 percent in 1995; 6 percent in 2021).

Monday 13 January 2020

Explosive growth of Christianity in Iran

Violence in the name of Islam has caused widespread disillusionment with the regime and has led many Iranians to question their beliefs. Multiple reports indicate that even children of political and spiritual leaders are leaving Islam for Christianity.

Already more than 20 years Christadelphians provide literature in Farsi and make huge efforts to communicate and unite with those who either felt not at home with their original religion or with their nation. Lots of those who fled the war zones and found a safe haven in Europe also found something interesting in the faith of many Europeans. Overhere there are not only the housechurches but in Great-Britain Christadelphian halls are open to bring the Farsi speaking people together.

Because Farsi-speaking services in Iran are not allowed, most converts gather in informal house-church meetings or receive information on Christianity via media, such as satellite TV and websites. The illegal house-church movement — including thousands of Christians — continues to grow in size and impact as God works through transformed lives.

Church leaders in Iran believe that millions can be added to the church in the next few years.
“If we remain faithful to our calling, our conviction is that it is possible to see the nation transformed within our lifetime,” 
one house church leader shared.
“Because Iran is a strategic gateway nation, the growing church in Iran will impact Muslim nations across the Islamic world.”
And like the church of Acts shows us, the persecution that believers suffered as a group of committed disciples — inspired and ignited by the Holy Spirit — became a catalyst for the multiplication of believers and churches. When persecution came, they didn’t scatter but remained in the city where it was most strategic and most dangerous. They were arrested, shamed and beaten for their message. Still, they stayed to lay the foundations for an earth-shaking movement.
So it is in Iran. When the Iranian revolution of 1979 established a hardline Islamic regime, the next two decades ushered in a wave of persecution that continues today. All missionaries were kicked out, evangelism was outlawed, Bibles in the Persian or Farsi language were banned, and several pastors were killed. Many feared the small, fledgling Iranian church wouldn’t survive.  Instead, the church, fueled by the devotion and passion of disciples, has multiplied exponentially. Iranians have become the Muslim people most open to the gospel in the Middle East.

Thursday 3 November 2016

Declaration of war against Islam and Christianity

religions in Europe, map en. See File:Europe r...
religions in Europe, map en. See File:Europe religion map.png for details. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In this world where different groups misuse their god/God and religion to enlarge their power many christians allow them selves pulled in a spiral of violence, not noticing they are used by their politicians to get their country in a severe political ban.

there are also groups which claim to focus on saving the lives of Christians whom are suffering from what they call " the ‘Blasphemy Laws’", aiding relatives of martyred families, women and children who are victims of rape. Such actions of help for the suppressed and persecuted Christians is something which we would applaud if there would not be an other agenda behind it.

There are Christians who want to do believe those living in West Europe that they are in danger of religious people who are going to steal their property and stir up violence against the Christians population. they also want to give the impression to the European population that those who want to conquer Europe are going to abduct women, rape them and force marriages as well as limiting how they may dress and appear in public.

Last week Marine Le Pen declared war against Christianity, saying that she will utterly ban all Christian crosses, symbols and clothing from public life, even going to so far as to say that she will abolish any Christian imagery from any all public schools. This would be an utter ban on Christianity, since the Faith, by its very nature, is suppose to be incarnational and public. 

The French political leader Francois-Xavier Peron, has declared that France is about to enter into a devastating war against Islam, and its going to be extremely violent.
He says
‘France Is About To Enter A Holy War Against Islam, Its Going To Be Extremely Bloody And Violent, Embrace Christianity As The True Faith And Never Accept The Religion Of Satan’

His solution to prepare?
 Embrace the Christian Faith and never accept the antichrist masonic religion.
You may find an interview with Mr. Peron by Walid Shoebat, who used to be a radicalised Muslim willing to die for the cause of Jihad until he converted, in 1994, to what he calls Christianity, but would be more to Christendom,  about this coming war, and why the Christian Faith must be the religion of the world.

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Tuesday 23 August 2016

Mean voices on the Internet and free speech

"Free Speech Doesn't Mean Careless Talk&q...
"Free Speech Doesn't Mean Careless Talk" - NARA - 513606 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
At Islam is Nazism with a God I gave an answer to the question on what I thought of her concern for freedom of speech.

A video is presented on that site and like on may sites we can find several remarks and find lots of sayings of which we can agree with or not. On the internet is a lot to find by which we can or do not want to interact with people face to face. In most instances people get to see and react to texts of people we don’t see and in most cases even don’t know them.

The danger of such encounters is that such visits to different websites as well as message boards may give the visitor not the feeling they really are talking with other human beings who have their feelings like we do have ours.

N.S. Palmer who has degrees in mathematics, economics, philosophy, and biology and is currently affiliated with Hebrew College, blogs for The Jerusalem Post and The Jewish Journal as well as his own blog where he writes
 the people we encounter on the Internet seem less real to us than those we meet in person. As a result, we tend to take them less seriously as human beings. We are less inclined to worry about hurting their feelings or treating them unjustly. Quite realistically, we are also less likely to worry about arguments leading to physical confrontation or retribution.
Perhaps it is that knowledge of not having to face that person and of being sure that we shall not encounter that person in real life, that gives for some the permission to do impermissible acts.
Often it is that anonymity which lets forget many that they should be talking decently and act politely to the other on the other end of the line.

It is like the professor says, that we
We are sitting in our homes where nobody can see us. We are less inclined to feel shame if we do something hurtful.{Why Are People So Mean on the Internet?}
It is that non-seen other, which makes so many chatters or internet users, to forget all decency and respect for the other.
Occasional anger and frustration make take on appropriate forms. Bottled up rage many let their steam go off when they get on the computer.
 Then, some of us have a rage-fest.{Why Are People So Mean on the Internet?}
Internet-Rage
When we had the MSN Groups it started already to go the wrong way, people forgetting any decency, norm and values. Today it did not change for the better. The opposite, it became even worse, and many seem to take certain words or language for normal.

We seem to find more and more people who resort to insults, name-calling, and other kinds of online vitriol. In a way they sometimes go so far we feel pity with them because they can not control their feelings nor their anger, which shows us how frustrated they are. Luckily we know they are either venting anger that has nothing to do with us, or they are deliberately trying to goad us into a screaming match.
Ignore them. A long-standing bit of Internet wisdom applies: “Please do not feed the trolls.” {Why Are People So Mean on the Internet?}
When we look at what is said on the internet, and see how many lies are told or how many are raging about, without any blush on the cheeks, we could wonder how much we should allow and how far Free speech may go.


Here you may find my remarks I made on the video Islam is Nazism with a God and on the presentation of it on America: The Good and the Bad
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Brooke Godlstein looks at those people who shout they are Hamas. Their actions may have us wonder how far Free Speech goes. Can we allow negation of the Holocaust? Can we allow people to cry for hatred against one or another nation or race? the same could be asked about the allowance of money entering a coutnry for funding of certain organisations, be it right wing (Nazi, extreme Jewish/Christian or Muslim fundamentalism) or extreme left wing (extreme Marxism or Communism).

How far wants one to go to allow free speech when it is known that those speakers are funded by terrorist organisations and also steer to terrorist acts?

I think when a organisation wants to dominate and not allow an other to have the right to speak it should be counter acted. They should be able to have their say but others should have the right to react to them as well. But here the State or Government has a duty to fulfil to have everything under control and to watch those who want to dominate others and could endanger our society. As soon as the secret intelligence encounters dangerous elements they should make them public and show all in the nation who those ‘preachers’ or ‘speakers’ are and what they do plus what the danger of them for the nation is.

Pamella Geller is right to say we need to talk about this. Everything should be considered and spoken off. It would be wrong to allow only one party a voice and to censure an other.
A State have to assure all its citizens that they all have the right to look at something, to study something, but also to criticise something. As such Judaism, Christianity but also Islam should be able to judged and criticised by the citizens of the nation, being them atheists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindu, Buddhists or from other religions. all sorts of religions and nor religious group should be able to be put under the magnifying glasses.

Though we do have to be careful not to call all religious people or non-religious people savages. At the moment there is a tendency to declare all religions awful and the cause of evil. In Europe, and probably also in many parts of America, many think religion is the cause of evil, and everything has to be done to stop religious awareness. In North America the many Christians would cry high from their tower, but by their heavy actions against other religions they could cause the same reactions as we now have to undergo in Europe.

The interviewer of Geller shows she understood the Quran and the meaning of Jihad = struggle. Geller her perspective of that Jihad or her view of holy war is not the view of the bible nor the quaran wich both speak about the holy war which has already gone on for ages (spoken of in the Torah, Prophets, Hebrew Writings, Greek Writings, Quranic verses).

Geller telling that christians would not behead others in the name of Christ does not seem to know her history nor the present Asian situation where still such things happen today. Even in the States of America we can find people like the Westboro Baptist Church who shout hate and hurt other people a lot. In the States there have been also Christians who said they were against killing the unborn but did not mind killing doctors who worked at abortion clinics. That are also Christians who bring damage to others in the name of their religion. The same we can find fundamentalist Jews who kill others, so called in the name of their religion. Look at what happens in Israel and how certain fundamentalists take in the land of others and protect their settlements with violence.

But please do not forget that politician violence and non-religious related violence is still the most common violence. The majority of terrorist acts have nothing to do with religion. The majority of believers in the different religions, pagan or not pagan, preach for self-development in a peaceful atmosphere.

We do not have to abridge or stop our free speech for not offending any body, be it savages or even civilised human beings who think differently. When not having the same idea it will always be possible to have a conflict of ideas and can there be the possibility to offend some one. That is part of the consequences of free speech, we have to endure or to allow.

When Geller talks about savages and savagery would she consider the native American as savages, like her ancestors did or would she recognise that many Europeans who came to conquer the country of those natives behaved as savages? Did she ever thought of the fact that certain Muslims may consider those white people who live there in the North American halfround, who fornicate and have no good morals, could also be considered savages today by other nations or peoples?
The indigenous people of America had also their own civilised rules of conduct and way of life, which came disturbed by the colonial intruders. the same for the white Europeans who conquered spaces in the Southern halfround of this globe. In the name of Christ they also oppressed many peoples and pushed their own believes and faith into their throat. Many so called Christians even did not mind to take people captive and rape and sell them, not even interested if they would die in bad circumstances or not.

Perhaps it would not be bad to reflect on the similarity of the early crusades and collonialisation with the present crusade of certain Muslims or Arabic peoples.

It is true that we have a problem today which many try to avoid or to go out of the way, thinking it would go away by not talking about it. Not talking about it is wrong. We just should do everything to have it possible to talk about those issues and to have clear voices showing all the issues and how certain people could be a danger for the community.

Though each person who wants to bring something in debate and wants to talk against something, like being against a book or movie, should have knowledge of that book or move. Not like Geller not having seen the trailer nor the movie. And a trailer can not even say it all. When one wants to be against something the person has to know what he or she is against, and as such should have had contact with it, read or seen it. today we do find too many christians who are against the Quran because they think certain things are standing in that book, because they only heard the false preachers misusing that book and twisting verses. The same about several Christians who do not know their own Scriptures, often never having read the full Bible, from A to Z, but in the ban of false teachers who only present verses taken out of context and looked at from human doctrine.
the interviewer has good reason to say that when Geller wants to take on this issue we would expect to have her taken interest in that issue and having studied it. She telling it does not mater and she did not need to know … proofs she only wants to take her own idea and wants others to go for her restricted ideas only, not needing to have the real truth of what is all behind it or how it really is and who is really spoken about.

She is right to say we do not have to like what is said, because that is freedom of speech, but than she too should allow others the same right to have that freedom, to talk like she does about things they seem not to know so well. It is for others then to come in to the circle of debate and show both parties that they might have it at the wrong end of the stick.

Personally I thing, and certainly for politicians, those who have a higher position in society or have a special role in a community, should take up their responsibility and to look at things in a honourable and humble way, trying to stay correct to the matter, having looked at it seriously, in honour and conscience. It is the task of a politician to know the subject, to have studied it before speaking about it. She has to take care that she or he is honest to both parties involved and try to enlighten all, with showing what can be known and trying to uncover what is hidden for the public.

Geller considers herself as the messenger, but she forgets or does not want to see she herself is excluding the freedom of speech for those who do not agree with her or have an other view. She also seems not willing to see that the media have an important role to play in show both sides of the medal. The media also has to bring the voices of all parties involved. That is also part of the freedom of speech, and giving the public the right to come to their own conclusions, without imposing their own views (hopefully – though all media stations are naturally influenced in a certain way or have a certain starting view).

Nobody may be couched in silencing the voice of freedom of speech.

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Tuesday 19 April 2016

The 17th annual White Privilege Conference a militantly Christophobic conference held in Philadelphia

A simplified chart of historical developments ...
A simplified chart of historical developments of major groups within Christianity. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From April 15 to 17 the 17th annual White Privilege Conference was held in Philadelphia.

Activist and author Paul Kivel identified three particularly severe problems in the modern world that are caused or worsened by Christianity.

I could agree with his idea about certain people storming for their faith, bringing crusades, like we can see the crusades of the Muslim brothers of today. Though I would not call it Christianity's effort to spread Western ideas and influence but love to ask people to see the big difference between Christianity and Christendom, the first one preaching world peace and equality for all people, leaving everybody to choose for their own God or gods, whilst certain people in Christendom thinking all should be part of their religion and belief in their threeheaded god.
Paul Kivel lecturing in front of his homemade posters explaining Christian hegemony [Blake Neff]
Paul Kivel lecturing in front of his homemade posters explaining Christian hegemony [Blake Neff] On one poster, he showed “Christian hegemony” at the center of a web that included ideas like “racism,” “sexism,” and “ableism.”


Perhaps Kivel had in mind how certain evangelicals tried to bring their faith to the African communities and how Christian groups or Christian nations went to war in the East.

I would agree with the economical aspect brining people at war, but that has nothing to do with Christianity. Most wars are a matter of power and of getting more material wealth, not spiritual wealth.

As third problem was mentioned that
under Christianity mankind has dominion over the Earth, rather than requiring that humans treat the Earth itself as 'sacred.'"
Once again here could be better spoken of Christendom. In Christianity all teaching is directed to respect for the Work of the Divine Creator and as such every creature has to be respected and man has to treat nature as good has he can. In Christianity each lover of God should understand that we as human beings are only here on acceptance and have the world in loan. It does not belong to any one person in particular, except God.
It is by human's wrong doing that we are now facing the problem of "climate change" and not because of those believing in Jehovah God and in Jesus Christ, the son of God.

It is not because it is said in the Bible that man has been given dominion over all other living things, that it would sanction man's abuse of the environment or other creatures.
(Genesis 1:28; Matthew 25:14-30; Exodus 23:10-11 and Leviticus 25:1-7).

Kivel argued also that
Christianity orients us to distinguish between good and evil, which forces us to adopt a "with us or against us" mentality. "There's nothing inherently good or bad about the weather or about people,"
he insisted.

Good versus bad does not mean with us  or against us, and such mentality has not to be provoked by being a Christian.  Kivel makes an irrational leap that to distinguish between good and evil leads to condemnation of various things as worthy of destruction.There are Christians, who are trinitarians, and cannot cope with people who have an other faith than they, but more often it are non-religious people from certain political groups, who have much more difficulties with believers in God and who are most intolerant toward people and ideas of other religions or secularists.

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Find also to read:

White Privilege Conference: Almost Everything Bad Is Tied To Christianity



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Monday 15 February 2016

Priest, scribes and others with authority

John Bunyan
John Bunyan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the orderly functioning of life we need to have some order and functions. Our world is divided by different hierarchical posts.

In the world of the churches there are also several posts and in many denominations those in such positions often think they are higher than others and people have to listen to them and have to do what church dictates to them.

In Christianity we can see that at the beginning it was part of Judaism.
Jesus was a respected rabbi and considered by his followers as the sent one from God who had received the authority from the Most High in heaven.

When Jesus was gone the apostles were given special Holy Spirit powers to exercise authority as well. An outstanding example was the drama with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) who told lies to the Apostles, but Peter said, “You have not lied to men but to God” (verse 4).

In today’s reading of the 11th chapter of Mark we read
“as he (Jesus) was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and elders came to him and they said to him,
‘By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?’” (verses 27-28).
Priest and scribes were considered as the highly placed ones having authority to dictate to the people. According to them no one was supposed to teach unless they gave them authority. This is one reason why John the Baptist went into the wilderness to preach. It was this exercise of authority that saw the disciples thrown into prison when they taught in the temple (Acts 4:1-3) although later, such was the prestige of the Apostles, created by their miracles, that dramatic scenes unfolded. (Acts 5:12,13,17-20), but “none of the rest dared join them”.

History shows that as the early believers evolved into large established churches these churches too began to exercise an attitude of authority climaxing in the power of the Pope and the cardinal system. In the Middle Ages, if you were not appointment by church authorities to minister in a church, you had no authority to preach.

Some, such as John Bunyan, were put in prison for doing so.

When we look at the gospels we can find examples where it is made clear by Jesus that his followers will have to take up tasks. He also sent them out into the world, something which is too often forgotten today.

We read at the end of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said,
 “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved …” (16:15,16).
That authority is given to everyone, so we all have the responsibility to share our faith.

Paul challenges us when he expresses this responsibility in the bluntest terms,
 “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).
- based on the Today's thought “Who gave you this authority?” (February 15) by the Christadelphian

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Tuesday 31 March 2015

More looking for similarities

English: Moses Isserles (or Moshe Isserlis) (1...
Moses Isserles (or Moshe Isserlis) (1530 - 1572) - a Rabbi and Talmudist, renowned for his fundamental work of Halakha (Jewish law), titled the Mapah (HaMapah), a component of the Shulkhan Arukh. He is also well known for Darkhei Moshe, a commentary on the Tur. Isserles is also "the ReMA" (or "the RAMA") רמ״א, the Hebrew acronym for Rabbi Moses Isserles. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In Christianity we do find the same problem as in Judaism having different faith groups all claiming that they are the right Jews or right Christians.

Rabbi Eliezer Silver who visited a displaced persons camp after the war, encountered a Jew who told him he no longer wanted anything to do with Judaism.

He explained that there was a Jew in the camps with a siddur that he would share only with those who were willing to give up their daily slice of bread.
 “If that’s what Judaism is all about, I want nothing more to do with it.”
Rabbi Silver asked him gently:
 “And what did most people do?”
 “They gave up their bread and took the siddur. They starved!”
Rabbi Silver asked
“Why,” “do you look at the one Jew who could behave so dastardly? Why not reflect on the many more Jews who were willing to starve in exchange for a few minutes of precious prayer?”
Rabbi Yaniv says the same to an Ashkenazi whose wife is Sephardi
 
Why are you looking at one disparity in the difference of custom between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews rather than the astounding number of similarities they share?
The differences are so negligible that they just prove the rule – we are one people with one Torah. Jews are forbidden by the Torah to eat or even own leavened products on Passover.
We should remember that God took His People out of Egypt to make them one nation, united by the Torah. The Jews should take this at heart and should know their common history and their common goal.
 Some eat rice, some don’t, and it matters not. We are one family, the children of Israel.
explains Yaniv.

Also the Christians living all over the earth should know that there are differences depending on where they live and what season it is. Most important is that they do not take part in pagan traditions, like the Easter bunnies a.o..

Please do read the interesting exhortation of rabbi Yaniv:

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