Friday, April 28, 2023
Lying leaders who infiltrated United Methodism responsible for its subversion and schism
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Cardinal who says homosexuality is not a sin says plague of women voters at formerly all-male, all-bishops "Synod of Bishops" will choose their own identity
More.
The 🤡 Church.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Follow the money
Monday, April 24, 2023
Some results from the decadal Religion Census of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies for 2010-2020
As reported here in The Economist:
the ranks of all religious Americans rose by 10.6m (7%) ...
overall population grew by 7.5% ...
the number of Episcopalians and Methodists dropped by 19% each ...
the Lutherans plunged by 25% ...
Presbyterians lost nearly 1m (40%) ...
The Southern Baptist Convention shrank 11% ...
non-denominational Christian churches recruited 9m new members ...
Catholics claim they gained nearly 3m members (a 5% increase) despite closing over 1,100 churches.
Color me skeptical.
Start with the big number.
Average population grew 7.1% or 22 million over the period, according to POPTHM, which is the data of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, not 7.5% as stated in the story.
The data of the U.S. Census, as shown by POP, shows average population grew by even less over the period: 6.97% or 21.6 million, not 7.5% as stated in the story.
Obviously these are estimates, not counts, but the reported overall population growth claim in the story is up to a half-point larger than these big baseline numbers reported by the official organs of the U.S. government.
One half point of 310 million is 1.55 million people. One false move and you've just wiped out the entire denomination of the American Baptist Churches USA. When you study religion in America, you are discussing a bewildering number of splinter groups, many of which are simply microscopic in size.
It's extremely difficult to get data about groups like that right. Fully 40% are left out of even good surveys.
We are then confidently given to believe that hardly half the population growth went on to affiliate with a religion over the period: 10.6 million out of something north of 22 million, but by the end of the story you then have to believe also that 9 million new non-denoms plus 3 million new Catholics still equals 10.6 million.
Hello, is there an economist in the house?
Separately, there is the recent claim, supported by Pew, that Mormonism is the fastest reproducing American religious group, the implications of which go wholly unaddressed by the story.
On the other hand, reported Mormon membership in the U.S. grew by fewer than 700k 2011-2023, according to the latest Mormon data.
As pointed out previously, Christians themselves variously and significantly exaggerate how much money they give to their churches. Relying on their statements of membership in surveys even such as this one is . . . problematic.
They resemble in these respects nothing so much as the wider culture of exaggeration.
I'm doing great. Everything is fine. Awesome, in fact.
57% can't afford a $1,000 emergency. 85% say the country is headed in the wrong direction. The world is going to end in 2031 if we don't address climate change.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Faithful Anglicans in Africa and global South fire shot across the bow of deviant Archbishop of Canterbury over same-sex marriage
Conservative Anglicans Call for Break With Archbishop of Canterbury Over Same-Sex Blessings
Conservative Anglican leaders said that their church, riven by disagreements over homosexuality, could no longer recognize England’s Archbishop of Canterbury as first among equals and called for an overhaul of how the global denomination is led.
Friday’s statement reflects a growing consensus among conservative Anglicans, most of them in Africa and elsewhere in the global South, that Archbishop Justin Welby should forfeit his world leadership role because of his support for the Church of England’s decision in February to allow the blessings of same-sex relationships.
“This renders his leadership role in the Anglican Communion entirely indefensible,” said the statement by the Global Anglican Future Conference, known as Gafcon, which met this week in Rwanda.
More.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Music was the opiate of the people long before religion ever was
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
The ringleader of unbelief in the resurrection is Peter
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
-- Matthew 28:16f.
The unique word for doubt here is used elsewhere in the NT only of Peter when walking on the water. Apparently doubt and Peter go together in Matthew's mind.
Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
-- Matthew 14:31
Saturday, April 8, 2023
Ross Douthat doesn't consider that the testimony of the eyes failed Mary Magdalene before it succeeded
Friday, April 7, 2023
The proverbial Lutheran legacy of guilt is so ubiquitous it once got a big round of knowing applause
"I am just a towering mass of Lutheran mid-western guilt".
-- David Letterman, October 2009, after the two-minute mark