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Thank you for the Time Mag article, which is of course encouraging. I would love to be proved wrong on Christianity's future.

Hard to get a good handle on facts, especially in a place like Indonesia, with its many, many islands, languages and peoples. However, let's think this through.

A high-side optimistic estimate would be one million conversions from Islam to Christianity per year. (Conversions don't all come from Muslims; they come from Animists and even from Chinese Communists in Indonesia, too.) The population of Indonesia is around 250 million, about 80% Muslim, 10% Christian, and 10% another including Hindu, Confucist and Animist. So, say 200 million Muslims. If one million convert from Muslim to Christian per year, that makes the annual conversion rate 0.5%.

Speaking carefully, five tenths of one percent is not what I would call massive.

(I am chastened when I think of a handful of people in my own family who have in practice exited Christianity. I would bet that many Freeper families know the sadness of seeing many -- well, use the term "backslidden" family members.)

I could well be wrong. I want to be wrong. I am open to the Holy Spirit's surprises.