Posted on 12/28/2014 12:37:52 PM PST by SeekAndFind
In the past, this season was marked by a greater interest in divinity, the family hearth and the joy of children. Increasingly our society has been turning away from such simple human pleasures, replacing them with those of technology.
Despite the annual holiday pageantry, in the West religion is on the decline, along with our society’s emphasis on human relationships. Atheism seems to be getting stronger, estimated at around 13 percent worldwide but much higher in such countries as Japan, Germany and China. “The world is going secular,” claims author Nigel Barber. “Nothing short of an ice age can stop it.”
In contrast, the religion of technology is gaining adherents. In a poll in the U.K., about as many said they believe Google to have their best interests at heart as God. Religious disbelief has been rising particularly among U.S. millennials, a group that, according to Pew, largely eschews traditional religion and embraces technology as a primary value. Some 26 percent profess no religious affiliation, twice the level of their boomer parents; they are twice as irreligious at their age as any previous generation.
For millennials, religion is increasingly a matter of personalized “self knowledge” that need not be pursued in church, or as part of their community. Computer scientist Allen Downey has done interesting research that shows that Internet use is a primary driver of declining interest in religion.
(Excerpt) Read more at newgeography.com ...
Tech won’t save you from starving once the financial collapse Obola is engineering comes to fruition.
It’s like what Jesus says here, in that he questions whether there will be faith when he returns.
This indicates to me that he will find faith, but it’s waning to the extreme, so that one could question whether there will be faith remaining any longer.
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ “
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:1-8
I don’t know about that.
I don’t believe religion is prominent in China.
At all.
My tag line is not really just about Obama. It is also about the time frame over which he presides. And for me, the subject of this article is part of the cause of what I expect to happen.
And ... in the same vein as this article ... nothing else in this world, no matter what you do or think, will save you (that’s anyone) from the Great White Throne judgement of Revelation 20, for those who have rejected salvation given by God’s Son, Jesus the Meesiah of Israel
Christianity in China
http://www.billionbibles.org/china/how-many-christians-in-china.html
Beijing attacks claim China could become ‘world’s most Christian nation’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10787236/Beijing-attacks-claim-China-could-become-worlds-most-Christian-nation.html
The Communist Party has hit out at predictions in The Telegraph that China is on course to become the world’s biggest Christian congregation, in a sign of Beijing’s deep unease at the rapid spread of Christianity within its borders.
In a recent interview with the paper, Fenggang Yang, a leading expert on religion in China, said the number of Chinese Protestants could swell to around 160 million by 2025 with the total number of Christians exceeding 247 million by 2030.
That would see China move ahead of Mexico, Brazil and the United States as the world’s biggest Christian community.
Christianity is now growing so fast that there is a “serious shortage” of churches, Prof Yang said. “The distance between pews in Chinese churches is narrower than between airplane economy seats.” However, state media yesterday played down the size of China’s congregations. The Global Times cited a Peking University study according to which there were 26 million Protestants in China in 2012.
Academics and members of China’s “house church” movement believe the true figure is closer to 80 million since most Christians are forced to worship in underground churches.
“We multiple the official number by three,” said one house church leader whose congregations do not feature in government statistics.
Technology is neutral. It can be put to good or evil uses.
I bet the guy who invented Facebook didn’t envision, or even want, it to spread the gospel all over the globe. But it does. And scoffers can be told off on the spot.
Au contraire; if you can hack, you can survive.
Just saying, I don’t really buy it.
We are lolly-gagging with China because they make stuff cheaply.
The big problem is, they have about four or five times our population, and practice a very aggressive form of trade, which is all for China and nothing for anyone else.
We do not own businesses in China. Every business in China has a majority interest, which is owned by China.
America went into our “trade relationship” with China worrying about unions. China “conveniently” offered an alternative.
The big problem with this is, China plans to keep all of our industry, and continue to build and grow, including now the second-largest military budget on the face of the planet, and it continues to grow, and grow, and grow.
And grow.
And grow. Every single year. Democrats and Republicans are both on board, selling all of what used to be the world’s industry, off to China.
China.
We need to stop selling off our industry, we need to insist on fair trade, and neither party is lifting a single finger while China continues to grow, ever stronger.
China needn’t be an enemy.
But the way we are treating them right now, is virtually guaranteed to lead to that.
We have given away everything.
And no one, in either party, says one single thing, to even slow down the sell out.
Nobody.
This is why I raise the subject of China frequently.
There is no more important country in the world. But we are giving away everything and ... well we are losing.
Bigtime.
America is now number two in the world, and falling rapidly.
China is on top.
The longer we insist on talking about everything except that, the worse things get.
Current American trade deficit (combined)
18 Trillion Dollars.
(And growing. Rapidly)
Christianity and Catholicism in particular are on the decline in the West. This country wasn’t what it was when I was growing up during the 80s/90s.
Islam is on the rise.
What’s interesting, and potentially our undoing is how younger people tend to be ‘secular’, but it’s more of a hostility towards Christianity. Yet, they are “tolerant” of Islam.
I just wonder how many people will need to die before they lose their “tolerance” of Islam(it is NOT a “religion of peace”. The Christians don’t want to behead any of them for not ‘believing’, but the rag heads sure as hell do! (not to mention how they treat women as little more than animals and they just straight up kill all homosexuals)
There will be a breaking point somewhere.
There is another take on this. McLuhan said that techonology changes people. The picture in post #5, though likely a parody, illustrates.
Try using tech without the power. Try using it if you have to hole up in a disaster shelter. UNO cards would, in a little bit, be worth more than a tablet.
Christianity and Jesus as Messiah of Israel, and the accompanying salvation offered ... really does not relate to business or politics or governments interaction with one another.
There may be people who want to make Christianity an “arm” or suborganization of business, or governmental politics ... but it’s totally independent from it.
The bottom line is that Christianity will, upon the return of the Messiah of Israel to rule the nations, like China and the USA, will crush and completely obliterate the business systems and governmental institutions. They will be no more.
Actually, Islam isn’t harsh to bisexuals. However, gay pride is a case of people not knowing their place to the Muslims. Most homosexuals who whine have no idea what second class means, try living in Saudi Arabia, where your pride puts you at the mercy of the mob.
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