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Unbelief Now the World's Third - Largest 'religion'
Dec 26th, 2012
Daily Newsreligiontoday.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A new report on global religious identity shows that while Christians and Muslims make up the two largest groups, those with no religious affiliation -- including atheists and agnostics -- are now the third-largest "religious" group in the world.

The study, released Tuesday (Dec. 18) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, found that more than eight in 10 (84 percent) of the world's 7 billion people adheres to some form of religion. Christians make up the largest group, with 2.2 billion adherents, or 23 percent worldwide, followed by Muslims, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23 percent worldwide.

Close behind are the "nones" -- those who say they have no religious affiliation or say they do not believe in God -- at 1. 1 billion, or 16 percent. That means that about the same number of people who identify as Catholics worldwide say they have no religion.

"One out of six people does not have a religious identity," said Conrad Hackett, a primary researcher and demographer on the study. "But it is also striking that that overwhelming majority of the world does have some type of religious identity. So I think people will be surprised by either way of looking at it."

The next largest groups, the report finds, are Hindus (1 billion people, or 15 percent), Buddhists (500 million people, or 7 percent) and Jews (14 million people, or 0.2 percent). More than 400 million people -- 6 percent -- practice folk traditions from African, Chinese, Native American or Australian aboriginal cultures.

An additional 58 million people -- slightly less than 1 percent of the global population -- belong to "other" religions, such as the Baha'i faith, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Tenrikyo, Wicca and Zoroastrianism.

In addition to the numbers of adherents, the study also looks at where they live. Christians are the most evenly distributed, while Jews are fairly evenly divided between North America and the Middle East.

The United States has the highest number of Christians of any nation, at more than 243 million, or 78 percent of the total U.S. population.

Meanwhile, the majority of the world's religiously unaffiliated -- 76 percent -- live in the Asia-Pacific region, with 700 million in China alone, where religion was stifled during the Cultural Revolution.

The report found nearly 51 million religiously unaffiliated Americans, or about 16.4 percent of the U.S. population. That number is smaller than the 19 percent of Americans Pew reported earlier this year.

Researchers attribute this discrepancy to the fact that their 2012 report was based on information from adults only, and the newest report includes the religious adherence of children, which tends to be higher than that of adults.

And while the number of the religiously unaffiliated is high, researchers are careful to point out that they are by no means homogeneous.

Surveys considered in this report show that 7 percent of unaffiliated Chinese report a belief in God or some other high power, while that number among the unaffiliated French is 30 percent, and among Americans it climbs to 68 percent. In China, 44 percent of unaffiliated adults say they have worshiped at a graveside or tomb in the past year.

The report covers 230 countries and is drawn from more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population records accrued through 2010. It marks the first attempt to pin down a global religious landscape using such records, Hackett said.

Other findings include:

•About three-quarters (73 percent) of the world's people live in countries where their religion is in the majority, mostly Christians and Hindus.

•The religiously unaffiliated are in the majority in six nations: China, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hong Kong, Japan and North Korea.

•The unaffiliated, Buddhists and Jews have the highest median age (34, 34 and 36 respectively) while Muslims, Hindus and Christians have the lowest (23, 26 and 30 respectively). Median age is a predictor of how religious groups will grow, as those with a younger age have more women of child-bearing age.

Ryan Cragun, a religion sociologist at the University of Tampa who studies the nonreligious, said the numbers on the unaffiliated are not surprising. But he cautions that surveys that rely on secondary data, such as censuses, and self-reporting often over calculates some groups, such as Christians.

"The real question is whether or not the nonreligious are outpacing the religious when it comes to growth," he said.

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 26th, 2012
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Will 2013 Mark the Beginning of American Decline?
Prevailing arguments about when the era of U.S. dominance would end, and which country would supplant it, have been wildly and consistently wrong for half a century. In the 1950s, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was taken seriously when he told Western ambassadors “We will bury you.” Today, his country no longer exists. In the 1980s, Japan was supposedly going to be No. 1; now the question is whether the precipitous decline in its working-age population will generate a fiscal crisis.

Earthquake Strikes 2014 Olympics Host Sochi
Irina Gogoleva of Russia's Emergencies Ministry said no one was hurt and there was no apparent damage to the city's infrastructure after a 5.2 magnitude earthquake was reported at 2:42 a.m. local time on Wednesday (2242 GMT on Tuesday). "The Emergencies Ministry servicemen scoured through the city districts, bridges and electrical cables, there was no damage," Gogoleva said, adding that the epicenter of the quake was some 150 kilometers (93 miles) off Sochi in the Black Sea.

Israel fears EU may push for peace in 2013
Israel believes that the EU may try to force it and the Palestinian National Authority to reach a peace agreement in 2013, according to a report published in the Israeli daily Haaretz. The report, based on an Israeli foreign ministry document, states that the EU seriously doubts the viability of the peace process in its current format to end the Palestinain-Israeli conflict, and believes that it needs a new format for there to be progress in 2013.

Legal Gun Owners in New York Outed Like Sex Offenders
The Gannett owned newspaper did not specify a reason for invading the privacy of handgun owners. However, considering the animosity of officialdom in the state toward the Second Amendment and the right to own firearms, the reason for outing legal handgun owners should be obvious.

China on Alert After Japan Scrambles Jets over E. China Sea
Japanese media report Japan sent F15 fighter aircraft after detecting a Chinese marine surveillance plane in disputed airspace near contested islands in the East China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Tuesday Beijing will pay close attention to Japan's decision to dispatch fighter jets. She said China's surveillance plane was conducting routine patrols at the time.

Syrian rebels report 18 cases of chemical attacks
A day after reports surfaced of a mysterious gas being used by the Syrian regime, rebels are claiming it was not the first time chemical weapons were employed by Assad's army.

Hamas Leader Tells ‘Education’ Conference Israel is a ‘Cancerous Tumor that Must Be Removed’
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh made new incendiary statements against Israel at a Tuesday conference on education in Gaza, iusing words that could be described as educating toward the hatred of Jews. Israel’s Channel 10 News reports that Haniyeh called for Israel’s destruction and said: “Israel is a cancerous tumor that must be removed and uprooted.”

PM visits Jordan to discuss Syria
The London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently made a visit to Jordan, to discuss the recent developments in Syria. The report hints that Netanyahu met with top officials in Amman's government, including King Abdullah, but makes no official statement to that effect.

Israel tightens grip on east Jerusalem by approving another 1,242 new homes
The homes will be built in Gilo, a settlement of around 40,000 people geographically in the south of Jerusalem but east of the green line that divided Israeli and Arab territory before the 1967 Six Day War. Jerusalem's planning and construction committee has given consent to build 942 houses immediately, with another 300 to follow once land ownership issues have been settled, the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said.

Blast in Afghan city of Khost; Taliban says US base targeted
A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees.

Syria crisis: Military police chief al-Shalal defects
The commander of Syria's military police has defected from President Bashar-al Assad's government and reportedly fled to Turkey. Lt Gen Abulaziz al-Shalal is one of the highest-ranking officials to join the uprising against the Syrian regime. The army had failed to protect Syrians and turned into "gangs of murder", the general said in a video statement.

Nigeria gunmen 'kill at least six Christians' in Yobe
Gunmen in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe have shot dead at least six Christians, the army and local officials say. They say a church in Peri village near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe, was set on fire in an attack late on Christmas Eve. No group has so far said it carried out the attack.

Egypt's Morsi signs Islamist constitution into law
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has signed into law a new Islamist-drafted constitution he says will help end political turmoil and allow him to focus on fixing the fragile economy. Anxiety about the deepening economic crisis has gripped Egypt in past weeks, with many people rushing to take out their savings from banks and the government imposing new restrictions to reduce capital flight.

Iran media report new cyberattack by Stuxnet worm
An Iranian semi-official news agency says there has been another cyberattack by the sophisticated computer worm Stuxnet, this time on the industries in the country's south. Tuesday's report by ISNA quotes provincial civil defense chief Ali Akbar Akhavan as saying the virus targeted a power plant and some other industries in Hormozgan province in recent months. Akhavan says Iranian computer experts were able to "successfully stop" the worm.

Hamas official calls for suicide bombings in response to East Jerusalem construction plans
Ahmed Abu Haliba says ‘armed resistance’ should be used to stop Israel from building the Third Temple

Report says Netanyahu may seek secular government
Israel Radio reports meeting between Netanyahu and Livni associates on her role in next government • Parties deny meeting • PM says he will focus on three goals: housing portfolio out of sectoral hands, national service for all and changes in system of government.

Snowstorm heads east after South twisters; 3 dead
An enormous storm system that dumped snow and sleet on the nation's midsection and unleashed damaging tornadoes around the Deep South began punching its way toward the Northeast on Wednesday, slowing holiday travel.

Indian Jews from 'Lost Tribe' Move to Israel
Dec 26th, 2012
Daily NewsYahoo.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Dozens of Jews who claim to be the descendants of a lost biblical Jewish tribe emigrated to Israel on Monday from their village in northeastern India, celebrating their arrival after a five-year struggle to get in.

The Bnei Menashe say they are descended from Jews banished from ancient Israel to India in the eighth century B.C. An Israeli chief rabbi recognized them as a lost tribe in 2005, and about 1,700 moved to Israel over the next two years before the government stopped giving them visas.

Israel recently reversed that policy, agreeing to let the remaining 7,200 Bnei Menashe immigrate.

Fifty-three arrived on a flight Monday. Michael Freund, an Israel-based activist on their behalf, said nearly 300 others will arrive in the coming weeks.

"After waiting for thousands of years, our dream came true," said Lhing Lenchonz, 26, who arrived with her husband and 8-month-old daughter. "We are now in our land."

Not all Israelis think Bnei Menashe qualify as Jews, and some suspect they are simply fleeing poverty in India.

Avraham Poraz, a former interior minister, said they were not linked to the Jewish people. He also charged that Israeli settlers were using them to strengthen Israel's claims to the West Bank.

When Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar recognized the Bnei Menashe as a lost tribe in 2005, he insisted they undergo conversion to be recognized as Jews. He sent a rabbinical team to India that converted 218 Bnei Menashe, until Indian authorities stepped in and stopped it.

The Bnei Menashe come from the states of Mizoram and Manipur near India's border with Myanmar, where, they say, their ancestors landed after the Assyrians banished them. Over the centuries they became animists, and in the 19th century, British missionaries converted many to Christianity.

Even so, the group says they continued to practice ancient Jewish rituals, including animal sacrifices, which they say were passed down from generation to generation. Jews in the Holy Land stopped animal sacrifices after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Egypt Officially Under 'Sharia Law'
Dec 26th, 2012
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday officially signed into law a new constitution drafted by his own Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups, and which critics say has effectively placed Egypt under strict Sharia Law.

Two referendums were held on the new constitution. The results of the second were announced on Tuesday: 63.8 percent of the small number of those who voted were in favor of the document.

Morsi said now that the new constitution is in place, he can focus on fixing Egypt's internal problems. But others say it will only exacerbate internal divisions and transform Egypt into a pariah state on par with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

While Morsi claims the new constitution contains rights and protections for all Egyptians, its vagueness in certain areas and overt Islamic flavor has lead many to fear that radical Muslim clerics are going to play an increasingly influential role in Egypt, while minority groups and women will suffer.

"It's a disaster," female Egyptian lawyer Nihad Abu El Konsam told German media. "There isn't a single article in the draft constitution that mentions the rights of women."

"This constitution will set Egypt 100 years back," added Abu El Konsam, noting that the Muslim Brotherhood had purposely left "open doors" that will result in Egyptians being placed under an extremist form of Islamic rule.

Hamdeen Sabahi, an opposition leader who placed third in Egypt's presidential election, said the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists have "stolen" Egypt's pro-democracy revolution, but he remains hopeful that they can be toppled.

In the meantime, "Morsi may have been elected democratically, but he is not governing democratically," charged Sabahi in an interview with the Associated Press.

Evidence of that was seen in Morsi's reaction to ongoing opposition to his new constitution even after it passed the referendum. The president issued a thinly-veiled warning that public demonstrations against his rule must end, because the people were tired of it.

Morsi tried to accuse all who oppose him of being responsible for the nation's continuing economic woes, a tried and true tactic used by all of recent history's most successful despots.

The threats seemed to be working. While the run-up to the referendum saw hundreds of thousands protesting daily in central Cairo and even marching on the presidential palace, now that it has been signed into law very few are taking to the streets.

Christianity 'Close to Extinction' in Middle East
Dec 26th, 2012
Daily NewsTelegraph.co.uk
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.

The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

"A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.”

It cites estimates that 200 million Christians, or 10 per cent of Christians worldwide, are “socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs.”

“Exposing and combating the problem ought in my view to be political priorities across large areas of the world. That this is not the case tells us much about a questionable hierarchy of victimhood,” says the author, Rupert Shortt, a journalist and visiting fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

He adds: “The blind spot displayed by governments and other influential players is causing them to squander a broader opportunity. Religious freedom is the canary in the mine for human rights generally.”

The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a “Western creed” which can be used to undermine them.

State hostility towards Christianity is particularly rife in China, where more Christians are imprisoned than in any other country in the world, according to the report.

It quotes Ma Hucheng, an advisor to the Chinese government, who claimed in an article last year that the US has backed the growth of the Protestant Church in China as a vehicle for political dissidence.

“Western powers, with America at their head, deliberately export Christianity to China and carry out all kinds of illegal evangelistic activities,” he wrote in the China Social Sciences Press.

“Their basic aim is to use Christianity to change the character of the regime...in China and overturn it,” he added.

The “lion’s share” of persecution faced by Christians arises in countries where Islam is the dominant faith, the report says, quoting estimates that between a half and two-thirds of Christians in the Middle East have left the region or been killed in the past century.

“There is now a serious risk that Christianity will disappear from its biblical heartlands,” it claims.

The report shows that “Muslim-majority” states make up 12 of the 20 countries judged to be “unfree” on the grounds of religious tolerance by Freedom House, the human rights think tank.

It catalogues hundreds of attacks on Christians by religious fanatics over recent years, focusing on seven countries: Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Burma and China.

It claims George Bush’s use of the word “crusade” after the September 11 attacks on New York created the impression for Muslims in the Middle East of a “Christian assault on the Muslim world”.

“But however the motivation for violence is measured, the early twenty-first century has seen a steady rise in the strife endured by Christians,” the report says.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq left Iraqi Christians “more vulnerable than ever”, highlighted by the 2006 beheading of a kidnapped Orthodox priest, Fr Boulos Iskander, and the kidnapping of 17 further priests and two bishops between 2006 and 2010.

“In most cases, those responsible declared that they wanted all Christians to be expelled from the country,” the report says.

In Pakistan, the murder last year of Shahbaz Bhatti, the country’s Catholic minister for minorities, “vividly reflected” religious intolerance in Pakistan.

Shortly after his death it emerged that Mr Bhatti had recorded a video in which he declared: “I am living for my community and for suffering people and I will die to defend their rights.

"I prefer to die for my principles and for the justice of my community rather than to compromise. I want to share that I believe in Jesus Christ, who has given his own life for us.”

The report also warns that Christians in India have faced years of violence from Hindu extremists. In 2010 scores of attacks on Christians and church property were carried out in Karnataka, a state in south west India.

And while many people are aware of the oppression faced in Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy activists, targeted abuse of Christians in the country has been given little exposure, the report says.

In some areas of Burma the government has clamped down on Christian protesters by restricting the building of new churches.

“Openly professing Christians employed in government service find it virtually impossible to get promotion,” it adds.