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Not only have we seen a dramatic increase in antisemitism in the US and Europe in the last couple of years but it is also reported that, "Over 2,400 anti-Christian hate crimes recorded across Europe in 2023" This is not really surprising since Western culture has largely jettisoned the Judeo-Christian worldview, morality, and ethics. The mere existence of Jews and Bible believing Christians are daily reminder of what Woke culture has rejected and is running away from: 

Commenting on the findings, Anja Hoffmann, executive director of OIDAC Europe, said, "In particular, Christians who adhere to traditional religious beliefs face increasing discrimination and hostility, ranging from bullying at work to the loss of employment.

"It is very worrying that the peaceful expression of personal religious beliefs, for example on matters relating to marriage and family, has become the potential end of a political career or employment, or even the beginning of a court case."

Germany ranked third highest after France and the UK, rising from 135 incidents in 2022 to 277 last year - a 105% increase. 

The report is based on data reported by European governments to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2023, as well as instances reported by civil society. 

Hoffmann said it was likely that the real number of anti-Christian hate crimes was much higher as several countries, including France, did not submit statistics to the OSCE last year.

Though some are shocked by this, it should not be a surprise. Once biblical morality and ethics are excised from culture, there is no reason not to be intolerant toward, discriminate against, and perpetrate hate crimes against those who continue to hold on to these beliefs. It is the reason why atheists like Richard Dawkins and Tom Holland have begun calling themselves "cultural Christians." Dawkins is seeing the fruit of his battle against God and is fearful of where this will lead.

https://mailchi.mp/493b068c238b/do-spiritual-practices-of-black-lives-matter-align-with-haitian-voodoo-pt-2?e=169825fd77

In fact, as has been pointed out by historians, not only were the founders of modern science Christians themselves, but it is no coincidence that they were all part of a Christian culture. Modern science would not have arisen in any other of the world’s cultures. That is why these great men of science have almost no counterparts elsewhere in world history:

“Where is the Greek version of Newton? Where is the Muslim version of Kepler? Where is the Hindu version of Boyle? Where is the Buddhist version of Mendel? Such questions are all the more powerful when you pause to consider that science studies [universal] truths. . . . How is it that so many other cultures, some existing for thousands of years, failed to discover, or even anticipate, Newton’s first law of motion or Kepler’s laws of planetary motion? So it’s not just that the Christian religion is associated with the birth of modern science [but] that modern science was not birthed in cultures which lacked the Christian religion.”

As the culture becomes more and more paganized, the realization of humans being created in the Imago Dei, the image of God, continues to dispute. Worship of the planet as our mother grows. The earth as our mother, is one of the centerpieces at The Parliament of the World's Religions as they repent for climate change and provide drop off receptacales for "Letters to Mom." In "Plants are People Too?" Steven Hayward comments on climate change activist, Elizabeth Kolbert's work toward bringing about plant's rights :

Her newest obsession might be called “the secret life of plants.” Because guess what? Plants are intelligent, and communicate! But since we eat them and trample on them, sounds like the next favored oppressed group for the Democratic Party.

Think I am being facetious? Let’s take in some samples: “A body of recent scientific research suggests that plants can adapt to new information, predict the future, communicate with animals, and confer privately with each other. Should we think of them as sentient? . . . Plants communicate with one another. . . Plants are also able to confer privately, with just their kin, by emitting chemicals only relatives can interpret.”

It seems this is not really a new idea and has been litigated in the past. Hayward's is interesting: “Dust off your copy of the famous 1970 law review article “Should Trees Have Standing?“, and await the first class-action lawsuit on behalf of oppressed plants everywhere.”

I am reminded here of a stanza of a poem by the contemplative monk Thomas Merton:

Keep away, son, these lakes are salt.
These flowers Eat insects. Here private lunatics
Yell and skip in a very dry country.

Even though Thomas Merton is a Contemplative Dark Thread he may be right on this one.

https://mailchi.mp/8ccecca2ed23/designer-jesus?e=169825fd77

I’ve [read] about people around the world who are training at home during the physical-distancing orders. Even though they have not been allowed to leave their small apartments or homes, many have shown great creativity in coming up with ways to continue training. People are running marathons on their balconies, in their yards, and even in their rooms. They see the benefits of continuing their training and, in particular, endurance training.

We need to see the need for spiritual endurance, and actively pursue it!

First, we must understand what endurance is. It is the ability to bear up under a load or great pressure, like a weightlifter bears up under a heavy load. He struggles and strains with all his energy as he lifts a large weight, keeping it up off the ground for the allotted time. Steadfastness, patience, fortitude, and perseverance are other words used to describe this quality.

In the same way that someone who has physical endurance doesn’t tucker out after the first lap (to switch metaphors), the person who has spiritual endurance doesn’t give up or give in to sin as a trial goes on. He continues to bear up under the trial, responding to it in God-honoring ways.

Throughout Scripture we learn God uses trials to produce endurance. These trials are also referred to as “tests”, “tribulations”, and “temptations.”

James:1:2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
See All... says, “The testing of your faith produces endurance.” Romans:5:3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
See All... puts it this way: “Tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character.”

Just like a runner builds his endurance by running longer distances and a weightlifter builds his strength by lifting heavier weights, we build spiritual endurance by “lifting” the heavy load of trials. This process requires hard work and is often uncomfortable. God uses trials to produce endurance as He builds up our spiritual strength.

But simply gritting our teeth and surviving a trial isn’t enough: trials don’t automatically produce endurance and proven character. In fact, every trial, trouble, or difficulty is not only a trial, but also a test! Every trial places us at a crossroads and we must choose either to trust and obey God or to doubt and disobey Him. God produces endurance in us as we obey Him and His Word in the trials we encounter.

We’ve seen this in our own lives. We can look back and see times when we’ve faced a trail and, by God’s help, chose to obey. One test that God brought into my life was a time when I faced significant health problems and was unable to carry out any of my normal activities. This season lasted way beyond what I thought I could handle. And yet today I can see that God used that extended trial to build my endurance and to change me.

—Sheila Pennington (She and her husband Pastor Tom Pennington serve at Countryside Bible Church in Texas).

It is amazing how the climate among scientists has swung radically to the side of atheism since acceptance of Darwin’s theory gathered momentum. Of course, this became Darwin’s basic motivation—and he was successful beyond his wildest hopes. This is particularly shocking when one considers that the vast majority of history’s most famous scientists believed firmly in a supernatural Creator—especially those whose genius laid the foundation for today’s science. They said, almost to a man, that their belief in God and thus in an orderly universe led them to discover the laws of physics, chemistry, thermodynamics, etc., for which they are still given credit today.

After UMC approves same-sex marriage, unrest breaks out in Liberian church

Protests broke out on Sunday (Oct.13) at the New Georgia United Methodist Church in Monrovia over the suspension of the Rev. Leo Mason, the church’s senior pastor and an outspoken critic of same-sex marriage. The protests spread to other churches in the capital, prompting riot police to intervene.

The tensions escalated Sunday, when protests broke out at the New Georgia United Methodist Church in Monrovia over the suspension of the Rev. Leo Mason, the church’s senior pastor and an outspoken critic of same-sex marriages. The protests spread to other churches in the capital, prompting riot police to intervene.

At a news conference on Monday, the Bishop Samuel Quire said that the United Methodist Church in Liberia firmly upheld the definition of marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman. “This belief is deeply rooted in the interpretation of biblical teachings, our cultural values and our shared commitment in upholding marriage as a union between man and a woman,” he said, urging the church members to stay out of the streets.

He tried to reassure opponents of marriage for LGBTQ couples, saying, “I want to say here … that our church … is not a gay church nor will it ever adopt such an identity.”

The Bishop Quire said the issue of same-sex marriage has been lingering since the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, April 23-May 3, removed language banning LGBTQ clergy and restrictions on same-sex marriage from the church’s Book of Discipline.

The General Conference also passed measures to restructure the denomination, giving each region greater equity in tailoring church life to its own customs and traditions, including an amendment that awards equal standing to its worldwide regions, including Africa, Europe, the Philippines and the United States. 

The conference’s measures followed years of dissent and debate on LGBTQ issues that have resulted in a painful schism that has split some 7,600 U.S.-based churches from the denomination — about 25% of all U.S. congregations.

According to a senior leader in the Monrovia District Conference of the Liberia Annual Conference who did not want to be named, church members are opposed to regionalization that would pave the way for acceptance of homosexuality.

“We do not accept regionalization. The new policy comes with a package that includes LGBTQ issues and same-sex marriages,” a leader of the Elias D. McGill United Methodist Church in Monrovia told RNS in a telephone interview. “How can he say the United Methodist Church in Liberia is not a gay church, while it maintains a relationship with a church that accepts this policy?

“We want him to call for the special session so we can decide for ourselves,” he added.

Quire has suspended Elias D. McGill’s pastor, the Rev. Elijah Dajue, for joining the calls for the session, but on Oct.7, the church wrote the presiding bishop, rejecting the suspension and the new pastor Quire sent to the church.

Dajue “has done nothing wrong except his persistent teaching and preaching of the true message of salvation to us which exposes the contradiction and deceptive nature of regionalization policy against biblical teaching, belief and practice,” said the leaders in the letter.

The bishop has not called a special session, he said, because it may lead to the dissolution of his conference, pointing to a special session held by the United Methodist Church in Ivory Coast in May, where the body voted to leave the United Methodist Church. Similar votes have occurred in Zambia and Nigeria, where the resident bishop resigned after calling the special session.

https://religionnews.com/2024/10/16/after-umc-approves-same-sex-marriage-unrest-breaks-out-in-liberian-church/?utm_source=RNS+Updates&utm_campaign=d8c6634371-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_10_18_01_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c5356cb657-d8c6634371-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

[TBC: Bishop Quire also said “…Regarding churches that have threatened in writing to break away from the Liberian church…“They have forgotten their identity.…No local church has the right to remove itself from the United Methodist Church. They have no authority.” In truth, Bishop Quire has become a leader like those the early church confronted in Acts:5:29Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
See All...: “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”]

At least Pigluicci is not as dogmatic as most of his colleagues. He does acknowledge that “special creation . . . although implausible . . . is still possible.” However, he says it need not be considered because “though the situation is messy, it is not that desperate.” Still firmly opposed to God, he momentarily tilts toward agnosticism: “It may be that the only rational position for the time being is simply a provisional and salutary, ‘I don’t know.’”43 But on one point he remains unshakable: that huge area of “I don’t know” is not allowed to contain a Creator.

This is a shocking statement coming from a scientist who also has a doctorate in philosophy. The truth is that he cannot even explain in physical terms the idea he is expressing. As we point out repeatedly because of the great importance of this foregoing fact, no idea, concept, or conviction is physical. For example, “goodness” is a common idea understood by all. What does it weigh, smell like, look like, feel like, or sound like? Goodness is a concept held entirely in the mind that has no relationship to the physical world. Surely, Pigliucci would deny that he rejects God and believes in evolution because of the physical composition and configuration of his brain. Thus, his very belief that “the world can be explained entirely in physical terms” cannot itself be explained in physical terms.