Building Harmony: Iftar Dinner 2024
Aditee Vora
Fri, 19th Apr 2024
News Round-Up May 29
Jesus is a Political Prisoner?
A survey released in the USA revealed the amount of people who identify as being Christian has dropped, during recent years, from 78.4 per cent to 70.6 per cent of the total population. While seven out of 10 Americans is a massive number (223 million, among 319 million), the considerable decline has caused plenty of media speculation and coverage. Blame for the drop has been directed at “Milennials”, younger people who reject organised religion and its institutions more than previous generations. However, older people also contribute a significant proportion of those who have turned from Christian affiliation. One commentator suggests a key reason for the overall trend — Christianity has been corrupted by its involvement with American politics.
Pope Francis to promote ‘integral ecology’
The head of the global Catholic Church, Pope Francis, will soon release an environmental “encyclical” — a document that is the main way for moral teachings to be passed to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. Expected to be include in this document is a concept that has become increasingly popular among advocates for environmental action. “Integral ecology” refers to an understanding that humanity faces many crises, which are actually inter-related.
Parenting tips for Christian kids in a digital world
Several experts on family wellbeing and raising children were interviewed about how to thoughtfully approach the digital age. With children and young adults being more involved and integrated into media and communications than ever before, the task of helping them navigate them can seem overwhelming. But the answer might not be to bury heads in the sand, or to “freak out”. Instead, boundaries, trust and guidance remain key principles for being Godly in our usage of technology — no matter how old we are.
Christians should stop being so nice
What do people think of, when they think of a Christian? Some times, it can be a negative image of hypocrisy, or the stereotype of a judgmental prude. But people also can think that Christians are nice. Super nice. But a 21-year-old student minister begs to differ, because being nice can mean being fake, weak or unhelpful. “To be nice is to say positive things and fill space. Being nice means never hurting anyone’s feelings. It means never calling someone out when they hurt you. Being nice is avoiding conflict to avoid the tension. To be nice is not to set up boundaries after being hurt.” If Christians shouldn’t be nice, then what should they be….
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