Category Archives: Atheist

Nathalie Charles, even in her mid-teens, felt unwelcome in her Baptist congregation, with its conservative views on immigration, gender and sexuality. So she left.

I just dont feel like that gelled with my view of what God is and what God can be, said Charles, an 18-year-old of Haitian descent who identifies as queer and is now a freshman at Princeton University.

It wasnt a very loving or nurturing environment for someones faith.

After leaving her New Jersey church three years ago, she identified as atheist, then agnostic, before embracing a spiritual but not religious life. In her dorm, she blends rituals at an altar, chanting Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu mantras and paying homage to her ancestors as she meditates and prays.

The path taken by Charles places her among the religiously unaffiliated -- the fastest-growing group in surveys asking Americans about their religious identity. They describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or nothing in particular.

According to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, this group commonly known as the nones now constitutes 29% of American adults. Thats up from 23% in 2016 and 19% in 2011.

If the unaffiliated were a religion, theyd be the largest religious group in the United States, said Elizabeth Drescher, an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University who wrote a book about the spiritual lives of the nones.

The religiously unaffiliated were once concentrated in urban, coastal areas, but now live across the U.S., representing a diversity of ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, Drescher said.

Even in their personal philosophies, Americas nones vary widely, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. For example, 30% say they feel some connection to God or a higher power, and 19% say religion has some importance to them even though they have no religious affiliation.

About 12% describe themselves as religious and spiritual and 28% as spiritual but not religious. More than half describe themselves as neither.

Nearly 60% of the nones say religion was at least somewhat important to their families when they were growing up, according to the AP-NORC poll. It found that 30% of nones meditate and 26% pray privately at least a few times a month, while smaller numbers consult periodically with a religious or spiritual leader.

There are people who do actually practice, either in a particular faith tradition that we would recognize, or in multiple faith traditions, Drescher said. Theyre not interested in either membership in those communities formally or in identifying as someone from that religion.

Over recent years, the prevalence of the nones in the U.S. has been roughly comparable to Western Europe -- but overall, Americans remain more religious, with higher rates of daily prayer and belief in God as described in the Bible. According to a 2018 Pew survey, about two-thirds of U.S. Christians prayed daily, compared to 6% in Britain and 9% in Germany

The growth of the nones in the U.S. has come largely at the expense of the Protestant population in the U.S., according to the new Pew survey. It said 40% of U.S. adults are Protestants now, down from 50% a decade ago.

Among the former Protestants is Shianda Simmons, 36, of Lakeland, Florida, who began identifying as an atheist in 2013.

She grew up as a Baptist and attended church regularly; she says she left mainly because of the churchs unequal treatment of women.

Not everyone in her family knows she has forsaken religion, and some who do know struggle to accept it, Simmons said.

There are certain people I cant tell that I am atheist, she said. It has made me draw away from my family.

Similarly, at the beauty store she owns, she feels she must keep her atheism under wraps from clients, for fear theyd go elsewhere.

Like Simmons, Mandisa Thomas is a Black atheist an identity that can be challenging in the many African American communities where churches are a powerful force. Thomas sang in a church choir in her childhood, but was not raised Christian.

Within the Black community, we face ostracism, said Thomas, who lives near Atlanta and founded Black Nonbelievers, a support group, in 2011. There is this idea that somehow you are rejecting your blackness when you reject religion, that atheism is something that white people do.

Another advocate for the nones is Kevin Bolling, who grew up in a military family and served as a Roman Catholic altar boy. In college, he began to question the churchs role, and grew dismayed about its position on sexuality after he came out as gay.

Hes now executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, which has more than 200 branches in colleges and schools nationwide. The chapters, he said, serve as havens for secular students or those questioning their faith.

I think this generation can be the first generation to be majority non-religious versus majority religious, he said.

Being Catholic also was a big part of Ashley Taylors upbringing -- she became an altar server at 9. Now 30, she identifies as religiously unaffiliated.

It just means finding meaning and maybe even spirituality without practicing a religion . pulling from whatever makes sense to me or whatever fits with my values, she said.

Her faith gave her strength when she had cancer at 11, she said, but she also feels that growing up Catholic negatively affected her emotional and sexual development and delayed her coming out as queer.

Eventually, Taylor discovered Sunday Assembly, which provided her with a congregation-like community but in a secular way, offering activities such as singing, book clubs and trivia nights. She's now board president at Sunday Assembly Pittsburgh.

Theyre not trying to tell you whats true, said Taylor. Theres always a spirit of curiosity and questioning and openness.

For some nones, such as 70-year-old Zayne Marston of Shelburne, Massachusetts, their spiritual journey keeps evolving over decades.

Growing up near Boston, Marston attended a Congregational church with his family he remembers Bible study, church-sponsored dances, the itchiness of his flannel trousers while attending Sunday services.

Through high school and college, he drifted away from Christian beliefs and in his 30s began a serious, long-lasting journey into spirituality while in rehab to curb his alcoholism.

Spirituality is a soul-based journey into the heart, surrendering ones ego will to a higher will. he said. Were looking for our own answers, beyond the programming we received growing up.

His path has been rough at times the death of his wife from a fast-moving cancer, financial troubles leading to the loss of his house but he says his spiritual practice has replaced his anxieties with a gentle joy and a desire to help others.

He previously worked as a landscape designer and real estate appraiser, and now runs a school teaching qigong, a practice that evolved from China combining slow, relaxed movement with breathing exercises and meditation.

As a kid, I used to think of God up on a throne, with a white beard, passing judgment, but that has totally changed, Marston said. My higher power is the universe... Its always there for me, if I can get out of my egos way.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,083 adults was conducted Oct. 21-25 using a sample drawn designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The Pew survey was conducted among 3,937 respondents from May 29 to Aug. 25. It's margin of error for the full sample of respondents is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.

Associated Press Writer Mariam Fam contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Continued here:

What's your religion? In US, a common reply now is "None" - ABC News

Photo credit: Thomas Lipke via Unsplash.

Iain was a diehard atheist from the United Kingdom.I absolutely knew that I would never believe in a creator. It was inconceivable to me, he recalls.

The orca whale (breathtaking) sometimes gave Iain pause about his atheism. But it wasnt enough to change his mind.

Then he encountered Stephen Meyer and other proponents of intelligent design. Their work convinced him he was horribly wrong, opening his mind to a new reality: I see the natural world now through completely different eyes. I see that this experience I am living is no accident.

Your support of Discovery Institutes videos, books, and educational outreach programs made this transformation possible.

Today, Iain shares resources from Discovery Institute with his friends, hoping to persuade them about thetruth of intelligent design. Just last month, he shared some of our materials with a colleague at work. The colleague responded that he never imaginedI could have presented anything that would dent his belief in evolution, but he was wrong.

You can make more stories like Iains possible through your generous support.

When Steve Meyer and I founded Discovery Institutes Center for Science & Culture 25 years ago, we couldnt have predicted the worldwide impact. But through partnership with people like you, we are reaching millions of people a year through science research, book publishing, education programs, YouTube channels, and online platforms likeEvolution News.

As we move into 2022, we have plans to focus on humanitys incredible uniqueness through books one by geneticistMichael Denton,and another by engineerSteve Laufmannand medical doctorHoward Glicksman.HistorianRichard Weikartwill publish an expos of what happens when humans are regarded as mere animals.

Our plans are ambitious and far reaching, butwe cant make them a reality without your support.

There are more people out there like Iain who need to be exposed to the truth of intelligent design and human uniqueness.Will you join us to make a difference together in 2022?

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Ever Thought You Could Change Someone's Mind? - Discovery Institute

As co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for the 12-step programme for recovery from addictions, I am disappointed that Oscar Quine had been told that the 12 steps would cure his addiction (I was told the 12 steps would cure my addiction. Why did I end up feeling more broken?, 4 December). We do not claim that. The steps do not work for everyone, but they certainly do for many.

The original 12-step programme for alcoholism has been successfully adapted over the years for drugs, food, gambling and many other addictions. The 12 steps are not a religious programme, but they are spiritually based. Addicts need to connect with a power in their lives greater than whatever has led to their addiction.

Many addiction-free atheists and non-believers are among our fellows. They embrace, alongside those of many faiths, the simple spiritual principles of honesty, open-mindedness and a willingness to help others who suffer. Achieving change is most effective with daily diligent and disciplined practice of the steps. This can be challenging.

Anyone can get recovery for free if they are willing to work for it to the best of their ability. There are hundreds of 12-step live and Zoom meetings running across the UK and worldwide on a daily basis.

The APPG brings these facts to the attention of parliamentarians, government and public bodies, so that in turn those who suffer can find awareness of 12-step recovery. With public funding for addiction services so severely constrained, the entirely free and voluntary nature of 12-step recovery makes this work all the more important, particularly for addicts who cannot access private rehabilitation centres.Clive BrookeLabour, House of Lords

Oscar Quine is right that the 12-step model doesnt work for everyone. It didnt work for my sister, who died recently from a cancer related to prolonged alcohol abuse. But it does work for many others. I worked for five years at the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust, now the Forward Trust, which ran programmes based on the 12 steps. I met hundreds of people whose lives and the lives of their families were transformed by the programme. Its not a panacea, it clearly takes hard work and commitment, but there was definitely nothing joyless about the people I met.

As I havent been through the 12 steps, I dont want to talk as though I know more about it than I do, but the impression I got was that the reference to a higher power was based on individual choice, not formalised religion. What I do know is that the people I met who were helped by it seemed to be not just clean and sober, but somehow more alive than the rest of us.Claire WildLondon

Oscar Quines experience of working a 12-step programme for addiction is not unheard of but, in my experience, is by no means common.

I am an atheist, and nearly 27 years sober as a reasonably regular attendee of AA meetings. I chose to attend meetings where there is neither a religious overtone nor prescriptive way of following the steps. Instead, I chose meetings where there is genuine kindness, empathy and fellowship. There are many such meetings.

The 12-step programme works, as far as I can see, by bringing together people who share a common problem and are at various stages of recovering. The groups experience of recovery is generally wiser than the individuals. That is the power. People find new friends with a common cause.

The disease model of addiction is widely and internationally accepted. As is the success of the 12-step model in helping numerous people worldwide recover from substance addiction to lead clean, sober and contented lives. Inevitably, while it works for many people, 12-step recovery does not suit everyone. Outside professional help can often provide additional necessary support to resolve mental health and other issues, particularly associated with early-life trauma.

I wish Oscar the same contentment, self-acceptance and happiness in his recovery that I have found on my journey in 12-step recovery.Peter NorthWinchester, Hampshire

Have an opinion on anything youve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

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The 12 steps may not work for everyone, but can transform lives - The Guardian

Atheist anti-theist Jonathan M. S. Pearce is the main writer on the blog,A Tippling Philosopher.HisAbout pagestates: Pearce is a philosopher, author, blogger, public speaker and teacher from Hampshire in the UK. He specialises in philosophy of religion, but likes to turnhis hand to science, psychology, politics and anything involved in investigating reality.

This is a reply to his post,A Spiritual Body Resurrection vs Corporeal Resurrection (12-9-21). His words will be in blue.

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I have had another interview with Derek Lambert of MythVision in the series where we are working through my bookThe Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story[UK]. This latest episode (8) concentrated on the conflict between Paul, who believed in a two-body spiritual resurrection thesis, as opposed to the Gospels, who argue against Paul for a re-animated corpse resurrection. Of course, Pauls claims from 1 Corinthians and elsewhere explain why he doesnt mention an empty tomb anywhere because there would be no empty tomb as the earthly body would remain in situ.

The Gospels fundamentally contradict Paul precisely because they are an overt counter-argument against Pauls theology, and the related Gnostic position of a full-on spiritual resurrection.

Jonathan seems to maintain (from what I can tell in his brief statements) that Pauls reference to a spiritual body is to a pure spirit, with no physical body. This is immediately absurd, since spirit cannot have an additional description of body. A body is physical, and spirits arent physical; they are immaterial.

Evangelical G. Shane Morris gives a good refutation of this Gnostic-influenced thinking in his article,Jesus Has a Physical Body Forever (And So Will We):

Theres a common misconception in the Christian rank and file that Jesus resurrected body was something other than a real, physical body with flesh and bones, and that our resurrected bodies will likewise be something other than or somehow less solid than our bodies are now. . . .

Christians enduring hope has always been what Paul said the creation itself groans for: the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23) This is what it means to swallow up death in victory. A spiritual resurrection of any kind isnt resurrection. Its a euphemistic redescription of death.

Second, the term spiritual body in 1 Corinthians 15:44 does not, in Pauls original use, mean what the phrase seems to imply in English. [N. T.] Wright points out that to the original audience, a spiritual body understood as an immaterial body would be a contradiction in terms. There is no such thing. You might as well talk about solid mist or dry water. What Paul is doing, in context, is contrasting a body of flesh (which is the most common New Testament metonym for fallen humanity) with the body of the Spiritthat is, a body empowered and animated by the Holy Spirit. The Jews and Greeks had words for immaterial beings.

If Paul had meant for us to expect a non-physical resurrection, he could have spoken of ghosts, or spirits. He did not. For a man of his background, resurrection meant only one thing: To get up out of the grave, body and all, and walk again.Jesus left behind an empty grave devoid of flesh and bones. He took them with Him. And so will we. (1 John 3:2)

James Bishopadds:

Paul was, prior to his conversion, a Pharisee. Pharisees held to a physicalresurrection (see: Jewish War 3.374, 2.163; 4Q521; 1QH 14.34; 4Q 385-391; Genesis Rabbah 14.5; Leviticus Rabbah 14.9). For instance, one leading scholar by the name of NT Wright, in his 700 page volume, argues that the resurrection in pagan, Jewish, and Christian cultures meant a physical and bodily resurrection (2). Paul held the same view (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:14; Romans 8:11; Philippians 3:20-21). . . .

As [N. T.] Wright articulates: Until second century Christianity, the language of resurrection had been thought by pagan, Jew, and Christian as some kind of return to bodily and this-worldly life [The Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003, p. 83].

The context of 1 Corinthians 15 further bolsters this view:

1 Corinthians 15:35-44(RSV) But some one will ask, How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? [36] You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. [37] And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. [38] But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. [39] For not all flesh is alike, but there is one kind for men, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. [40] There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. [41] There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. [42] So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. [43] It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.[44] It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:53-54For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.[54] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.

Does Jonathan think that Paul thought the moon was a spirit and not physical? Its absurd.In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul uses the Greek wordegiro (usually raised in English) 19 times, referring to resurrection, either of Jesus (15:4, 12-17, 20) or of the general resurrection of human beings (15:29, 32, 35, 42-44, 52). The same word is used in the gospels of the raising of the young girl who had died. Sheremained human, with her body, after being raised. Jesus held her hand when she was raised:

Matthew 9:18, 23-25While he was thus speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live. . . .[23] And when Jesus came to the rulers house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd making a tumult,[24] he said, Depart; for the girl is not dead but sleeping. And they laughed at him.[25] But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girlarose[egiro].

In John 12, the word is applied to Lazarus three times (12:1, 9, 17: raised from the dead and raised him from the dead: RSV). In John 12:2, the risen Lazarus is referred to, sitting at the table, eating supper with Jesus: obviously a physical being. This is what the wordmeans: a body being physically raised and restored after it had died.

Jesus was obviously also still in a physical body after He was resurrected, but it was a spiritual body, and so He could walk through walls (which modern physics tells us is actually physicallypossible, in additional dimensions and what-not). He ate fish with His disciples, told Thomas to put his hand in His wounds, which were still visible; was touched by Mary Magdalene, broke bread with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, etc.

Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe offer further explanation inthe following excerpttheir book,When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties(Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1992):

[N]otice the parallelism mentioned by Paul:

The complete context indicates that spiritual (pneumatikos) could be translated supernatural in contrast to natural. This is made clear by the parallels of perishable and imperishable and corruptible and incorruptible. In fact, this same Greek word (pneumatikos) is translated supernatural in1 Corinthians 10:4when it speaks of the supernatural rock that followed them in the wilderness (RSV).

Second, the word spiritual (pneumatikos) in 1 Corinthians refers to material objects. Paul spoke of the spiritual rock that followed Israel in the wilderness from which they got spiritual drink (1 Cor. 10:4). But the OT story (Ex. 17;Num. 20) reveals that it was a physical rock from which they got literal water to drink. But the actual water they drank from that material rock was produced supernaturally. When Jesus supernaturally made bread for the five thousand (John 6), He made literal bread. However, this literal, material bread could have been called spiritual bread (because of its supernatural source) in the same way that the literal manna given to Israel is called spiritual food (1 Cor. 10:3).

Further, when Paul spoke about a spiritual man (1 Cor. 2:15) he obviously did not mean an invisible, immaterial man with no corporeal body. He was, as a matter of fact, speaking of a flesh and blood human being whose life was lived by the supernatural power of God. He was referring to a literal person whose life was Spirit directed. A spiritual man is one who is taught by the Spirit and who receives the things that come from the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:1314).

To summarize Pauls doctrine of the general resurrection, I cite the section on that topic in the entry,Resurrectionin theInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia:

As the believer then passes into a condition of glory, his body must be altered for the new conditions (1Corinthians 15:50;Philippians 3:21); it becomes a spiritual body, belonging to the realm of the spirit (not spiritual in opposition to material). Nature shows us how different bodies can befrom the body of the sun to the bodies of the lowest animals the kind depends merely on the creative will of God (1Corinthians 15:38-41). Nor is the idea of a change in the body of the same thing unfamiliar: look at the difference in the body of a grain of wheat at its sowing and after it is grown! (1Corinthians 15:37).

Just so, I am sown or sent into the world (probably not buried) with one kind of body, but my resurrection will see me with a body adapted to my life with Christ and God (1Corinthians 15:42-44). If I am still alive at the Parousia, this new body shall be clothed upon my present body (1Corinthians 15:53,54;2Corinthians 5:2-4) otherwise I shall be raised in it (1Corinthians 15:52). This body exists already in the heavens (2Corinthians 5:1,2), and when it is clothed upon me the natural functions of the present body will be abolished (1Corinthians 6:13). Yet a motive for refraining from impurity is to keep undefiled the body that is to rise (1Corinthians 6:13,14).

Moreover, Paul describes our own resurrected bodies as like that of Jesus:

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Philippians 3:20-21. . .a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,[21] who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Paul talks about our resurrection bodies, which we put on being imperishable. In other words, hes saying that according to natural law, physical bodies perish and die, but spiritual, resurrected bodies do not. Hes not talking about spirits. If it were a transformation of a physical body into a spirit, he wouldnt use the terminology of raised either: because that refers to physical bodies, which died, and are now raised.

Nor would he refer to a spiritual body: he would have simply referred to a spirit (which the New Testamentdoes many times). The two are not at all identical. The whole point was Jesus conquering physical death, which applies to physical bodies, not spirits.The Gospel of Matthew exhibits the same understanding of resurrected bodies of the dead:

Matthew 27:52the tombs also were opened, and manybodiesof the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,

Here is another passage from Paul that plainly refer to bodily resurrection:

Romans 8:22-23We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now;[23] and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of ourbodies.

Case closed. Jonathan is wrong yet again about what the Bible (agree or disagree)teaches. Its amazing how often that happens.

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Summary: Atheist Jonathan MS Pearce wrongly contends that Paul denied that Jesus Resurrection entailed His having a glorified physical body after He rose from the dead.

Read more:

Pearce's Potshots #56: Paul & Jesus' Resurrection | Dave Armstrong - Patheos

In many ways, Black people in the United States are more religiousthan Americans of other races. This is especially true for immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, who tend to be more religious than U.S.-born Black adults or immigrants from the Caribbean, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

For example, around half of African immigrants in the U.S. (54%) say they attend religious services at least weekly, compared with about three-in-ten U.S.-born (32%) and Caribbean-born (30%) Black adults. And about seven-in-ten African immigrants (72%) say religion is very important to them, compared with 59% of U.S.- and Caribbean-born Black adults who say this.

This post examining the religious affiliations, practices and beliefs of Black immigrants in the United States draws from Pew Research Centers landmark study, Faith Among Black Americans, published in February 2021. That study was based on a nationally representative survey of 8,660 Black adults (ages 18 and older) who identify as Black or African American, including some who identify as both Black and Hispanic or Black and another race (such as Black and White, or Black and Asian).

Survey respondents were recruited from four nationally representative sources: the Centers American Trends Panel (conducted online), NORCs AmeriSpeak panel (conducted online or by phone), Ipsos KnowledgePanel (conducted online) and a national cross-sectional survey by Pew Research Center (conducted online and by mail). Responses were collected from Nov. 19, 2019, to June 3, 2020, but most respondents completed the survey between Jan. 21 and Feb. 10, 2020.

Here are the questions used for the Faith Among Black Americans report, along with responses, and its methodology.

Statistics in the post about the number of Black immigrants in the U.S. come from a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

In addition, immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are much less likely than other U.S. Black adults to be religiously unaffiliated (that is, to identify as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular). Just 6% of African immigrants identify in one of these ways, compared with 22% of U.S.-born Black adults and 23% of Black immigrants from the Caribbean.

The religious profiles of immigrant groups differ in other ways, too. Both African and Caribbean immigrants are somewhat less likely to be Protestant, and more likely to be Catholic, than U.S.-born Black adults. And African immigrants are more likely than other Black Americans to identify with other Christian faiths such as Orthodox Christianity, or with non-Christian faiths such as Islam.

While the vast majority of the 47 million Black Americans were born in the U.S., the Black immigrant population has roughly doubled over the last two decades to 4.6 million in 2019, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. In 2019, roughly one-in-ten Black Americans were born outside of the U.S., including 4% who were born in sub-Saharan Africa and 5% who were born in the Caribbean. More Black Americans come from Jamaica, Haiti, Nigeria and Ethiopia than from any other African or Caribbean countries, according to Pew Research Center tabulations of the Census Bureaus 2019 American Community Survey.

Some Black Christian immigrants go to churches associated with historically Black Protestant denominations based in the U.S., such as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, while others go to congregations of Haitian Baptists, Pentecostals and Catholics, or those associated with African denominations such as the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Nigeria-based Church of the Lord.

African immigrants also distinguish themselves in the survey through their beliefs about scripture and conversion. Immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to say they believe in God as described in their religions holy scripture such as the Bible for Christians or the Quran for Muslims than are U.S.-born Black adults. About eight-in-ten African immigrants (84%) say they believe this, compared with around three-quarters in the other groups. And roughly seven-in-ten African immigrants (68%) say people of faith have a duty to convert nonbelievers, compared with approximately half of U.S.-born and Caribbean-born adults who feel this way.

African immigrants also stand out on certain social and cultural issues. Fewer than half of African-born Americans (38%) say homosexuality should be accepted by society, compared with 63% of U.S.-born Black adults. Caribbean-born immigrants fall between the other two groups, with roughly half (52%) saying that homosexuality should be accepted by society. (In general, opposition to homosexuality is far more common in sub-Saharan Africa than it is in the U.S.)

And African immigrants tend to be more supportive of traditional gender norms, in some ways, than U.S.-born Black adults. For example, those born in sub-Saharan Africa differ from other Black Americans on questions about how men and women should share duties in households that have both a mother and father. African immigrants are more likely than other Black adults to say the father should be mostly responsible for providing for the family financially, and that the mother should be mostly responsible for taking care of the children. However, the most common view in all groups is that both parents should divide these responsibilities equally.

Link:

African immigrants in U.S. more religious than other Black Americans, and more likely to be Catholic - Pew Research Center

Nothing is simple during the holiday season. If it is, its an illusion, which you will surely learn at the most inopportune time.

Consider the sadistic words assembly required that accompany 99.9 percent of gifts for children under 12. Despite a cornucopia of gift options for this age group, constructing them with a directional leaflet that consists of three images for an 860-piece contraption is the penance for this plethora. Two out of five marriages end because of differing interpretations of these instructions.

As parents move out of the assembly required phase of gifting, we move into the phase of teaching the value of a dollar. At that point, less shopping is required for teens, because each item they hope to receive costs more than a semester of my college tuition. Hence, fewer packages are under the tree with each passing year. Parents with multiple children explain this to older siblings. Yet, despite the teenager intellectually knowing that their small pile of gifts costs the same amount as their younger siblings hefty, assembly required pile, emotionally, the child will still be in therapy for decades because of it.

Im Italian and thus was raised Catholic. This is a lethal combination for unjustifiable mom guilt, which rears its ugly head when I wrap gifts and witness the glaringly obvious pile disparity. To the untrained eye, it could be interpreted that I have a favorite child. I do, but it changes by the minute. My attempt to distort this imbalance is the reason why my 18-year-old gets a six-pack of underwear, each individually wrapped in six separate extra-large sweater boxes.

The supply chain shortage has put all items, from undies to gift cards, in jeopardy this year, so shopping early is highly encouraged to ensure that the coveted gifts arrive by next Christmas. But todays holiday shortages are nothing compared to the riots that broke out in 1983 when parents were trying to secure a Cabbage Patch Kid. Nothing represents Christmas spirit like adults armed with baseball bats in the check-out line to protect the toy they slidetackled a grandmother for.

But whether its 1983 or 2021, all stores share the same distinct smell that fills us with yule: evergreen and burning plastic. This smell says, Good tidings to you, and your credit card interest is blowing up with every swipe.

But no longer are we beholden to just swiping and signing. Technology is trying to con us into our deficits by eliminating our barriers to spending, all in the name of convenience. Now, we can tap our credit cards, hover our watches or converse with the most deceitful vixen in the world, Alexa. Opening a wallet, using a pen, slow check-out lines; these were the last of the consumer defenses against plummeting credit scores. We may smell less burning plastic thanks to our contactless payment options, but the odor is still eau debt toilette. And it stinks.

Although more convenient payment alternatives exist, lines at the register remain. Line jockeying, especially during the holidays, is the highest form of competition since Cabbage Patch Dolls debuted. Its kill or be killed.

For example, when an additional register opens at any store, there is a current of energy that simultaneously flows through every waiting customer in line. The collective mood instantly shifts from numb to predator, and there exist only three reactions: the commando, ninja-style beeline by those that just shuffled in from a car emblazoned with a handicap parking sticker (they wielded the bats in 83), those who move in a nonchalant, yet highly strategic manner to go undetected, and those who know they missed the opportunity because they were too far away, and are silently swearing, while smiling.

Speaking of foul language, nothing brings out my Jersey vernacular like decking the halls with boughs of holly. The frustration that accompanies incessantly moving a ladder to and fro, while the bough on the opposite side continually falls down, elicits a tirade of blasphemy that would religiously offend an atheist.

Unfortunately, our mischievous dog isnt intimidated and prefers to escalate dcor frustrations into a simultaneous game of keep-away and steal the pin. My wily beagle runs around the house like a festive rhythmic gymnast, leaving a trail of glitter and fake berries, which I seem to vacuum up until July.

But hey, if the holiday was simple, parents would actually go to sleep the night before Christmas, like in that story. Wheres the magic in that?

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SLICE of LIFE - Newport This Week

ByBilly Hallowell | Wednesday, December 08, 2021

Do you struggle with knowing what to say and how to say it when a controversial topic comes up? Challenging Conversations, hosted by best-selling author and worldview expert Jason Jimenez, is a conversational podcast designed to help Christians overcome their fears and learn to respectfully engage people of a different view or belief system.

Brought to you by Edifi, the premiere podcast app to play thousands of your favorite Christian podcasts every day, Challenging Conversations helps you gain insight as Jason and his guests get into deep conversations about the Christian faith and discuss how Christians ought to be defending the gospel as they speak the truth in love to those around them.

Explore this powerful apologetics podcast. Here are the first six episodes:

The Christian Left Hijacking the Church: Are you concerned about the Christian Left's expanding influence over churches? If that is the case, you don't want to miss what Jason Jimenez and Lucas Miles expose about this ideological movement and how you can defend against it. Hear this powerful episode.

Is Progressive Christianity Biblical? Would you say what progressive Christians believe about Jesus and salvation aligns with Scripture? In this episode, Jason Jimenez and Lucas Miles, author of "The Christian Left," discuss several key tenets of Progressive Christianity and explain why they are not biblical truths. Listen to this episode.

Responding to Atheistic Arguments: Why Their Top Claims Don't Hold Up to Scrutiny: Do you have a friend or family member who is an atheist? If so, then you won't want to miss this episode! Jason and world-renowned apologist, Dr. Frank Turek discuss a few of atheism's top arguments and why they don't hold up to scrutiny. Hear this powerful episode.

How to Raise Hard Working Kids: Is it hard motivating your kids to excel in school or map out a plan for their lives? In this episode, Jason talks with his long-time friend, Jason Benham, entrepreneur and Christian speaker and writer, on what parents can do to instill life lessons that are sure to build their kids up to their full potential as they live to honor God. Listen to this episode.

Why Are You Pro Life? How to Defend the Unborn: If someone were to ask you why you are pro-life, what would you say? In part two, Jason Jimenez and Scott Klusendorf (president of Life Training Institute) lay out the case for why they are pro-life. Their conversation will give you the reasoning and the skills to articulate your defense for the life of the unborn. Hear this powerful episode.

What Does it Mean to Be Pro-life? Part One: Many Christians say they are pro-life. But what does that mean? In part one of a two-part series, Jason chats with his good friend and leading pro-life apologist, Scott Klusendorf, to help Christians better understand the pro-life movement. Listen to this powerful episode.

Stay tuned every Friday for more episodes; you can subscribe on Edifi, Apple, Google, Stitcher, Spotify and other platforms!

Plus, want other Christian podcasts you can binge? If so, youre in luck from explorations of spiritual warfare to daily devotionals and deeply-inspiring conversations, six additional new podcasts on The Edifi Podcast Network will help you grow in your faith:

PLAYING WITH FIRE PODCAST: Evil is real. But are demons active today? Can evil inhabit human beings? Is exorcism real? Join investigative journalist Billy Hallowell as he delves into the strange phenomena of supernatural activity through the harrowing stories of people who believe they have experienced ultimate evil, fought a battle they never expected and have found healing. Listen to Playing With Fire on Edifi today!

CANCEL THIS!: Its time to talk with open hearts, open minds and an open Bible about the pressing topics Christians want to discuss without the fear of being canceled. Join author and veteran firefighter/paramedic Jason Sautel as he explores current events, eternal truths and transformational lessons alongside some truly captivating guests. In the age of rabid cancel culture, Cancel This! isnt afraid to ask and answer the tough questions. Listen to Cancel This! right now on Edifi!

COMPELLED: Compelled is a seasonal podcast using gripping, immersive storytelling to celebrate the powerful ways God is transforming the lives of Christians around the world. These Christian testimonies are raw, true, and powerful. Be encouraged and let your faith be strengthened! Listen to Compelled right now on Edifi!

LIVING FEARLESS DEVOTIONAL: Andy, a former Anaheim Police Officer and Hedieh, a former Muslim and Counterterrorism expert who became a Christian, share their real life joys and challenges of following Jesus, with the help of various daily devotional authors. Listen to Living Fearless Devotional right now on Edifi!

BOLD AND BLUNT: Washington Times online opinion editor Cheryl Chumley brings her no-holds-barred take on the big issues of the day. Listen to Bold and Blunt right now on Edifi!

CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS: Do you struggle with knowing what to say and how to say it when a controversial topic comes up? Challenging Conversations, hosted by best-selling author and worldview expert Jason Jimenez, is a conversational podcast designed to help Christians overcome their fears and learn to respectfully engage people of a different view or belief system. You will gain insight as Jason and his guests get into deep conversations about the Christian faith and discuss how Christians ought to be defending the gospel as they speak the truth in love to those around them. Hear Challenging Conversations right now on Edifi!

Download the Edifi app on the Apple and Android stores to hear thousands of great Christian podcasts today. And be sure to also check out other shows in the Edifi Podcast Network!

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CP Brand Solutions | Confronting Atheistic Ideas, Debunking Bad Theology and Defending the Pro-Life Position All While Keeping a Christian Tone -...

Emory University will debut a new interfaith center on the Universitys Atlanta Campus in December, a project proposal that was first submitted in fall 2020 and approved spring of 2021.

Dean of Religious Life and University Chaplain Gregory McGonigle said that the University has discussed the centers concept since the early 2000s when increasing religious diversity at colleges in the U.S. began to require sacred space for more religious groups.

Its a way to reflect what the community actually is at Emory, Hindu Chaplain Brahmacharini Shweta Chaitanya said. Its a natural and long awaited next step for Emory.

Photo Courtesy of Emory University

The project was delayed because of the financial recession from 2007 through 2009, McGonigle said. However, with public calls from students like Marwan Nour (20C) and Akshar Patel (19C) in 2019 and the development of a multi-faith chaplaincy at the University over the past two years, McGonigle said the time became right for the spaces creation.

Emorys new interfaith center will become home to around 40 undergraduate and graduate spiritual communities on campus. According to a fall 2020 University survey of student religious and spiritual identity, 49.1% of Emorys student body identify themselves as a part of one of the many religions on the campus.

Emory Buddhist Club President Meha Srivastava (22C) emphasized the importance of a center for shared worship.

Communication and exchange of ideas is the main point of an educational or academic setting, Srivastava said. It inspires growth and acceptance, so much more can come from people exchanging ideas, especially religious organizations.

The same survey found about 18% of students in Emory College identified as Protestant, 11% as Catholic, 10% as Jewish, 4% as Hindu, 3% as Muslim, 2% as Atheist/Agnostic, 1% as Buddhist, 1% as other and less than 1% as Orthodox Christian. About 47% of respondents either chose not to respond or had no religious preference.

Results from Oxford College respondents showed a similar distribution, with a 56% majority of students either choosing not to report or having no religious preference.

While the University has a diverse religious community, Srivastava said that there is a lack of communication between the different religious organizations. The Interfaith Center seeks to tackle this issue.

The point of the Interfaith Center is to be a physical space where all of the religious organizations can do events, communicate with each other, learn from each other and use the same space, Srivastava said. Space inspires communication; if you share the same space, you will communicate.

Architecturally, students said they want a space that can serve the wide variety of practices which take place in our community.

Everyone has different physical parts of their practice so what we would need most primarily is a broad open space that can be easily set up and taken down based on each religions needs, Srivastava said.

Chaitanya hopes for the architecture to encourage both openness and permeability in this new space.

[Theres a] feeling that you can walk in and out of different spaces and feel almost at once like youre in a space to learn about something different than what youve grown up with or what youre familiar with, but then also feel like youre welcome in the space as well Chaitanya said.

The interfaith center, whose site has even been blessed by the Dalai Lama, will provide a central space for religion at Emory.

Students have spoken about it as a home for many types of dialogues, programs, retreats and service opportunities for both particular spiritual communities and when groups gather together, McGonigle said.

McGonigle said the Center will not be restricted to members of specific communities, but that he instead hopes that it will inspire people of all religions, spiritualities and beliefs to come and explore.

All of our chaplains are trying to think about creating a space where anybody of any faith, and even people who dont identify with any faith, can feel like this space is a home for them to take a breather and find some respite from busy college life, Chaitanya said.

Read more:

Emory to debut interfaith center this month - The Emory Wheel

Its Christmastime 1955 among the tensest, coldest days of the Cold War.

Two years removed from a bloody stalemate on the Korean peninsula, the American people are on edge and their military is on hair-trigger alert. A fragile armistice has taken hold along the 38th Parallel, but North Korea and South Korea are far closer to war than peace.

In West Berlin, U.S. troops are literally surrounded by communist armies. Moscow has just forged the Warsaw Pact to consolidate its hold over Eastern Europe and take aim at Western Europe.

In response to artillery attacks by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) against Taiwan, Congress has authorized the president to use military force to defend the island. President Eisenhower openly declares hes prepared to use atomic weapons against the PRC exactly as you would use a bullet.

At the newly-minted Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD, forerunner to NORAD) in Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. personnel are scanning the skies above Canada and the Arctic for inbound Soviet bombers.

In the middle of all this tension and danger, a special phone line at CONAD rings. Theres some debate as to whether it was the hotline connecting CONAD to the Pentagon or a less secure line. Either way, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup is the man charged with answering the phone and serving as Americas first line of defense. He braces for the worst. As one history of that fateful Christmas Eve recounts, The caller might be the president or a four-star general warning of an atomic attack on the United States.

Shoup picks up the phone and answers smartly: Yes, sir, this is Col. Shoup. But theres no one on the other end of the line. Sir, this is Col. Shoup, he repeats. Sir, can you read me alright? the worried officer asks.

Finally, a voice breaks the silence and tension, but its not what Shoup expects. Are you really Santa Claus? says a voice on the other end of the line.

Shoup thinks its a joke and a thoughtless, reckless one at that. Looking around the command center for the guilty party, he shifts his tone from that of a ready-to-act subordinate to that of an irritated commanding officer. Would you repeat that? he growls.

Hearing crying on the other end of the line, Shoup realizes this is not a prank but a scared little girl calling Santa. Through no fault of her own, the child has dialed CONAD instead of the Santa Claus hotline featured in a Sears newspaper ad.

They had one digit wrong, and it was my fathers top-secret phone number, Shoups daughter, Terri Van Keuren, explains in a recent interview.

Shoup shifts his tone yet again, from that of an angry commanding officer to that of a caring father and ultimately to that of Santa himself. Yes, this is Santa Claus, the father of four says. Have you been a good little girl?

After finishing the call, Shoup directs AT&T to transfer CONADs once-secret phone number to Sears. But in the meantime, as Van Keuren recalls in a History Channel interview, he had to have servicemen answer the calls.

As the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports, Shoup would even call the local radio station to report on Santas movement across the Christmas Eve skies of North America. This is Col. Shoup, the commander of the Command Operation Center in Colorado Springs We have an unidentified flying object. Why, it it looks like a sleigh.

The right thing

Thus was born whats surely the most enjoyable, least stressful mission at NORAD. The men and women based there are on ready alert every hour of every day even on Christmas Eve for intentional terrorist attacks and accidental missile launches, for natural disasters and manmade chaos, for doomsday and World War III.

Yet when the calendar hits Dec. 24, NORAD becomes a link between Santa Claus and children around the world. According to press reports, some 1,500 volunteers (many of them civilians) field more than 150,000 calls on a typical Christmas Eve. (Brian Earls Christmas Past podcast points out that Shoups children now grown serve in NORADs army of Santa hotline volunteers.) NORAD also processes thousands of emails and millions of visits to its Santa-tracking website, noradsanta.org.

All this exists today all these grownups taking time out of their lives, schedules and missions to help kids soak in the magic and wonder of Christmas because an Air Force colonel did the nice thing, as Van Keuren says. He could have hung up, but he didnt He did the right thing and look what happened.

Whats most striking about the story that made Shoup (aka the Santa Colonel) famous is his humanity, his willingness and readiness to do the right thing, and how living in a free society allowed him to express that humanity and encouraged him to do what was right.

Its unimaginable that a Soviet colonel or today, a PRC colonel would have responded the way Shoup responded. Its not that Soviet military personnel or today, PRC military personnel lacked humanity or a desire to be kind. Its that the communist system bent on control and conformity wouldnt in 1955 and still wont in 2021 tolerate such individuality and independence and initiative, such freedom of action and freedom of conscience.

For that matter, its hard to imagine a Soviet child ever asking a Soviet military man about Santa. The Russian equivalent of Santa (Grandfather Frost) was banned soon after Lenins communist revolution, a step which was logical and inevitable inside the Soviet system. The figures are inextricably linked to a religious celebration and religion is an enemy of communism. As Karl Marx, the founder of communism, once snarled, Religion is the opium of the people. Lenin viewed religion as a powerful and ubiquitous enemy, adds historian Paul Johnson.

Indeed, Lenin built a regime that made war against religion, purged those who refused to genuflect to the state, elevated government above all else and laid siege to the soul. By the end of 1918, Lenins regime had nationalized all church property. By 1926, the Soviet state had murdered 1,200 bishops and priests, shuttered most seminaries, closed down all but a handful of parishes and banned the publication of religious material. Virtually the entire clergy corps of the Russian Orthodox Church was liquidated or sent to labor camps in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1939 only about 500 of over 50,000 churches remained open, according to the Library of Congress.

Similarly, Xi Jinpings PRC is a place where churches are smashed and followers of Christ are sent to reeducation camps, where Buddhist temples are bulldozed, where Muslim men are packed into freight trains and Muslim women are forcibly sterilized, where religious minorities are sent to concentration camps, where bishops and Nobel Peace Prize laureates die in prison.

Communist regimes take these actions against faith and people of faith because the common denominator of most every religion is that theres something above, something beyond, something bigger, more enduring and more important than the state. That notion represents a mortal threat to the legitimacy and durability of regimes claiming they have the authority and capacity to do everything, control everything, know everything, provide everything regimes like the USSR and PRC.

Christmas even the commercialized secular stuff such as Santa and his reindeer remains connected to faith. The USSRs communist system, with atheism as one of its pillars, could not (and in the PRC, still cannot) countenance this. Thus, Grandfather Frost was unmasked by the Communist Party as an ally of the priest, historian Karen Petrone explains in an interview with Time, and Christmas was outlawed.

Although Stalin allowed the return of Grandfather Frost, it wasnt to celebrate Christmas. (Christmas trees, for example, were rebranded New Years trees by the commissars.) In fact, the main purpose was to boost Stalins popularity and push communist propaganda down the throats of Stalins subjects. As Time detailed after sifting through old newspaper articles, More than just the giver of gifts, the Stalin-era Grandfather Frost was the giver of pro-communist PR. AP reported in 1949 how the communist version of Grandfather Frost customarily ends his talk with the question to whom do we owe all the good things in socialist society? to which it is said the children chorus reply Stalin.

The difference

Shoups actions during the Christmas of 1955 offer an unplanned, unstaged snapshot of a political system and world view strikingly different from that of Lenin, Stalin and Xi a system founded on the freedom to believe in God or not. That freedom of conscience and the companion notion that there is something beyond the reach of the state makes all the difference. We dont have to worship in the same ways or on the same days or at all to recognize this.

In a flash of cosmic irony and poetic justice, the atheist Soviet Union one of historys most brutal enemies of faith and conscience staggered to its death and expired 30 years ago this month, on Christmas Day 1991.

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'Why, it looks like a sleigh' | The American Legion - The American Legion

When Russ posted theCHOMP 2tracklist on Instagram yesterday, it felt too good to be true.

Between the insane feature list including guest verses from Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss, Ghostface Killah, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn and so many more, as well as production credits from some of the most respected and hallowed beatmakers in the game, it was incomprehensible that Russ had gotten so many hip hop legends on one project.

And it seemed even more incomprehensible that Russ landed a feature from the reclusive Jay Electronica.

Despite his pedigree as one of the best lyricists in hip hop history, Electronica rarely puts vocals on wax, and after releasing the full-lengthA Written Testimonyat the top of last year, it seemed like a certainty that it'd be at least a couple years before we heard from him again. But Russ pulled him out of his cave to make "Top Of The World," one of the best tracks onthe new project.

Spitting over silky Harry Fraud production, Russ and Electronica trade verses and describe what it feels like at the "Top Of The World." A laid back track that delivers a powerful message, "Top Of The World" is a record you'll have to run back a couple of times to catch everything you missed during the previous listen, but with Russ and Electronica skating over Fraud's reserved instrumental with poignant lyrics and intricate melodies, running it back feels more like doing yourself a favor than a hassle.

Quotable LyricsEntirely off the recordThe messiahs of society quietly walk with lepersAnd when they plug into the matrix, the babies have dreams of making love on the spaceshipYou can hear atheist cries in the sub when the bass hit

Check out "Top Of The World" below and let us know what you think down in the comments.

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Russ Lands Rare Jay Electronica Feature On "Top Of The World" - HotNewHipHop