Religion: Cause Of Evil, Not Force For Good?

The headline from a recent YouGov poll gave two key facts about young people in Britain:

• Religious figures have the least influence on their lives.
• More say religion is a force for evil than a force for good.

The 2011 Census suggested 59% of the population defined themselves as Christian and just 25% said they had no religion, but it seems that when looking at 18-24 year olds there is a very different picture.

Friends and family obviously dominated the question about who had most influence on their lives but only 12% feel influenced by religious leaders, which was far less than politicians (38%), brands (32%) and celebrities (21%).

Religion's reputation also seems to have suffered with young people, 41% agree that “religion is more often the cause of evil in the world” and only 14% say it is a cause for good.

When asked if they believe in God, only 25% said they did; 19% believed in some non-Godlike “spiritual greater power” and a further 38% claimed no belief no God or spiritual power whatsoever.

Amongst believers, the most represented denominations were Church of England (13%), then Roman Catholic (9%) and Muslim (4%).

The Huffington Post reported that A Church of England spokesperson said: "It is unsurprising that this sample of less than 1,000 people gives a different result than a Census of tens of millions of people. Even then these figures show more people choosing belief over non-belief."
Do you think this is an accurate picture? Do you think that 18-24 year olds are 'less religious' than the rest of the population? Why? Do you think their views are heavily influenced by the media? Do the the media portray a 'fair image' of religion? Why/not?

Read more at: http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/06/24/british-youth-reject-religion & http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/25/religion-cause-of-evil-force-for-good-_n_3494971.html

5y/o Peace Campaigner vs Westboro Baptist Church

Jayden Sink is the 5 year old daughter of Jon, who runs a philanthropic arts group called Fresh Cassette. After being told that the church across the street had a message of hate, she decided to set a goal of raising money to instead go towards a message of love and peace.

The Equality House stands across the road from Westboro Baptist Church's Kansas headquarters. It is owned by a group called Planting Peace who are a non-profit organisation dedicated to spreading goodwill and equality.

She put up a sign "Pink Lemonade for Peace: $1 Suggested Donation." and literally hundreds of people came and supported her. All money raised goes towards Planting Peace.

However the Westboro Baptist Church tried to shut her down, even calling the police and then shouting obscenities at those who arrived to support Jayden.

“Jayden represents the natural humanity we are born with," said Davis Hammet, Director of Operations at Planting Peace, "We come into this world compassionate, caring beings and only become hateful if we are taught to be.”

Donate <here>
Read more <here>

Why do you think as Christians the Westboro Baptist Church is so filled by hate? Do you think this act was deliberately antagonistic? Why do you think they had such a problem with the young girl selling lemonade?

Tweeting from the Afterlife?

Are you addicted to Twitter? Is it the first thing you do in the morning? And the last thing at night? Would you want to keep on Tweeting even after you died?

_LIVESON are now offering just this service. It takes over your Twitter account after you have died, so you can 'live on' in cyberspace. It "analyses your main twitter feed. Learning about your likes, tastes, syntax.". It will start Tweeting while you are still alive in order for you to give it feedback, to make it Tweet more like you!

AS ABC News point out, this is just one of the odd things concerning people now about their 'social media afterlife':

"Questions about who owns your social media and Internet accounts after you pass away have swirled for years. New Hampshire State Rep. Peter Sullivan introduced legislation to allow the executor of an estate control over the social networking pages of the dead. There have been similar questions about who owns your iTunes or other media downloads."

Dave Bedwood, the creator of the _LIVESON service, says “This to me, this is no weirder than any afterlife that has been promised by organised religion, or hell that has been threatened... It’s just a sign of our times, lets explore that.”

Would you want to 'live on' on social media after you die? How your friends and family feel? Would it be comforting or disturbing? Do you agree with Bedwood that this is no weirder that what Christianity teaches?

Visit _LIVESON: <here>
Read more: <here>

The 'Mathematics' of Immigration

 

A spoken word poem by Holli NcNish has been doing the rounds on social media in the aftermath of the murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich. People wanted a response and a reason to still fight for community cohesion.

 

In Hollie's own words:

 

"A poem about immigration, based on a guy I used to have to listen to when I worked in a clothes shop. The poem owes a lot to a book by economist Philippe Legrain called Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them: http://www.philippelegrain.com/immigr.... It's a good book, I wish we had it on the school curriculum."

The full lyrics can be found on the YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJX5XHnONTI - it ends poignantly, "And most times immigrants bring more than minuses."

Do you agree? Do you think the 'mathematics of immigration' are often made up? Who is to the blame? The media? How do you think the 'true value' could be shared?

Read more about Hollie here: http://www.holliemcnish.com/
Buy the track here: http://holliemcnish.bandcamp.com/album/mathematics

Tea, Biscuits & Conversation to Combat Extremism

The tragic death of Lee Rigby in Woolwich on 23rd May 2013 resulted in a state of disbelief for many in the UK. In broad day light, a loyal soldier was murdered by two men claiming to be acting in the name of Islam.

While thoughts and prayers were directed to the Lee Rigby's young family, there was also worry about the results of such a murder. Revenge and retribution were on the minds of some, the association of all Muslims with the attack was on the minds of others.

The EDL and the BNP are two organisations that looked to capitalise on these events to drive forward their agenda. They saw this an opportunity to divide communities further, something which was condemned by Rigby's family.

Russell Brand said on his blog:

"What the English Defence League and other angry, confused people are doing and advocating now, violence against mosques, Muslims, proliferation of hateful rhetoric is exactly what that poor, sick, murderous man, blood soaked on a peaceful street, was hoping for in his desperate, muddled mind.

The extremists on both sides have a shared agenda; cause division, distrust, anger and violence. Both sides have the same intention. We cannot allow them to distort our perception."

Indeed many argue the best way to react to such an event is to increase understanding of the people living in our communities, learn more about what it is that motivates one another, listen to each others concerns and worries.

One story which demonstrated this so well was that of the York mosque (pictured above). They were told that an EDL protest was going to take place outside their place of worship.

Imam Abid Salik said: "We did have a few people who did come to protest but when they came some of the members of the mosque went over and they engaged in a conversation.

"Some people went over with cups of tea and biscuits, they were talking for about 30 or 40 minutes and then they came inside, which was a really, really beautiful thing."

Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said the mosque's response was "fantastic" and that "Tea, biscuits, and football are a great and typically Yorkshire combination when it comes to disarming hostile and extremist views."

Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-22689552

Do you agree that this is the way forward? How can people be encouraged to do this? How can organisations like the EDL be challenged on their views? What can organisations like Hope Not Hate do to help communities?

Pope Francis: 'The Exorcist'?

On Pentecost Sunday, there was widespread speculation in the media that Pope Francis had performed an exorcism. This has since been denied by the Vatican who said "The Holy Father did not intend to perform any exorcism. Rather, as he frequently does with the sick and the suffering who come his way, he intended simply pray for a suffering person who had been brought before him."

But the questions remains, 'what did happen?' and 'why did people think it was an exorcism?'

In this video, the Telegraph claims:

"Smiling broadly, the Pope initially shook the man's hand, but the South American pontiff's expression changed dramatically after a priest from the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative order, leaned in close and spoke a few words to him.

With a more serious expression on his face, Francis placed both hands on the man's head for 15 seconds.

The pilgrim, said to be a 43-year old married man from Mexico called Angelo, then convulsed briefly and emitted a long sigh. His body went limp and his mouth dropped open."

This, many commentators claim, to be evidence enough that an exorcism took place. This includes high ranking priests and bishops who claim the Vatican are simply trying to play this down.

The Vatican have been quick to make clear:

"Exorcism is, in the strict sense, the “casting out” of evil spirits. The power to exorcise was conferred by Jesus on the apostles, and it is understood that this power passes to the bishops who are the successors to the apostles, and priests the co-workers. That said, the Church has had – for many hundreds of years, it ought to be added – a very precise ritual of exorcism: there are no evangelical-style tent revival theatrics, but careful, even methodical attention and faithful following of the prescribed prayers, gestures and use of sacramental such as holy water and the crucifix."

For many, the key word in Fr Lombardi's explanation of Sunday is 'did not intend to perform', but maybe he did anyway? Do those who are claiming the Vatican simply want to play this down, believe that it brings the wrong kind of attention to the Church? Is it something that makes people feel uncomfortable? Does this simply give critics of religion and the Church an opportunity to trivialise and find scandal in a man's suffering?

Read more: Telegraph Vatican
To find out more detailed information on the Catholic Church & Exorcisms: Catholic Encyclopedia
BustedHalo Podcast & Interview: Interview with an Exorcist
 

Can modelling be a Christian job?

So during this busy exam season, the main motivation for many is the final job. Work hard at school, maybe go off to uni and then at some point most students want to be earning a decent salary to have a good lifestyle. But for Christians, does this job matter? Are Christians called to some form of vocation to live in a Christian way, not just in church, but in our daily lives? 

At 19, Kylie Busetti beat 10,000 other young women to win Victoria’s Secret Model Search back in 2009. She travelled the world, modelling lingerie as a Victoria’s Secret Angel - an absolute dream job for many. Even she said, "I thought the models I saw defined beauty, and beauty meant you were important". 

A year ago, she gave up the job for good.

Why? In an interview she said:

“My body should only be for my husband and it’s just a sacred thing. I didn’t really want to be that kind of role model for younger girls because I had a lot of younger Christian girls that were looking up to me and then thinking that it was okay for them to walk around and show their bodies in lingerie to guys.”

She has recently been back in the news after Victoria's Secret have claimed that the stories in her book, "I'm No Angel: From Victoria's Secret Model to Role Model", are not true. They claim that despite them asking her repeatedly she did not do as much modelling as she claimed.

However the industry is notoriously tough on its models and it is well believable that as her Christian husband was not a celebrity she was encouraged to tell people she was single. 

Her final decision came at an FHM magazine shoot when a photographer instructed her to pull up her top and "hold up the covers like you don't have any panties on". This was the moment for her when she fully realised that she was being paid to strip down and pose provocatively to titillate men. She said, "It wasn't about modelling clothes anymore; I felt like a piece of meat."

In an interview with LifeTeen she said, "The Lord graciously opened my eyes and heart to the fact that I was not honoring him with my body and I was not being a Godly role model to other young women. The Lord showed me that it was not respectful to model lingerie for other men to see me in and that my body should be for my husband. I had a desire to have a Christ centered, Godly marriage and I was not living out that desire by modeling in lingerie."

Watch a 2min clip of her story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3m-J8enM3A

Read full interview with LifeTeen <here>

Read news articles <here> and <here> 

What do you think about Kylie's decision? How do you think her family reacted? Is this a classic case of the dream not matching the reality? Do you think young women should read Kylie's story to make them think about their career choice? Are there 'more' and 'less' Christian jobs? Does a Christian's job matter? Lots to think about with this...