Another blank post from ippy. I couldn't care less about the attendance of the Anglican church in the UK. What I do celebrate is the soaring growth of Christianity in Africa and China.
Christianity in Western Europe is a bit like the Bruce Willis character in the Sixth Sense - it's dead but it doesn't realise it.
As for other parts of the world? Yeah, Christianity tends to flourish where levels of education are low.
Remember this mantra: "Education, Education, Education"
Education is the single most devastating response to religion and VD. Where there are good standards of education there are less of these two problems.
So, what about Africa then? Well, we've all seen the brand of Christianity in Africa. Here are some examples of what happens when Christians replace African superstitions with their own ones.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1376692.stmThe court heard how the two nuns handed over thousands of people who had sought refuge in their convent. They even supplied cans of petrol to the Hutu militias, who set fire to a garage sheltering some 500 refugees.
http://ictr-archive09.library.cornell.edu/ENGLISH/cases/Musabyimana/indictment/indictment.html7. Bishop Samuel MUSABYIMANA specifically instructed Pastor NGILINSHUTI to register refugees by ethnic or racial group, as described above, or was aware that Pastor NGILINSHUTI made such listings and on several occasions was present while refugees were being registered.
8. This list of refugees, identifying them by ethnic or racial group and indicating their location on the church compound, was used to select Tutsi refugees at Shyogwe diocese to be transported to Kabgayi (a nearby massacre site), or to other unknown destinations, in order to be killed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121301948.htmlA Catholic priest was convicted Wednesday of taking part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide by ordering militiamen to set fire to a church and then bulldoze it while 2,000 people seeking safety were huddled inside.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3561365.stmHer family were Catholic, she says. Those who killed them worshipped at the same church.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10294529A Finnish court has sentenced a Rwandan preacher to life in jail for his participation in Rwanda's genocide.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13507474During the genocide she ordered women and girls to be raped and forced people onto trucks - they were driven away to be killed.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/08/catholic-church-apologise-failure-rwanda-genocide-vaticanFather Wenceslas Munyeshyaka was notorious during the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis for wearing a gun on his hip and colluding with the Hutu militia that murdered hundreds of people sheltering in his church.
Want some more examples of Christian love?
A government minister in Ghana has called on the country's intelligence forces to round up all gays.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ghana-official-calls-for-effort-to-round-up-suspected-gays-2318507.htmlThe move by Mr Aidoo has drawn support from other politicians, including the general secretary of the People's National Convention (PNC) who told Radio Gold on Tuesday: "Homosexuality is abhorrent. Media discourse across the world is being dictated by the vulgar opinions of homosexuals. Ghana and probably Africa cannot sustain the menace of homosexuals.
From Ghana's Christian Council:
We Can't Afford to Destroy Our Future in the Name of Human Rights
The clergy have spoken. Homosexuality, they pontificate, is ungodly. After taking a critical view of the activities of gay and lesbians in the society, the clergy says it "cannot afford to destroy the future of this country in the name of human rights," and described homosexuality as "unnatural and ungodly" act.
The Christian Council of Ghana said the practice of homosexuality should not be entertained in the Ghanaian society.
"It is an abomination in the eyes of God and also contributes to the growing rate of sexually transmitted diseases," the leaders of the Christian community explained.
If you've got the intestinal fortitude you can read the rest of it online
Then we have the African church and their open opposition to the use of condoms which has led to disease and death.
Yup. Christian missionaries spreading their bigotry and hatred has influenced these deeply superstitious people; I doubt anyone has caused more damage to traditional African lifestyles.
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What about China?
Well we know about the millions who died during the Christian-led Tai Ping Rebellion
Any Christian movement in China will be inscrutably monitored by the government. They'll come down hard on anything they deem to be at odds with their own policies and doctrines. They've already appointed their own Catholic bishop independently of Rome.
If Christianity has any chance of flourishing in China then it will have to prostitute itself by making compromises that appeal to the Chinese and by doing so will become a quite different Christianity to whatever brand of snake oil you're familiar with.
In any event, the Chinese view Christianity as a western movement so it's unlikely to reach the level of acceptance it gained in Europe and America. China is a completely different animal from the west. Read your history and you'll see that Christianity was in China around the same time that it was establishing itself in Rome yet it lost out to the established religion and culture that already existed.
There's every likelihood this will happen again. China will run the show and it will be on their terms and always maintaining their culture at the expense of whatever your idea of Christianity is.
