It’s Thursday, February 25th, A.D. 2021. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Another Indian state targets Christians with “anti-conversion” law
India’s Haryana state became the latest jurisdiction in the country to announce they will pass an anti-conversion law.
Nine other states have passed a similar law which locals use to persecute Christians.
Haryana’s Home Minister warned, “Strict action will be taken against the culprits.”
Radical Hindu nationalists wrongfully accuse Christians of forcefully converting people to Christianity to justify attacks and harassment.
Luke 6:22-23 says, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven.”
British Christian fined $10,000 for holding service in car park
English police fined a church organizer over $10,000 for holding an outdoor service at a Nottingham pub’s car park on Saturday.
Churches are allowed to hold in-person services in England, but police said the gathering location was not a place of worship.
England strengthens free speech at universities
England’s Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced new legal measures to strengthen free speech and academic freedom at universities.
Higher education providers must preserve free speech to be registered in England and access public funding. And the Office for Students would be able to impose financial sanctions on universities that violate free speech.
Williamson said, “Free speech underpins our democratic society . . . But I am deeply worried about the chilling effect on campuses of unacceptable silencing and censoring.”
20th Texas city to outlaw murder of unborn babies
And here’s some more good news!
The City of Carbon became the 20th Texas city to outlaw the murder of unborn babies on Monday.
With strong support from locals, the Carbon City Council voted unanimously to pass a Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinance.
Mayor Corey Hull shared how his mother chose to place him for adoption instead of having an abortion. Hull said, “They gave me a mother, a father, and a loving older brother. They taught me the love of Jesus Christ. Looking at the circumstances surrounding my conception and the statistics of how prevalent abortion was at that time, I am convinced that my birth was a miracle of God.”
As Mordecai said in Esther 4:14, “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
North Dakota bans local face mask mandates
The North Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday to ban state and local officials, schools, and businesses from mandating face masks.
Bill sponsor Republican State Rep. Jeff Hoverson called on North Dakota to follow the example of South Dakota. Both states have seen coronavirus cases dropping. North Dakota imposed a mask mandate while South Dakota did not. South Dakota opted to provide citizens with information and let citizens make their own decisions.
65% of Biden voters claim Christianity, but don’t hold Biblical worldview
Arizona Christian University released their fourth 2020 Post-Election Survey last week.
The study found 65 percent of Biden voters identify as Christians. However, Biden voters were 60 percent less likely to hold a Biblical worldview than other Americans.
Most Biden voters describe themselves as spiritual not religious, reject the Bible as the word of God, and reject absolute truth.
76% of U.S. Protestant churches meet in person, down from 87%
Lifeway Research reports that 76% of U.S. Protestant pastors say their churches met in person in January, down from 87% in September.
Only 30% of pastors report their attendance levels are close to normal. Two percent say their in-person attendance has increased compared to a year ago. And 31% say their attendance is down by half.
Protestant pastors were more than three times as likely to say they did meet in person last month compared with mainline pastors.
Psalm 122:1 says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD.’”
Spanish atheism skyrocketed from 10% to 28%
And finally, new data from the Spanish government shows the percentage of evangelicals in Spain has grown eightfold in the last 20 years to about 2%.
Meanwhile, Roman Catholic affiliation has fallen from 83 percent to 64 percent, and atheism has grown from 10 percent to 28 percent.
Over the last decade, Evangelical places of worship have increased from 3,000 to over 4,000.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, February 25th, in the year of our Lord 2021. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.