It’s Wednesday, June 14th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Religious buildings are targeted in 100 countries
Pew Research released a report last week on property crimes against religious groups in 2020. Out of nearly 200 countries, properties in over 100 countries were targeted in incidents tied to religion.
Europe had the highest share of countries with such property attacks. Churches filed restitution cases to recover confiscated property as well as vandalism of their property. The Middle East, North Africa, and the Asian-Pacific region also saw high levels of attacks on religious property. Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas experienced the least attacks.
Overall, social groups perpetrated the attacks in 81 countries, while governments were the perpetrators in 56 countries.
Britain bans puberty blockers for kids
Last Friday, the National Health Service of England announced restrictions on puberty blockers for children.
The latest guidance still allows the drugs but limits them to clinical trials.
The NHS previously acknowledged that children who pretend to be the opposite sex may be going through a “transient phase.”
The latest guidance noted, “A significant proportion of children and young people who are concerned about or distressed by issues of gender incongruence experience coexisting mental health, neuro-developmental, or personal, family or social complexities in their lives.”
Sexual perversion is transient phase for many in U.K.
A new study from Duke University found sexually perverted lifestyles are indeed a transient phase for many in the U.K.
The study analyzed over 20,000 respondents in two waves. The first wave was between 2011 and 2013; the second one was between 2017 and 2019.
The survey found 8.6% of people who identified as gay or lesbian in the first wave, switched to heterosexual by the second wave. Among those identifying as bisexual, 44% changed to heterosexual. And a massive 69.6% of those identifying as “other” made the switch. The “other” category includes people pretending to be the opposite sex.
Only 3.3% of heterosexuals in the first wave identified differently by the second wave.
Jesus said in Mark 10:6, “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’”
Missouri protects kids with two new laws
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parson signed two bills last week to protect children.
One bill prohibits male students from participating in female sports at schools. The other bill outlaws surgical or chemical procedures meant to “transition” children to the opposite sex.
Governor Parson said, “These decisions have permanent consequences for life and should not be made by impressionable children who may be in crisis or influenced by the political persuasions of others.”
Rising percentage of Americans are conservative
A new survey from Gallup found more Americans say they are conservative on social issues.
Thirty-eight percent of U.S. adults say they are conservative on social issues this year, up from 30% in 2021. Meanwhile, 29% of Americans say they are liberal on social issues this year, down from 34% in 2021.
Gallup noted this increase in conservative identification on social issues was present in nearly all political and demographic subgroups.
Southern Baptists eager to ban female pastors
The Southern Baptist Convention is holding its annual meeting this week in New Orleans.
Delegates at the meeting will vote on a measure to prevent women from serving as pastors in the denomination.
The SBC’s statement of faith states, “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” However, some churches in the denomination are practicing differently.
The annual meeting will also consider whether or not to remove two churches for having women in pastoral roles. One of the churches is Saddleback Church, a megachurch in California founded by Rick Warren.
Approximately 1,800 female pastors in Southern Baptist Convention
And finally, a new study analyzes how many female pastors are in the Southern Baptist Convention. The research was led by Kevin McClure, a PhD student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
The study analyzed the SBC’s online church database of 47,614 churches. Of those, 22,000 churches have websites listed. The study randomly selected 3,847 churches out the 22,000. Of that sample, there were 149 female pastors across 99 churches.
Extrapolating that out to the rest of the denomination would mean there are 1,844 female pastors in 1,225 SBC churches.
McClure noted, “This is a staggering number, and it dwarfs the previously known information about female pastors by a factor of ten.”
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:12, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, June 14th in the year of our Lord 2023. 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.