Perhaps in a sign of the universe balancing out Ann Coulter, the LA Times has two interesting articles related to Christianity:
- Even notwithstanding our favorite blonde, a recent survey shows that the image of Christianity is just taking a beating. A decade ago, an overwhelming majority of non-Christians, including people between the ages 16 and 29, were “favorably” disposed toward Christianity’s role in society. But today, just 16% of non-Christians in that age group had a “good impression” of the religion. Evangelicals come under the severest attack, with just 3% of the 16- to 29-year-old non-Christians indicating favorable views toward this subgroup of believers. The study also found that many Christians were aware of their religion’s image problem. More than one in 10 evangelicals believe that “Americans are becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity.” Among the most common perceptions held by young non-Christians about American Christianity were that it is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%) and too involved in politics (75%). Even among Christians, half of young believers said they too view Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality. Another study found that the most common spiritual activity among teenagers and adults is prayer. In a typical week, 72% of teenagers pray, compared with 83% of adults, the study said. After prayer, teenagers’ most prevalent spiritual activity was attending a worship service (48%), followed by attending Sunday school (35%), youth group (33%), small group (32%) and reading the Bible (31%). They did not say whether there was correlation between the prayers of teenagers and scheduled tests at school.
- So what do you do when things get bad. Have a glass of the wine Jesus probably drank. It appears a Israeli businessman is bringing out Grapes of Galilee, a varietal wine in three varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay) that is grown in the Galilee, nutured by bubbling natural springs from the Jordan River. To quote the web page, “Each sip bestows upon the palate a taste of the morning dew, the basalt firmness, the element of chalk, and the red tinted soil, creating a unique “taste of Israel” mosaic of flavors.” The label has two portraits of Jesus by Los Angeles artist Morgan Weistling above the slogan “Grown Beside the Sea of Galilee, Watered by the Jordan River”. They are positioning it as a Christmas gift. Some people think Jesus is a sellout for using his image on bottles of wine, but if rock stars can do it, why not the Superstar?
