WorldChristian News: Socio-Cultural World #23
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BY THE NUMBERS--The Barna
Research Group recently released the results of a survey identifying five
distinctive faith groups in America. Statistically, evangelicals make up 8%
of the population, non-evangelical born again Christians 33%, notional
Christians 44%, atheist/agnostic group 8%, with other faith groups
comprising 7% of the population.
www.barna.org
BABY MAKERS--With a method developed at the
Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago, lesbian couples may be able to
have a baby that shares both their genes. The procedure, which is currently
being tested and could be available within 18 months, uses "artificial
sperm" created from any cell in a woman's body to fertilize another woman's
egg. (BBC, 02/1/18)
Hungry Surfers--According to a study by
the Pew Internet and American Life Project released in December, 25% of
American adult internet users have sought out religious information online.
The number is now over three million (compared to two last year), making the
search for religious data more popular than other searches such as banking,
gambling or stock trading. (Missions Network News, 01/12/28)
BEST COUNTRIES IN WHICH TO LIVE--Norway
leads a list of 162 countries ranked by income, education, life expectancy
and health care, according to the U.N.’s 11th annual Human Development
Report. Next in line are Australia, and Canada, which topped the list for
the last six years. Poor people live the longest in Japan and Sweden. The
USA occupies sixth place in the list of best countries to live in. The
Report also urged America and Western Europe to get over their fear of
genetically engineered food, believing that it could be the answer to
feeding the world’s poor.
GLASS CEILING--A Japanese government
report recently confirmed that the glass ceiling for Japanese women employed
in the corporate world, where four in ten workers are women, remains firmly
in place. Judging by UN standards, Japan ranked 41st among 70 countries in
gender equality in the workplace in 2000, compared with Norway and Iceland
which took the top two spots. Germany was sixth and the United States was
13th.
CAN AUSTRALIA HANDLE MORE? In commenting on Australia’s recent national soul
searching on its stance toward asylum seekers, the Sydney Morning Herald listed
the following statistics: While the country processed 8,000 asylum applications
in 2000, Britain processed 50,000, Germany 100,000, the United States and Canada
420,000. ( Jan 26) see related news in next item.
WHO GETS TO STAY? The numbers are deceptive. Although nearly 90,000 people
applied for asylum in Germany in 2001, only 5,716 of them were actually granted
asylum. That’s only 5.3 percent of the total applications. And yet 2001 was a
record year compared to the previous one when only 3 percent of the applicants
were given asylum.
Slightly more than 17,000 or 16 percent of the applicants were protected by
German law from deportation and permitted to stay in the country. This too was
an increase from the previous year.
More than half of all the asylum seekers (54 percent) were rejected. These
applicants, many of whom came long distances, will be forced to return to their
countries of origin. (Deutsche Welle; 01/10)
CLOSE TO HALF OF THE 6,000 LANGUAGES spoken in the world are doomed or likely to disappear in the foreseeable future. Along with them will disappear the cultural heritage intimately associated with the particular language. One place where linguistic diversity continues to thrive is the Pacific region, especially Papua New Guinea, which accounts for about 2,000 living languages. The recently revised book Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing is available for sale at www.unesco.org
EARTH DAY: April 22.
Illustrates the relationship between Christians and the
natural world, and explains what ecology has to do with
theology.
List Price:
$21.99
WCN Sale price: $17.59
To buy this title,
click here
The Global
Soul
Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for
Home
by Pico Iyer
List Price:
$13.00
WCN Sale price: $11.05
From the acclaimed author of "Video Night in Kathmandu" comes this intriguing new book that deciphers the personal impact of globalization and the rising tide of worldwide displacement. The author presents Los Angeles International Airport as a "town", Hong Kong, and Japan, pondering what the word "home" means in the face of rapid change.
To buy this title, click here
Truth
is Stranger Than it Used to Be
Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age
by Brian Walsh and J. Richard Middleton
InterVarsity Press
List Price: $16.00
WCN Sale Price: $13.60
Critical yet evenhanded look at postmodern culture. Demonstrates that the Biblical metanarrative makes sense in the midst of today's carnivalesque society. Here is the book for those who wonder what postmodernism is and how biblical Christians might best respond to its challenges. In this book the authors survey postmodern culture and philosophy, offering lucid explanations of such difficult theories as deconstruction.
To buy this title, click here
last update: 2003 May18