Saturday, May 16, 2015

Study: Americans becoming less Christian, more secular




NEW YORK (AP) — The number of Americans who don't affiliate with a particular religion has grown to 56 million in recent years, making the faith group researchers call "nones" the second-largest in total numbers behind evangelicals, according to a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday.
Christianity is still the dominant faith by far in the U.S.; 7 in 10 Americans identify with the tradition. However, the ranks of Christians have declined as the segment of people with no religion has grown, the survey says.
Between 2007 and 2014, when Pew conducted two major surveys of U.S. religious life, Americans who described themselves as atheist, agnostic or of no particular faith grew from 16 percent to nearly 23 percent. At the same time, Christians dropped from about 78 percent to just under 71 percent of the population. Protestants now comprise 46.5 percent of what was once a predominantly Protestant country.
Researchers have long debated whether people with no religion should be defined as secular since the category includes those who believe in God or consider themselves "spiritual." But the new Pew study found increasing signs of secularism.
Last year, 31 percent of "nones" said they were atheist or agnostic, compared to 25 percent in 2007, and the percentage who said religion was important to them dropped.
Greg Smith, Pew's associate research director, said the findings "point to substantive changes" among the religiously unaffiliated, not just a shift in how people describe themselves. Secular groups have become increasingly organized to counter bias against them and keep religion out of public life through lawsuits and lobbying lawmakers.

The growth of "nones" has political significance as well. People with no religion tend to vote Democratic, just as white evangelicals tend to vote Republican. The Pew study found a slight drop — about 1 percent — in the evangelical share of the population, which now comprises a quarter of Americans. But the overall number of evangelicals rose to about 62 million people.
Pew researchers said Christian losses were driven by decreases among mainline, or liberal, Protestants and Roman Catholics.
Mainline Protestants declined by about 5 million to 36 million between 2007 and 2014. Pew found 13 percent of U.S. adults are former Catholics. The study put the number of Catholic adults at 51 million, or just over one-fifth of the U.S. population, a drop of about 3 percent over seven years. In 2007, Catholics made up about one-quarter of Americans.
However, Pew researchers acknowledge those conclusions differ from those of some other major studies that found only slight declines or even a slight uptick in the numbers of Catholics in the last couple of years. Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which tracks American Catholicism, puts the U.S. adult Catholic population at 61 million.
Regarding other religions, Pew found an increase in membership of non-Christian faiths, driven mainly by growing numbers of Muslims and Hindus. Despite the increase, their numbers remain small. Muslims and Hindus each comprise less than 1 percent of the U.S. population. The number of Jews rose slightly over the period, from 1.7 percent to 1.9 percent of Americans.
Overall, religious groups have become more ethnically diverse along with the broader population. Latinos now comprise one-third of U.S. Roman Catholics, although fewer U.S. Latinos identify as Catholic overall. One-quarter of evangelicals and 14 percent of mainline Protestants are racial minorities. Membership in historically black churches has remained relatively stable over the period.
The survey of 35,000 people, titled "America's Changing Religious Landscape," was conducted in English and Spanish from June 4 through Sept. 30 of last year and has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.6 percentage points.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Aide to California State Attorney Accused of Running an Freemason-Occult Police Force

Article Source: businessinsider.com







One of California Attorney General Kamala Harris' (D) staffers was arrested last week and "accused of operating a rogue police force that claimed to exist for more than 3,000 years," The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday
Brandon Kiel, deputy director of community affairs at the California Department of Justice, and two others — David Henry and Tonette Hayes — reportedly face charges for their roles in the Masonic Fraternal Police Department.
"Suspicions about the Masonic Fraternal Police Department — whose members trace their origins to the Knights Templar — were aroused when various police chiefs in Southern California received a letter in late January that announced new leadership for the group," the Times' Matt Hamilton wrote.
"Following an investigation, officials said, sheriff’s investigators searched two sites in Santa Clarita and found badges, weapons, uniforms and law enforcement paraphernalia." 
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department said in a statement that the Masonic Fraternal Police Department was not a legitimate police force and that Kiel, Henry, and Hayes were arrested for allegedly impersonating police officers. 
"Detectives conducted a thorough investigation in collaboration with several law enforcement agencies and determined MFPD was not a legitimate police agency," the sheriff's department said in a statement, according to NBC News
The Times called attention to a website purporting to represent the Masonic department. The site claims the police department is widely respected and operates in 33 states. 
"The Masonic Fraternal Organization is the oldest and most respected organization in the 'World.' Grand Masters around the various states are facing serious safety concerns for their Jurisdictions and their family members. The first Police Department was created by the 'Knights Templar's' back in 1100 B.C.," the site says. "When asked what is the difference between The Masonic Fraternal Police Department and other Police Departments the answer is simple for us. We were here first!"

Harris is the Democratic front-runner to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) in 2016. Her office declined to comment to the Times but said Kiel had been placed on administrative leave. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Monster Energy Drink Symbol Has 666 on It: Fact or Fiction?

Fact or Fiction the Monster Energy Drink Symbol is 666?

In the last couple of years, their has been Youtube videos done , and stories written online that the symbol on the energy drink Monster is indeed 666. Is this really fact or fiction? Are people just exaggerating that the symbol is 666?

If you take a close look at the picture below, the Hebrew alphabet Vav has an numerical value of the number 6. So if take Vav Vav Vav, it would translate to the numerical value of 666(source). The Monster Energy Drink has an identical symbol on its cans Vav Vav Vav on them. How ironic that this is the symbol, being used to brand one of the most popular energy drinks in the entire world. 

It isn't a sin to drink a Monster Energy Drink, nor will you go to Hell for consuming one! However, Satan is using symbolism in almost all facets of society, to desensitize people on the soon coming Mark of the Beast. We must be able to rightfully discern the times we live in these last and evil days.    




Tuesday, April 14, 2015

A Wonderful Message for the World: 3 girls who escaped from Boko Haram's mass abduction

Article Source: Business Insider







Protesters march in support of the girls kidnapped by members of Boko Haram in front of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington May 6, 2014.Three girls who escaped a mass abduction by Boko Haram one year ago today have a powerful message to share — the jihadists won't stop us from learning and living. 
Al Jazeera spoke with the girls, who were abducted along with more than 200 of their classmates before jumping off of the trucks of their kidnappers.
The three girls are now attending college at the University of Nigeria in Yola.
When asked if they want to go back to their hometown of Chibok, all three girls say yes.
"I want some changes in Chibok, like the environment," a girl called Blessing said. "I want to be a lawyer. I want to fight for justice. "
Another, Mary, says she wants to " become a medical doctor. To go to Chibok and build clinics and hospitals because we don't have educated doctors there. I will try hard."
The third, Deborah had a profound message: "It was said that if you educate a girl you educate the whole nation. It is very important. They haven't stopped me. ... That's why I am going back when I graduate. The education there is very poor. So I want to help by building a school. I want to empower women by creating centres that will teach them things."
The military conflict in the region makes it difficult to search for the captured children, and there are only rumors and brief sightings to go on.  The BBC reports that their classmates are likely being taught the Koran and married off to members of Boko Haram. 
Nevertheless, the ones who got away remain hopeful.
Deborah also sent a message to captive girls: "The message is be brave and courageous. Be a hard worker and always believe in God, that whatever you are going through, God is there for you, he will help you. Have ambition that you are great and you were made to be a great person."