Information Related to "World News Review March/April 2008"
| Audio/Video |
 |
In Brief... World News ReviewContributor: John Ross SchroederOne Dreadful Week in America Ted Anthony of the Associated Press described several tragic events in the United States in one week. He lamented: "Ugly things. Violent things. Elemental things. The forces of nature and human anger unleashed in concentrated form across the land. Water and fire, gun and sky, bringing destruction, death and misery. And tears" (Washington Post.com, Feb. 10, 2008). It could be argued by secular observers that there is nothing at all we can do about destructive, death-dealing tornadoes (killing 59 in the South), but most disturbing of all is human anger completely out of control. Five dead in Los Angeles, six murdered in Missouri, five women killed in Chicago, three people gunned down in Louisiana. An unbelievable carnage occurring in one week, followed about a week later by 18 hurt and four killed at an Illinois University shooting. Violence filled the earth before the time of Noah's Flood (Genesis 6:11). Jesus Christ clearly stated that conditions prior to His second coming would be like those before the great Flood of Noah's time. It is a sobering parallel and the overall principle certainly applies. See our free booklet
Is a World Recession Now Possible? Recent headlines and dropheads (directly under those headlines) in USA Today are not encouraging. For instance: "Inflation, Falling Home Prices Fuel Anxiety. Home sales decline again; prices tumble as inventories swell; reports add to case that US is at the brink of a recession." It used to be said that when America coughs, the whole world catches a cold. Some spin-off becomes obvious when one reads another headline and drophead in USA Today. "Woe Canada: Catching USA's Economic Chill. No. 1 trading partner among first to feel our pain." And then in The Times (London): "Europe Decline Could Be Worse Than Expected, Brussels Admits. Eurozone growth is set for sharp fall. US downturn and market turmoil blamed." Media hype? Yes, there is always an element of that. But there is reason to believe that in this case the smoke does indicate a fire. A feature article in the Financial Times blames America's failing house sector as the chief culprit, saying that macro-economic measures were proving helpful, but that mortgage lending support was still highly inadequate. Lawrence Summers, former U.S. secretary of the Treasury and a professor at Harvard, said: "It appears that house prices are down by 5-10 per cent from their peak, with derivatives markets predicting further declines of about 20 per cent. Price falls of this magnitude are likely to mean more than 10 m[illion] would have negative equity in their homes and more than 2 m[illion] foreclosures would take place over the next two years" (ibid., Feb. 25, 2008). If you need help in coping with your own personal financial situation, request or download our free booklet
Changing Face of Religion in America Said a feature article in USA Today, "The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, documents new peaks, deepening valleys and fast-running rivers of change in American religion" (Feb. 26, 2008). Several things are happening. Major churches showed moderate declines, including the Roman Catholic, the Baptist, the Methodist and the Lutheran denominations. Yet Christianity clearly dominates the religious scene in the United States with nearly 80 percent of the adult population indicating an allegiance. In summary, "The major Christian denominations are losing numbers fast. Only non-denominational Christian churches showed growth, outpacing losses. 'Two in three people who say they grew up as Jehovah's Witnesses have left the faith. Any one of 10 people you meet is a former Catholic,'" says Luis Lugo, Pew Forum director (ibid.). Several church authorities seem to agree that "there's no question that change is afoot and that doctrine and denominations are losing their hold on Western Christian nations." In fact, there has been a monumental shift away from the doctrines of the New Testament Church. To learn more, read or request our free booklet
Worldwide Shift From Country to City The United Nations recently declared that for the first time in history, "More people in the world live in the town than in the country" (Charles Moore, The Spectator, Feb. 23, 2008). Rural life has had an enormous impact on humanity throughout the millennia. This monumental change has taken place principally over the last 200 years in the West—and much of the rest of the world has been following. Charles Moore commented: "What are its effects? A crisis of the great religions, whose language of elemental truth assumes an understanding of what it is to be a good shepherd, to sow and reap, to have murrains of cattle and crops that fail" (ibid.). It's impossible to fully understand many of the illustrations Jesus Christ and His apostles used without a fundamental grasp of these subjects. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| © 1995-2022 United
Church of God, an International Association | Request
Free Literature Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@wnponline.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@churchofgodtwincities.org. |
|
Related Information:
Other Articles by John Ross Schroeder
Origin of article "World News Review March/April 2008"
Keywords: murder recession U.S. religion urbanization
Global economy:
