Hungary.
Hungary, for example, is an officially Christian nation. Even still, faith is waning: Although a majority of Hungarians identify as Catholic, only 12% regularly attend church services and just 14% describe religion as “very important” in their lives.
It is worth noting, as author Rod Dreher has, Prime Minister Victor Orban’s governance in Budapest is very much aligned with politically conservative Christian views. As such, the country has passed legislation to that end.
Nevertheless, Saiya and Manchanda argue that, in pluralistic societies, where religious ideologies coexist and must compete, for lack of a better word, Christianity untethered from politics often flourishes. Paradoxically, they found, “state favoritism of religion inadvertently suppresses it.”
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May. 6, 2021 10:01 AM
Israel’s political system works on paper. It served the country pretty well for its first 70 years, until it got stuck in this “Groundhog Day” rut of never-ending election cycles, starting in March 2019.
As Israelis lose hope of ever getting another functioning government (and the sorely needed budget that comes with it), this is clearly the perfect time to admit that the present system has failed us and we must consider more radical options – unexplored avenues that the state can try at least once, just to see what happens.
Why is Christianity growing in some countries but declining in others?
For much of the 20th century, social scientists answered this question by appealing to the so-called secularization thesis: the theory that science, technology, and education would result in Christianity’s declining social influence.
More recently, some scholars have suggested the cause is rather the accumulation of wealth. Increasing prosperity, it is believed, frees people from having to look to a higher power to provide for their daily needs. In other words, there is a direct link from affluence to atheism.
In a peer-reviewed study published this month in the journal
May 4, 2021 Share
Even after she was taken off an investigation into alleged financial crimes by a money transfer company, the defiant Lebanese prosecutor charged ahead. She showed up at the company’s offices outside of Beirut with a group of supporters and a metal worker, who broke open the locked gate.
Ghada Aoun obtained data from Mecattaf Holding Company that she contends will reveal the identities of people who sneaked billions of dollars out of Lebanon amid the financial meltdown that has hit the country.
The move was part of a public feud between Aoun and Lebanon’s state prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, who had dismissed her from the case, saying she’d overstepped with two earlier raids. Their feud has turned into scuffles between their supporters in the street.