to move up and down
Graphic: Christianity then and now
More than 30% of the world’s population — 2.2 billion people — are Christian, according to a major religious survey. The 32% of the world that was Christian in 2010 was down from 35% a century ago, says the survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life that analyzed more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers. About half of all Christians are Roman Catholic (50%) and an estimated 37% of Christians belong to the Protestant tradition, broadly defined as Anglicans, independents and non-denominational churches. (Richard Johnson/National Post)
Jesus and wife: Fourth-century papyrus scrap renews idea that Christ was married
Can’t read ancient Egyptian Coptic? Well, this piece of fourth-century papyrus scrap is renewing the idea that Jesus was married. Quick, call Dan Brown! (Harvard University handout)
Graphic: A demographic breakdown of the world of religion
With the “world’s largest” gathering of atheists this weekend in Washington, D.C., the National Post’s graphics department takes a look at how the world’s religions break down. (Illustration by Richard Johnson)
Odd Christmas photo of the day
In the Bible, shepherds and wise men paid homage to the newborn baby Jesus. In Venezuela, it seems Hugo Chavez turned up in the manger, too.
A Nativity scene in Caracas showing the socialist president standing before the traditional crib-in-a-manger has stirred up a pre-Christmas controversy in the politically polarized country.
“It has nothing to do with the real Nativity, with religion. I don’t like it,” said passerby Arnaldo Amundaray, tutting as he took a close look at the model.
Big love or big lie?
When the British Columbia government’s polygamy reference case opened at the province’s Supreme Court of Canada on Nov. 22, 2010, a stream of participants and witnesses, including representatives from the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, REAL Women of Canada, the Christian Legal Fellowship, and academic experts, testified about the many harms associated with polygamy. Carolyn Jessop, who fled a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FDLS) community in Utah with her eight children in the middle of the night, summed it up well: “Polygamy is not pretty to look at. It is nice that it is tucked away in a dark corner where nobody has to see its realities, because it’s creepy.”
But George Macintosh, the amicus curiae appointed to present the opposing argument, came out swinging. He characterized Section 293 of Canada’s Criminal Code, which bans polygamy, as an overly broad and grossly disproportionate law rooted in Christian prejudices, a law demeaning to polygamists. Women in polygamous marriages anonymously testified that they were happy, that they’d made the right decision. According to the CBC, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association argued that “consenting adults have the right -the Charter protected right-to form the families that they want to form.” And the Canadian Association for Free Expression maintained that the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2005 strengthened the individual’s right to enter a polygamous marriage.
The rights argument carries considerable weight in a liberal society. But rights can’t be separated from the culture in which they arise. They are inextricably linked to institutions that form the backbone of a society; and in every society throughout history, the fundamental organizing institution has always been marriage.
John Moore: Who picks which religions are sacred?
By scoffing at the idea that all faiths are equal, the editorial board leaves unanswered the question of which are better or more truthful than others. By what measure shall we establish the relative merits of religions? Shall it be by seniority? Sheer numbers? Heaven forbid that we anoint one or the other based on reason or evidence.
It makes perfect sense to many that Christianity outranks, say, Scientology, by virtue of the fact that one has been around for 2,000 years while the other was cooked up a mere half-century ago. But by this measure do we throw Mormonism into question for having existed only slightly longer than L. Ron Hubbard’s mischievous invention? With Mormons running for president of the United States, am I at risk of a Human Rights Tribunal complaint if I point out that the faith has something in common with Scientology in that both were founded by men who might easily be described as self-aggrandizing cranks?
Photo: The Old City of Jerusalem, with the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the foreground. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)
How To Offend 101: Toronto art exhibit to feature bullet-riddled Pope, Obama nailed to cross
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The gospel according to Plato: In the first of four book excerpts, religious scholar Diarmaid Macculloch traces the deep historical roots of the Christian faith. (Illustration by Mike Faille)
The Posties: The Ascension of Frosty
