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Niall
Big Goldfish
Joined: 28 Mar 2008
Posts: 74
Location: Columbia SC
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 Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:58 am Post subject: Would you Still be a Christian if..... |
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You were born in an Islamic country and raised as a Muslim?
IMO culture has much to do with what religion you follow.
_________________
The One is the Invisible Spirit. It is not right to think of it as a God or as like God. It is more than just God. |
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Pete
Lion King
Joined: 31 May 2006
Posts: 1026
Location: Arlington Hts., Il. USA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:24 am Post subject: |
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You can narrow it down even more than that. If one is born a Southern Baptist, he/she will remain a Southern Baptist. If born a Roman Catholic, a Roman Catholic they will remain.
How many folks do much more than go to Church occasionally and observe the pagan holidays that pass for Christian? Whatever you do, don't rock the boat and get them out of their comfort zone.
Do some independent Bible research? Are you kidding? They have "qualified experts" that do that stuff. |
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Mattathias
King Kong
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 2048
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Pete wrote: | | You can narrow it down even more than that. If one is born a Southern Baptist, he/she will remain a Southern Baptist. If born a Roman Catholic, a Roman Catholic they will remain. |
I may be misunderstanding you. I've known many people who have changed from one religious denomination to another.
The following extract contains dated material but it shows that people move between denominations in substantial numbers.
| Quote: | In increasing numbers, Americans are switching denominations. In 1955, a Gallup poll revealed that only 4% of the adult population belonged to a different denomination from the one in which they were raised. In 1985--thirty years later--another Gallup poll documented that 33% of adults no longer belonged to the denomination of their childhood.
Some denominations have been heavily impacted by this new mobility among the denominations. Data collected over two decades shows that 45% of persons who were raised Presbyterian now belong to other denominations or none at all. For Methodists, the figure is somewhat less, but hardly comforting. Only 40% of those raised Methodist have changed their religious affiliation. Episcopalians had a loss rate of 38%. Baptists and Lutherans lost 25% each, while Catholics lost 15%, and Jews 17%.
One reason for this has been the willingness of Americans to attend services across denominational barriers. Studies in the eighties documented that 80% of Americans have attended a religious service of a denomination other than their own. 60% have attended the services of at least three different denominations, and 33% have worshipped in five or more. These high percentages suggest that denominational "brand" loyalty has undergone considerable erosion.
Another factor seems to be education. Persons with some college education are 3 times as likely to have attended the services of six or more denominations. People who go to college are more likely than not to switch denominations. (The sole exception to this is among the Jews. There the percentage of persons switch is a constant 15% regardless of educational background.) And most Americans do not stop with just one change of religious affiliation. 20% switch more than twice. 10% alter their denominational identity three or more times.
Still another reason for this mobility is an increase in inter-marriage across denominational and religious boundaries. Inter-marriage for Jews, for instance, rose steadily from 3% in 1965 to 17% in the mid-eighties. Much that same thing has happened (but to a greater extent) between Christian groups. In these cases, about two-thirds of the couples eventually achieve a religious unity. Either one spouse joins the faith of the other (40% of cases) or both switch to another denomination or faith (30%). |
http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/thirtythree.html |
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Mattathias
King Kong
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 2048
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject: Re: Would you Still be a Christian if..... |
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| Niall wrote: | | You were born in an Islamic country and raised as a Muslim? |
The religious and governmental authorities in Islamic nations make conversion from Islam to Christianity very difficult. In some nations, such conversions are punishable by death.
I think if I had been born in an Islamic nation and raised as a Muslim, the probability of me converting to Christianity would likely be miniscule. |
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Mattathias
King Kong
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 2048
Location: Atlanta
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| Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Bibles, Crucifixes Not Allowed into Saudi Arabia
If you are planning a trip to Saudi Arabia as the summer days wind down, you may want to think twice before taking your Bible with you. |
CHECK LINK
(Edited your link to keep it from stretching the page) Nobby |
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Airyaman
Tadpole
Joined: 21 Jun 2008
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:54 am Post subject: |
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religions dot pewforum dot org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-chapter-2.pdf
Can't post links yet, cop & paste in browser (take "dot" out and replace with "." obviously) |
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45degreeN
King Kong
Joined: 02 Aug 2005
Posts: 2673
Location: Salem Oregon
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:05 am Post subject: |
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I lived in Saudi Arabia and can tell you that Bibles do get into the country if they are within the personal effects of contractors (such as myself) evangelizing is punishable by being thrown out of the country though (which didn't happen to me).
I had many conversations while there about Christianity and Jesus, there is a curiosity. But like someone else said there are other severe punishments for conversion to Christianity(or any other religion for that matter).
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My boss is a Jewish carpenter.
Read the
www.Christian-Thinktank.com |
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