CHRISTIANITY

The embrace of paganism isn't limited to the Ivory Tower. As the Canadian magazine Maclean's reports, "in candlelit living-rooms... increasing numbers [of women] are gathering to mark the seasons or the phases of the moon—reviving updated neo-pagan rites that link them to nature and their own bodily cycles."

This revival of paganism is ironic because it was the very religion these women revile—Christianity—that delivered women from the bondage of paganism.

Newsweek's Kenneth Woodward describes that bondage in a recent article called "2000 Years of Jesus." In pre-Christian Roman society, he writes, women were invariably considered inferior to men. How inferior? Woodward cites evidence from a study of gravestones at Delphi that shows that infanticide of baby daughters was prevalent in those glorious pre-Christian times. "Of 600 upper-class families," Woodward writes, "only half a dozen raised more than one daughter."

Christianity changed this. It was Christianity that turned marriage into what sociologist Rodney Stark called a "more symmetrical" relationship. For example, Christianity did away with the custom of forcing 11- or 12-year-old girls into marriage. It was Christianity that protected women from arbitrary divorce laws.

And it was Christianity that opposed infanticide, which overwhelmingly victimized female babies.

What today's cultural elites fail to recognize is that paganism has always been the real threat to the safety and dignity of women. For instance, in

Dawkins and Krauss do not offer any arguments to justify their assumptions. They do not tell us why materialism is true: Instead, they ask you to take its truth as a given—in other words, on faith.countries like India and China, where pagan practices are observed, the vast majority of aborted children are female. Without Christianity, cultures tend to favor male children over females.
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=2881

You Can't Fool Mother Nature

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=7349
Of course, moral restraint requires a set of morals, beliefs that some things are wrong, regardless of what the law says—or, put more simply, the biblical worldview. Otherwise, who can trust people to do what is right when they can make a killing by doing what is wrong? That’s a lesson that Goldman’s clients and millions of homeowners have learned the hard way.



John Woolman
Quaker mystic and abolitionist

William Wilberforce
Antislavery politician

Elizabeth Fry
Prison reformer

Sojourner Truth
Abolitionist and women's rights advocate

Harriet Tubman
The "Moses" of her people

Catherine Booth
Compelling preacher and co-founder of the Salvation Army
William Booth
First General of the Salvation Army

Thomas Becket
Murdered archbishop of Canterbury

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
German theologian and resister
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Reform--moderately effective, but slow. Not always good.

Revolution--more rapid, but usually bloody.

Reneneration--Changing persons changes society. Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. . .That which is born of flesh is flesh: that which is born of spirit is spirit" (John 3:3,6). Paul spoke of the Christian rebirth in this way, "Do not be conformed to this world-system, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . . ." (Romans 12:2).

There is a difference between professing Christianity and possessing a personal relationship with Christ.
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In 252 A.D., the Christians of Corinth saved the city from the plague by responding to the needs of those who were simply dragged into the street.

In 312 A.D., half of the Roman Empire came under the political and social influence of Christianity under the rule of Constantine.

Early Christians stood in opposition to infanticide, degradation of women, gladiatorial combats, slavery, etc.

Monasteries served as hospitals, places of refuge.

Monastic schools trained scribes to preserve manuscripts.

Monasteries also developed agricultural skills and knowledge.

The Scholastics remain a pivotal period of intellectual growth.

A time of major artistic development: architecture, music, literature.

The First Great Awakening (1725-75) raised up many American universities. 100 of the first 110 American universities were founded expressly founded for the purpose of training men to propagate the Christian faith.
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Now, that’s the stuff of real childhood nightmares! The idea that there is nothing beyond the grave is the stuff of countless anxieties. And, as Dostoevsky wrote, without belief in a God who judges us, human evil goes unchecked—that is, there is no justice.

The great philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote that if there is no God, and you bet your life there is, you have lost nothing. But if there is a God, and you bet your life there is not, you have made an eternal mistake.

But there is another kind of evidence for the rationality of belief in God: that is, its impact on human lives and society.

As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, people noticed that, compared to the squalor and general hopelessness of Rome, Christians lived a profoundly different, more hopeful life. This difference made conversion to Christianity a rational choice.

The same thing is true today: Studies of evangelization show that people come to Christianity because it delivers the results. It changes families, which atheistic worldviews cannot.
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School Prayer and Bible Reading
http://www.answers.com/topic/school-prayer-and-bible-reading
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The Birth of America
http://www.worldobserver.org/US_Foundations/us_foundations1-main.htm
Jefferson did not fear Christianity and any influence that Christian people might have on government. He did not fear religious debate. Thus, he advocated government protection of religious practice rather than the protection of the government from the influence of Judeo-Christian principles.

Government, Jefferson believed, depended on God for existence and stability. In his second inaugural address, Jefferson noted that his fledgling nation's existence had so far been the result of the blessings of a merciful and benevolent God. He, too, implored God's blessings.

Jefferson believed that "institutional religion" and the state should be separated constitutionally. He would not serve as the nation's high priest, a role that many in the new nation seemingly wished the president to play.

However, the absence of Judeo-Christian principles from government was something he could not fathom. Without these principles, a completely secular government would have no moral or social restraint, as evidenced by the French as they moved from rebellion against raw power in 1789 to the murder of more than 30,000 clergymen, nobility and people of diverse political persuasions during the Reign of Terror two years later.

Separation of church and state never was meant to exclude religious ideas or people from government or even holiday Nativity scenes from capitol lawns.
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Christianity As An Influence On The Founding Fathers
http://www.lawandliberty.org/founders.htm
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