The Bible's Importance in American Society

Just spotted this interesting article by Lamar Vest at FoxNews today (emphasis added) --

Does the Bible still matter in 2012?

After all the very visible fighting about public displays of religious symbols— from 10 Commandments plaques to graveyard crosses to faith-themed war memorials to holiday manger displays—you might have developed the impression that most Americans don’t think the Bible matters today and they like it that way.

You’d be wrong.

There is a lot of speculation about both the current role and the appropriate role of the Bible in America. But each year, American Bible Society puts the guessing aside and asks a sampling of Americans to tell us how they view and use the Bible and what they believe its role should be in America.  Recently, American Bible Society released this year’s results from that research in the 2012 State of the Bible report.

The State of the Bible in America in 2012 can be summed up in a two words: encouraging and unsettling.

The research, commissioned by American Bible Society and conducted by Barna Research, found that the majority of Americans (69%) believe the Bible provides answers on how to live a meaningful life. But while 79% believe they are knowledgeable about the Bible, 54% were unable to correctly identify the first five books of the Bible.  And approximately half of Americans surveyed didn’t know the fundamental differences between the teachings of the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon, with 46% percent saying they believe all three books teach the same spiritual truths.
 

While nearly half of Americans (47%) believe the Bible has too little influence in society—a far cry from the anti-faith picture often painted in culture—approximately half (46%) say they read the Bible no more than once or twice a year.

What The State of the Bible report also confirmed is that the lack of engagement with the Bible among Americans isn’t caused by a lack of access to it. Here in the United States, 85% of households own a Bible. Actually, most families own more than one, with a household average of 4.3 Bibles.

Looking more closely at the data, something really interesting emerges. When we examine responses to the question “Do you believe the Bible contains everything a person needs to live a meaningful life?”, we find that older respondents agreed at a much higher rate than did younger respondents. While 61% of those surveyed between ages 18-27 agreed, those 47 years and older agreed at a rate of 75%.

Before you assert that older people are just naturally more traditional, remember that the older group is made up of the Woodstock generation, free-love ‘70s kids and the MTV generation. The data seems to say that the older you are, the more likely you are to value the Bible. Maybe it’s that our own life experiences prove the value of the Bible’s wisdom?

There is no doubt that the findings in The State of the Bible lead to some obvious questions. For instance…

- If Americans believe in the value of reading and applying the Bible, why don’t more of us do so?

- If we believe that the Bible has the right amount of—or too little—influence in society, why is so much negative attention given to expressions of the faith in the God of the Bible?

When survey participants were asked what frustrated them most about reading the Bible, the most oft-cited response was that they “never had enough time to read it.” The busy-ness of our lives often make it difficult for us to follow through on what we say we value. Another reason I often hear from non-Bible readers is that they find the sheer size of the Bible to be overwhelming.

So where does someone start who wants to be a Bible reader but doesn’t have a lot of time? A good place to begin is with the “Essential 100.”  This list of 100 key verses and related stories do not contain everything the Bible has to say.  What it does provide is a concise way to understand the bigger arc of the Bible without getting bogged down. For all of those who wonder what the Bible is really all about, The Essential 100 (available at e100.americanbible.org) is a great starting point.

So is the Bible really relevant in 2012? You won’t know until you read it.
...

Some good advice there for those of us who find squeezing time into our day for Bible study tough.  Some other suggestions:

 

- Find yourself a good translation, and a Bible with notes throughout can not only help you understand, but will also offer insights and perspectives you might not have considered.  

 

- If you are already fairly familiar with the Bible, maybe choosing an unfamiliar translation might cause you to receive and digest the Word in a new way.  Familiarity can lead to boredom. 

 

- Luckily, for the techies there are a lot of useful websites, podcasts and tools to help us do just that.  I will be adding some info to the side margins.  In the meantime, check out Google for websites and iTunes for podcasts and apps.

 

But, let us not forget that PRIORITY is the ultimate "app" in helping us with the time issue.  We make time for what really matters.  I have been guilty of not prioritizing; but, of late I've been meeting with greater success since I started a "through-the-bible-in-a-year" initiative at the start of the New Year,.  I am still on track and have found the 20 minutes or so to be very beneficial -- I feel my "little flicker o' faith" starting to be more of a flame.  

Now, do NOT think you have to devote that much time.  We all know that new habits are hard to form, so be reasonable in any new routine you try to establish.  Even just a few minutes in focused contemplation with God's Word will help, and that is a far more manageable and attainable strategy than thinking you have to go for long stretches of time each day.

Social Media Censoring Christianity?

Today I found a startling article at The Christian Post -- Is it possible that Facebook, Google, and Apple are on a campaign to stamp out religious free speech?  Here's the story from Stephanie Samuel (emphasis added):

Facebook, Google, Apple Censoring Religious Speech?

WASHINGTON – The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) group sounded the alarm Thursday about new media outlets such as Facebook, Google and Apple, which they say have written policies that violate the fundamental rules of free expression, particularly concerning religious free speech.

The NRB released a report at the National Press Club Thursday analyzing the various content policies of social networking websites. What they found was disturbing: new media platforms Facebook, Apple, Comcast, AT&T and Google have adopted policies to censor lawful viewpoints expressing Christian views or controversial ideas on “hot button issues.” Some platforms, such as Apple’s iTunes App Store and Google’s search engine, have already started to use those policies to remove orthodox Christian viewpoints considered “offensive” or too controversial.

Former Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said, “The irony is the companies listed in this report are some of the most open companies in the world.”

In a January 2010 interview with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg praised social networking for opening people up to share “more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people.”

However, Zuckerberg’s social network has removed content deemed “anti-gay,” according to the NRB report. It is unclear whether that censored material contained any religious expression. However, the NRB report warns, “The position of Facebook on the issue of homosexuality and its collaboration with gay right group the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination (GLAAD), coupled with its troublesome written policies, are all strong indicators that its social networking platform poses a high index of risk for anti-Christian discrimination.”

The Associated Press caught Comcast blocking or at least delaying peer-to-peer file sharing of the King James Bible.

Google has also committed a number of free speech violations, the NRB report alleges. The world’s most powerful search engine initially prohibited the English Christian Institute from purchasing space for an advertisement about abortion. It also allegedly blocked a Massachusetts pro-family website because of its conservative Christian content. Google also has also excluded churches and other faith groups from free or discounted use of its web tool Google for nonprofits.

Colby May, senior counsel and director for the American Center for Law and Justice, said of new media’s apparent split personality, “Something else is in play.” He and others attending a panel discussion of the report suggested that social networking platforms are under a tremendous amount of pressure from various special interest groups.

For example, Google removed pages of a Norwegian anti-Church of Scientology site after it was pressured to do so by Church of Scientology lawyers.

And when Facebook, citing its outlined responsibility policies, abruptly yanked a fairly innocuous photo of two fully clothed male actors kissing from the blog post of gay rights activist Richard Metzger, it sparked criticism in the gay community, leading Facebook to repost the photo.

Facebook issued a formal apology and reposted the picture. The report contrasts this incident with several others where Facebook “has permanently and unapologetically removed sexual content.”
The grossest act of anti-Christian censorship, according to the report, is Apple’s removal of the Exodus International and Manhattan Declaration apps.

Gay rights protesters demonized Exodus’ app as the “gay cure app,” although the app primarily advertised the date, times and locations of its upcoming events. They rallied more than 107,000 sign petitions asking Apple to remove the app from the iTunes store. Gay activists also successfully petitioned the removal of the Manhattan Declaration.

May lamented Apple’s skewed judgment, saying it rejected an app for a document that upholds the sanctity of life and marriage as “offensive,” but maintains an app for the violent videogame Grand Theft Auto.

The panelists all expressed the fear that selective censorship may silence not just Christianity, but all religions.

May stated that the religious community must demand that companies such as Google and Facebook open their media platforms to more kinds of speech. “When we say ‘open,’ we mean open ... don’t give the heckler veto,” he urged.

Roth urged the religious community to educate the public about the importance of free speech. He said those in academia – millennials such as Zuckerman and the early makers of Google who launched their companies while attending college – may not be aware of why censorship, however small, is problematic.

NRB Senior Vice President and General Counsel Craig Parshall told The Christian Post it plans to send the report to the offending companies along with an invitation for dialogue and discussion. Parshall and others on the Thursday panel made clear their preference for change through dialogue rather than resorting to legislative or regulatory means. However, if the companies do not respond, Parshall says the NRB reserves the right to begin talks with the FCC.

Wow ... and all the Apple products I've bought over the years ... I don't to, but if this Big Brother behavior continues, I may have to take my business elsewhere ... I don't wanna have to buy a PC!

iTunes Pulls "Manhattan Declaration" for Being "Anti-Gay", "Anti-Woman" and "Anti-Abortion"

We see more political hardball being played by Apple's iTunes ... this report is from The Christian Post:

App Store Pulls Manhattan Declaration

Apparently there's not an app for the 400,000+ signature declaration....

Trevor Persaud

Apple's iTunes App Store has removed a program for the Manhattan Declaration after critics decried the declaration as "anti-gay" and "anti-woman."  The app, which went online in October, enabled users to sign the declaration, visit the website, and take a survey relating to the declaration. Change.org posted a petition--which picked up over 7,000 signers in a few days--asking that Apple remove the "anti-gay and anti-choice" application.

Defining itself as "A Call of Christian Conscience," the 4700-word declaration announces its signatories' intention "to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense" of principles that include "sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion." Released in 2009, the declaration has picked up over 400,000 signers, including drafters Charles Colson, Robert George, and Timothy George. (CT's editor-in-chief David Neff also signed the declaration.)

At some point in the last few days, the declaration app unobtrusively vanished from the App Store.  Observers have long puzzled over Apple's criteria for accepting and rejecting apps; in fact many people accused Apple of a double standard when they rejected a number of apps designed specifically for the gay community. The company said they rejected the apps for objectionable content, though many say that the cited content was no worse than that available in apps the company has accepted (like the one promoting the recent movie Bruno).

Apple has yet to explain its reasons for removing the declaration's app, which they originally rated "4+" for "No objectionable material." Supporters of the declaration, however, are definitely making their opinions known about the anti-app campaign.

"I am one of the 150 or so original signers of the Manhattan Declaration—I urge readers here to sign it—and I don’t hate gay people," wrote Tom Gilson on First Things's Evangel blog. "That’s an unjust and intolerant tag that a minority opposition group has fixed upon me for rhetorical effect. It’s wrong and it’s extremely judgmental."

"To a radicalized blog dedicated to promoting abortion, denigrating the dignity of women and the unborn, and supporting unnatural unions, this application is the scourge of human existence," writes Billy Atwell on the Manhattan Declaration's own blog. "What does that tell me? It tells me that we’re doing something right "
More reactions to come.

Interesting how Apple puts The Manhattan Declaration on a parallel with these other apps it pulled or rejected earlier:

- In February it was reported that Apple would pull sexually explicit apps, although curious how I still frequently run across them as I hunt for apps for my iPhone and iPad

- dreadful games such as "Baby Shaker" in which the user can quiet a crying baby by vigorously shaking the iPod or iPhone, or AMP's "Before You Score" game which gave young males tips for scoring and then sharing their exploits on Twitter or Facebook

- the app "I Am Rich" that people spent an outragous sum for ($1,000) simply to show off their wealth

- various political apps, such as Trampoline which uses the iPod's accelerometer to bounch political figures or iSinglePlayer that was rejected for daring to educate the public on the single-payer option of health care

Here's Brian Chen's take on Apple's predicament with his article "A Call for Transparency in Apple's App Store":

The issue is poised to grow as more iPads sell. To understand, you have to consider the logistics of embracing a new publishing medium such as the iPad. Media operations must integrate digital tablet production into their infrastructure, and it’s neither easy nor inexpensive to obtain the software developers, designers and content creators to make such a transition. And if advertisers invest more money in the iPad version of a publication, that pressures publishers to give priority to resources allocated to the iPad.

Given Apple’s lead in mobile, the rate at which Apple and the App Store are growing and the wild enthusiasm among advertisers lining up for the iPad opportunity, it seems inevitable that Apple will to some extent have influence over the content that publishers produce.

Podcasts for the Christian

Another wonderful bit of technology to aid the Pilgrim is the podcast.  In recent years, I have added Christian podcasts to my "armory" in building me up spiritually.  There are oodles of them available for free from on iTunes, and I have found them to be a terrific way to start your day.

I developed this routine, because I found that in the mornings as I prepared for my day, I would start churning and ruminating over things that were bugging me.  I have found that listening to an uplifting and enriching podcast instead helped keep me in a better frame of mind and focusing my mental energy and spirit on higher things. 

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  (Phillipians 4:8)

Here are some favorites that I thoroughly enjoy and highly recommend:

Ravi Zacharias: 
Let My People Think

"Let My People Think" with Ravi Zacharias is a 30-minute radio program that powerfully mixes biblical teaching and Christian apologetics. The program seeks to explore issues such as life's meaning, the credibility of the Christian message and the Bible, the weakness of modern intellectual movements and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.

Ravi Zacharias has spoken in over fifty countries and in numerous universities worldwide, notably Harvard and Princeton. He was born in India in 1946 and immigrated to Canada twenty years later. While pursuing a career in business management, his interest in theology grew. Ravi received his Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has also been honored by the conferring of a Doctor of Divinity degree from Houghton College, a Doctor of Laws degree from Asbury College, and a Doctor of Divinity degree from Tyndale College and Seminary, Toronto. Ravi has written several books, including Cries of the Heart and Jesus Among Other Gods. He and his family reside in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Click here to go directly to RZIM's website.)

R.C. Sproul's Renewing Your Mind (Ligonier Ministries)
Since 1994, Renewing Your Mind with Dr. R.C. Sproul has provided accessible, in-depth Bible teaching to millions around the world.  As the principal outreach of Ligonier Ministries, this radio broadcast has instructed listeners in the life-changing truths of historic Christianity and has kept the church community informed about pertinent issues facing believers today. (Click here to go to Ligonier's website.)



Windsor Crossing Community Church

Pastor Greg Holder is a phenomenal preacher.  He's one of those rare individuals where he can talk for 45 minutes and you want more!  Informative, thought-provoking, educational, and humorous, Holder's sermons are directed not just at the "churched" but also to the "unchurched"-- an approach so needed in our post-modern society.  (Click here to go to
Windsor Crossing Community Church.)  You can also download videocasts.


All available for FREE on iTunes.  You will find that the above podcasts are from differing denominations; however, there is no strong dominance of any particular group other than Protestant and orthodox.

Bible App: The Reformation Study Bible

For you iPod Touch or iPod phone fans, you're probably getting addicted to all the cool apps that you can download from iTunes!  I have great news for you -- The Reformation Study Bible is available from iTunes for $15.99.  A bit pricey, yes, but compared to the ones I downloaded before it -- the "cheapies" that were 99 cents or a few bucks -- this one is far better.

Here are some of its features:

"The Reformation Study Bible, General Editor Dr. R.C. Sproul, is a tremendous resource created by more than fifty scholars and featuring more than 20,000 study notes on Bible verses and terms.  Additional study notes include introductions to the seven groups of biblical books, book introductions with outlines, and 96 notes on central doctrines of Scripture.  This version also includes the entire text of the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible.  The entire resource is stored right on your phone for instand access without a network connection."

Features include:
• Fast keyword, phrase, and wildcard search
• Highlight verses in multiple colors
• Personalize verses with your own notes
• Additional translations free: KJV, ASV, YLT, WEB, Darby, RVA, AA
• Free downloads: Greek NT, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, Easton's Bible Dictionary, Spurgeon's Daily Devotional, Thompson Topics
• Web backup of notes and highlighting
• Direct, two-way Web synchronization
• Split screen view
• Verse tagging

You might be familiar with the name R.C. Sproul.  I enjoy and highly recommend his radio show "Renewing Your Mind."   Normally, however, I listen to his show via podcast, available from free from iTunes.   (Click here to read more about the Reformation Study Bible.)

I still believe a real book in your hands is the best; but, when you're in a pinch, having the Bible with such capabilities on something as small as your iPod is great.  And, with the introduction of Apple's new iPad earlier this week, I imagine reading the Bible on that will be wonderful.

Great for the Christian techie ...