Clockwise, from top left: Blackfriar's Theater in Staunton, VA, home of the American Shakespeare Center; National Cathedral in Guatemala City; church near Volin, SD; engraved stellae at ruins of Copan, Honduras; folk musicians in La Paz, Bolivia.
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New! Music
New! TV shows
War of the Worlds (movie)
Rod Dreher's Crunchy Con
Episcopal Diocese of S.W. Virginia
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Staunton
American Shakespeare Center
(Blackfriar's Theater)
D.O.G.S. of Pray
(Christian heavy metal band)
Statler Brothers
(country band, retired)
Animals to Zombies (Rock 'n Roll)
| Language | 2002 (mn) |
2010 (mn) |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese * | 874 # | 1,213 |
| Spanish * | 322 | 329 |
| English * | 341 | 328 |
| Arabic | ? | 221 |
| Hindi | 366 # | 182 |
| Bengali | 207 | 181 |
| Portuguese | 176 | 178 |
| Russian * | 167 | 144 |
| Japanese | 125 | 122 |
| German | 100 | 90 |
# : 2004 data for Chinese pertained only to Mandarin speakers, whereas data for Hindi speakers were defined more broadly.
Asterisks (*) denote the official languages of the United Nations, which also includes French (68 million speakers).
SOURCE: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2004 & 2012
I speak Spanish, some Portuguese, and have dabbled in German, French, Italian, Russian, Catalan, and Quechua.
| Religion | 2002 (mn) |
2010 (mn) |
|---|---|---|
| Christians | 2,038 | 2,281 |
| Muslims | 1,226 | 1,553 |
| Hindus | 828 | 943 |
| Chinese folk | 389 | 454 |
| Buddhists | 364 | 463 |
| Sikhs | 24 | 24 |
| Jews | 14 | 15 |
| Local, other | 32 | 379 |
| Non-religious | 925 | 798 |
The obvious discontinuities in the last two lines of data are of uncertain origin.
SOURCE: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2004 & 2012
I belong to the Episcopal Church and am annoyed at the recent polarization. According to a Theology quiz, I scored as a "Classical Liberal."
There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies,
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.
Reinhold Niebuhr was a leading theologian of the mid-20th Century, and often wrote about foreign policy from a "Christian realist" perspective. From wikipedia.org:
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
