News

At a time when “growth in military spending is slowing down in the volatile Middle East” and Latin America, military spending is surging ahead in Asia, where a number of countries are “positioning themselves for future conflicts” (Business Insider, February 11, 2016).

NBC News reports, “Researchers have found a rare and frightening superbug gene on a U.S. pig farm and say their discovery suggests raw meat could carry the dangerous germs into the human population” (December 6, 2016). According to the report, the gene imparts bacteria with resistance to carbapenems, a family of antibiotics used in “last resort” cases when nothing else will work.

Reports coming out of Syria describe the desperation of people trapped in the besieged city of Aleppo. One young man who posted videos of the death and destruction occurring in the city said in a clearly worried voice, “I can’t see what is happening in street, but I hear bombs approaching… There is no safe building left. Possible that we (will be) exposed to bombing any moment” (USA Today, December 13, 2016).

Church attendance in Western “Christian” nations has been falling steadily for decades. In America, less than 20 percent of the population now attends church each week (Statistics and Reasons for Church Decline, Richard Krejar) and in England, less than 2 percent of the population attends church each week (The Guardian, January12, 2016).