Below are this week's Articles of Interest as compiled by Mr. Van Baker. This collection of articles is cultivated by Mr. Baker with the goal of highlighting some of the trends, upheavals, and things to watch for in our society. These articles are not necessarily the express views of the United Church of God, Mr. Baker, or me as the pastor, but they are informative of what is occurring in our nation and culture. In accordance with Christ's warning to correctly discern the times (Matthew 16:1-4), it is wise to be aware of what is going on around us. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Restlessness of the “Spiritual but Not Religious” – Belief in Self unsettles the soul. According to a recent article in Psychology Today, those who describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious,” which is over one in five Americans, are at higher risk of mental illness compared to the religious and the non-religious. Two different studies spanning the past couple decades found that those who claim to be “spiritual but not religious” have higher rates of anxiety, irrational fears, general neurotic disorders, and depression.
https://breakpoint.org/the-restlessness-of-the-spiritual-but-not-religious/

Pope Francis inaugurates nativity scene in Vatican showing baby Jesus on keffiyeh – Pope Francis on Saturday [12/7] attended the inauguration of a seasonal nativity scene, presented by Palestinian officials, that featured a baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf used by Palestinians as a national symbol.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/pope-francis-inaugurates-nativity-scene-in-vatican-showing-baby-jesus-on-keffiyeh/

Pope Francis Proclaims Special "Jubilee" for LGBTQ+ Community – Pope Francis has proclaimed a special jubilee pilgrimage for gays and all LGBTQ+ people, Italian media announced this weekend. For the first time, a specific Jubilee event will be dedicated to Catholic homosexuals and LGBT people, noted the Italian daily, Il Messaggero, despite the Catholic Church considering homosexual acts to be "intrinsically disordered. [A spokesperson at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization denied Wednesday that a controversial pilgrimage had ever been listed on a Vatican calendar, after the pilgrimage was removed from the online calendar earlier this week]"
https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2024/12/07/pope-francis-proclaims-special-jubilee-lgbtq-community/

Global Debt Hits Record $323 Trillion, Triggering Fears of an Incoming Debt Tsunami – Global debt soared by over $12 trillion in the first three quarters of 2024, reaching a record $323 trillion, driven by falling borrowing costs and increased risk appetite, according to the latest Global Debt Monitor report by a banking trade group.
https://www.worthynews.com/100530-global-debt-hits-record-323-trillion-triggering-fears-of-an-incoming-debt-tsunami

Top Neuropsychology Organizations Poised To Make ‘Equity, Justice, and Inclusion’ a Core Part of Training Guidelines – The top neuropsychology organizations in North America may soon adopt training guidelines that call on clinicians to use "social justice frameworks," acknowledge "systemic oppression," and pursue "equitable and just scientific knowledge," according to a copy of the guidelines reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The guidelines are the product of two years of meetings between the field’s main professional groups and could reshape board certification for the entire discipline. Neuropsychology is the branch of medicine that diagnoses brain injuries, including concussions, by administering tests of cognitive function.
https://freebeacon.com/policy/top-neuropsychology-organizations-poised-to-make-equity-justice-and-inclusion-a-core-part-of-training-guidelines/

Italian Researcher Puts Christ’s Birth in December, 1 BC – As Christmas approaches, debate often arises over when exactly Jesus was born. Did the Nativity really happen during winter in Bethlehem just over 2,020 years ago? Recent research by a group of Italian researchers suggests that it did. Liberato De Caro, Ph.D., of the Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council in Bari, Italy, who led the research, proposes that the date of Jesus’ birth can be ascertained through an understanding of the Jewish pilgrimages that took place at that time, and how their connections with Mary’s visit to Elizabeth — and Mary’s reaction to Elizabeth expecting John the Baptist, and the death of Herod the Great — point to the date of Jesus’ birth taking place in December 1 BC.
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/liberato-de-caro-nativity

Survey Shows Christmas Church Attendance Is on the Decline – According to a new study by the Nashville-based Lifeway Research, Americans are split on attending church this Christmas season. The survey... found that nearly half (47 percent) said they typically attend church during the holiday season, while 48 percent do not, and 5 percent were unsure. According to The Christian Post, the study also noted a stark contrast amongst various denominations, including Protestants (57 percent), Catholics (56 percent), and those from other religious backgrounds (53 percent) over the religiously unaffiliated are more likely to attend church at Christmastime. Meanwhile, 71 percent of religiously unaffiliated individuals said they do not typically attend church during Christmas.
https://www.crosswalk.com/headlines/contributors/milton-quintanilla/survey-shows-christmas-church-attendance-is-on-the-decline.html

This is your brain on materialism – G. K. Chesterton likened modern philosophy to insanity. Its inherent circularity may appear to explain everything, but only because it makes reality very small. Those who claim matter and energy are all that exist, he wrote, have an “insane simplicity … the quality of the madman’s argument; we have at once the sense of it covering everything and leaving everything out.” That’s an appropriate designation for this recent post on X [formerly Twitter] by evolutionary biologist Colin Wright: I am perplexed by people claiming that consciousness is metaphysical. We have absolutely no reason to believe that, and every reason to believe it’s a product of our physical brains … We have never observed a mind existing independent from a physical brain … I think we can safely conclude that consciousness is a natural, physical phenomenon. Wright then recited the familiar materialist litany that the mind is nothing but the brain. After all, that organ’s activity can be monitored with fMRI, and specific regions of the brain can be linked with specific behaviors, emotions, and actions. If the brain is damaged, associated aspects of the person’s memory, abilities, or personality are affected. Therefore, the mind and consciousness of the person must be nothing more than a product of the brain and its activity. It’s a simple, tidy explanation ... one that Chesterton would say has the telltale mark of insanity. It seems to cover everything, but only because it leaves out everything important. For instance, is love merely a mixture of neurotransmitters? Are justice and integrity arrangements of gray matter? Are true beliefs, or an eye for beauty, or the ability to grasp a mathematical theorem reducible to chemical reactions?
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/this-is-your-brain-on-materialism.html