It’s Wednesday, May 1st, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. ([email protected])

By Jonathan Clark

Swiss abandon Christ

The population of Switzerland is moving away from Christianity, despite the country once being at the center of the Protestant Reformation, led by Ulrich Zwingli.

Three quarters of the Swiss live in cities. Of those, nearly one in three say they do not belong to any religion.

The mainline Protestant church makes up only 19% of the city population, down from 49% in 1970. Roman Catholicism makes up 31%, down from 45%. And Islam has remained stable at 6%.

Texas teacher ordered not to pray

International Christian Concern warns that persecution is cropping up in America and the West, not just in other parts of the world.

Just one example is the case of Staci Barber. She is a Texas school teacher who has been silenced for her faith after praying with other teachers at a school flagpole. She has been ordered not to pray. 

Jeff King, President of International Christian Concern, told The Christian Post, “Basically, we are frogs in the kettle, and the bubbles keep coming up under us. ... People learn that you do not stick your head up, and you start being quiet because ‘the process’ is the punishment. ... We desperately need revival, and that all starts with us personally looking to the Lord.”

Zechariah 1:3 says, “Return to Me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you.”

5 GOP states won’t comply with Biden’s transgender executive order

Five Republican states are suing the Biden administration in a transgender case. The administration is trying to expand a federal civil rights law to include protection for students living sexually perverted lifestyles in public schools.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott told the Texas Education Agency to ignore the new federal rule. He wrote to President Joe Biden, “This ham-handed effort to impose a leftist belief onto Title IX exceeds your authority as president.”

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis also pushed back, saying, “Florida rejects Joe Biden’s attempt to rewrite Title IX. We will not comply, and we will fight back.”

Florida’s Heartbeat Law protects unborn babies at 6 weeks

Meanwhile, a new Heartbeat Law goes into effect in the Sunshine State today.

The law bans the killing of unborn babies with detectable heartbeats but with some exceptions. The law goes into effect after the Florida Supreme Court upheld it last month. The court also upheld a 15-week abortion ban.

Once a destination in the southeast for abortion, Florida may see thousands of fewer abortions due to the Heartbeat Law.

FCC fines AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon for privacy breach

The Federal Communications Commission is fining big wireless companies for sharing customer data without consent.

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon face nearly $200 million in fines.

Jessica Rosenworcel with the FCC said, “These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are.”

People concerned with crime despite drop in crime

U.S. adults are becoming more concerned about crime. However, Pew Research reports crime rates are falling.

Based on data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crime fell 46% between 1993 and 2022. Property crime fell by 59%. 

The Bureau of Justice Statistics records even steeper declines with violent and property crime falling 71% over the same period.

Meanwhile, 77% of Americans think crime is up nationally compared to 47% in 2000. And 55% think crime is up in their area compared to 34% in 2000.

10 perspectives that conflict with Biblical worldview

Dr. George Barna released another survey on worldview in America.

He identified 10 of the most common perspectives widely embraced by adults that conflict with a Biblical worldview.

These views were influenced by other worldviews like secular humanism, pantheism, animism, Mormonism, and Judaism.

One of the top beliefs was that married couples can be bonded to each other for eternity. Other top beliefs were that people are born neither good nor bad and that morality is determined by our own reason and emotions.

In Ephesians 4:14-15, the Apostle Paul encourages us to “no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.”

Unique nova explosion in the skies set for August

And finally, NASA reports yet another once-in-a-lifetime cosmic event will be visible this year.

Sometime before September, scientists are expecting a nova explosion in a star system about 3,000 light years from Earth.

The stellar explosion results from the interaction between a massive star, known as a red giant, and a white dwarf—a star about the size of Earth. This particular nova happens about every 80 years and will likely be visible to the unaided eye.

Close

And that's The World View in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, May 1st in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus ([email protected]). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.