The Pew Forum has released a new report on the global growth of Christianity. David Gibson summarizes:
Christianity is still No. 1, at least in terms of overall population, with about 2.2 billion adherents, or a third of the global population. … But the Pew report also notes a sobering irony: Christianity in the Middle East, where the faith was born, is all but gone.
Walter Russell Mead speculates on some geopolitical implications:
[T]he push toward democracy in many countries has been led by Christian laypeople and religious organizations. (That was not true 100 years ago; outside the English speaking world at that time many Christian churches and movements were closely tied to premodern, anti-democratic or anti-republican ideas.) From South Korea to Poland to South Africa by way of Egypt, Christians have been key players in both successful and unsuccessful democracy building movements. Will the rise of Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa promote better, more democratic government there as Christian ideas sink in more deeply among the citizens and leaders of those countries?
Cartoon from Doonesbury.
The Dish 