January 2002 Vol.5, No. 1 Contents Europe at the Crossroads-What Does It Mean? by John Ross Schroeder Restoration: Going Safely Into the Unknown by Darris McNeely Imagine a World Without the United States by Melvin Rhodes Asking the Tough Question: Has Religion Failed? by Cecil E. Maranville The Biblical Origins of the Arab Peoples by Gary Petty In Brief...World News Review by John Foster, Cecil E. Maranville, Ken Martin and Jim Tuck This Is the Way...How Strong Is Your Tea Bag? by Robin Webber Asking the Tough Question: Has Religion Failed? Public figures speak warmly of all religions, attempting to foster unity and to ratchet down the hostility in the many current religious-based confrontations. But let's ask the tough question: Has religion done for mankind what it purports to do? Is the world community more peaceful? Are the individual citizens of the world more moral for the presence of religion? What can we anticipate the future will bring vis-à-vis religion? by Cecil E. Maranville Only a few months ago, religion was relegated to rarely read weekend segments of Western newspapers and the occasional television or magazine piece. When it was featured in the major press, it was usually in relation to enigmatic prophecies. Today, religion is front page news. During the Cold War, the world was divided between Christianity and atheism, although the confrontation was not typically defined in terms of religion. Now the lines have fallen in an older place, with the world's peoples increasingly defined as Christian or Muslim. The Western nations are said to be "Christian," but that label is more a political than a moral descriptive. Only a minority actually pursues or practices Christianity, which is fragmented into a kaleidoscope of forms that little resemble the Christianity of the early New Testament Church of God. Islam is as divided as Christianity In contrast to the Western label of Christianity, increasing numbers of nations are said to be Islamic. They include most Arab nations, Iran and Indonesia. But that label, too, is a political descriptive, for Islam is as divided as Christianity. Long-time Middle East journalist Judith Miller analyzes the militant Islamic movements within 10 Middle Eastern countries in God Has Ninety-Nine Names. Her title is a play on the fact that there are 99 different names for God in the Koran, as she explains that there is no singular cohesive Islam. Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0201/religion.htm Related Information on UCG Sites: Table of Contents that includes "Asking the Tough Question: Has Religion Failed?" Other Articles by Cecil Maranville False Christianity: _Religious Deception in the Post Modern World _The Perfect Prophetic Storm _Beware of Prophecies! _Out of Sight -- Out of Mind! _God's Mandate to America _Signs and Lying Wonders: Will You Be Deceived? _Europe and the Church, Part 3: The Early Church _Europe and the Church, Part 5: The Identity of the Little Horn _The Rise of a Counterfeit Christianity _Early Trends That Affected the Future of the Church _Introduction (CJ) _Are Some Tortured Forever in a Lake of Fire? _An Angel of Light? _Chapter 3: Following in the Footsteps of the Apostles _The Destruction of Satan's Kingdom _Satan: The Great Seducer _What Did Paul Really Say in Colossians 2:16? _Do Not be Deceived _A Counterfeit Gospel Arises _Introduction (bsc6) _The Devil's Role in Religion _How We Are Tempted _Feast Days: God's or Man's? _Modern Christianity's Forgotten Roots _Ghouls, Ghosts and Goblins _Should You Attend Church? _'Many False Prophets Will Arise and Deceive Many' _World News and Trends - May/Jun 2004 _Our Cultural Battlegrounds _Question and Answers - VT Jan/Mar 2004 _The Role of Satan in the End Time _Be Not Deceived! _Jesus Christ: Victim of Stolen Identity! _Easter or Passover: Which Is Christian? Islam, radical: _Political Correctness Hides the Truth _A Dangerous World _Making Sense in a Senseless Neighborhood _Islamic Extremists Attack the West in Many Countries _The Palace of Versailles -- Again at the Center of World Events _Words No One Wants to Hear From God _Can We Win the War on Terror? _Radical Islam -- a Threat to Freedom of Speech? _"Without Blood on My Hands" _Has the Third World War Already Begun? _Nov. 2 -- A Sobering Lesson for Us All _Europe in Crisis -- Is This the End of the European Union? _Terrorism in the 21st Century _Could Ahmadinejad Be Daniel's "King of the South"? _Indonesia's Bashir a Lightning Rod _A Page on the World: The West's Last Chance _Mumbai Terror Attacks Highlight Global Nature of Threat From Radical Islam _How Britain Is Creating a Terror State Within _Will Iraq Be America's Suez? _Is American Isolationism on the Rise? _Islamic Fundamentalism Resurges _Seeing the World Scene Realistically _A War of Two Worlds _Coming Calamities: Does God Offer Protection? _After Iraq, What Next? _Prophecy Being Fulfilled? _Iraq and the Middle East: A Century of Turmoil Continues _Could We Lose the War on Terror? _Appeasement in the Face of Danger: Deadly Parallels _Has World War III Already Begun? (1/2006) _Our World Is Rapidly Changing - in Ways Foretold by Bible Prophecy _What Motivates Ahmadinejad? _Five Years After 9/11 _Radical Islam: An Arc of Extremism That Threatens the Globe _Has World War III Already Begun? _What Will It Mean for the West if Radical Islam Triumphs? _When Will the West Wake Up? _Afghanistan: What's Behind a Seemingly Unwinnable War? War: _Global War Will Strike Again _The Lord of the Refugees _"Neither Shall They Learn War Anymore" _"'Peace, Peace!' When There Is No Peace _The Little Country That Could _To Tell the Truth _World News Review Jul 2001 _A 20th Century Retrospective:The Shot Still Reverberating Around the World _When 'The Great Game' Is Over _The Majority: Unknowing, Unaware and Unconcerned _Two Men and a Valley _A Brief History of America at War _What Have We Learned? _The Working Energy of Faith _60 Years After the War in Europe _Seeing It With Your Own Eyes _Food Insecurity in a Hungry World _War's Long Memory _War and Peace _"I Will Fight No More Forever" _Wars of Religion: An Ancient Scourge Reborn _The Coming New Religion _Jesus Christ's Olivet Prophecy: Where Are We Now? _Military Service and War _Introduction (GK) _War and Peace in the Middle East _A World Plagued With Human Suffering _Story Flow of the Book of Revelation _Neither Shall They Learn War Anymore _Does It Really Matter What You Believe? _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Mar/Apr 1997 _Deadly Diseases: Again a Threat to Humanity? _Instant Epidemics: The New Breed of Weapons _When Will Mankind Find Peace? _Staying Alert in a Dangerous World: India and Pakistan _Will History Repeat Itself? _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Jul/Aug 2002 _2003: The Storm Clouds Gather _'I Hope We've Learned Our Lesson ...' _The Horsemen of Revelation: The Red Horse of War _What's at the Root of War? _Wars: The Chief Man-made Disaster _60 Years After World War II: What Have We Learned? _War & Peace _Wars of Religion: A Scourge Reborn _Know Jesus, Know Peace _The End of War, Terror and Other Bad Stuff _Man is a Wolf to Man _A Personal View of the Kosovo Conflict _Peace on Earth? _When Will the Middle East Find Peace? _Children of War _Bomb Squad: Removing War's Deadly Aftermath _War to End All Wars _World War II: A View From Underground _The Wonderful World Beyond Today! 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