From: The Underground <staff@theundergroundsite.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 5:06 PM
Subject: The Underground -- Former stripper teaches Pole Fitness for Jesus class
To: tifforr@gmail.com
The Underground -- Former stripper teaches Pole Fitness for Jesus class |
- Former stripper teaches Pole Fitness for Jesus class
- Study predicts the end of religion in 9 western nations
- Dutch missionary shot dead by thieves in Kenya laid to rest
| Former stripper teaches Pole Fitness for Jesus class Posted: 23 Mar 2011 12:59 PM PDT
Christian women in a small town in Texas are learning to pole dance for Jesus. The class is held for free twice a month on Sundays and is taught by Crystal Dean, a former stripper, who now teaches pole fitness to Christian women who are required to bring their church programs with them if they want to join the class, ABC News said. Dean meets the women in the dance studio, Best Shape of your Life, in Old Town Spring, Texas, The Los Angeles Times said. Her classes use upbeat contemporary Christian music and the routine is intended, as ABC News said, “to spin without the sin for the Lord.” Dean said, “God gives us these bodies, and they are supposed to be our temples and we are supposed to take care of them, and that’s what we are doing,” according to ABC News. Dean told The Los Angeles Times, “It’s fitness. I don’t teach women to be strippers.” Pole dancing is now taught in many gyms, but Dean’s class revolves more around a church theme and she sees it as “continuing the whole worship thing.” Her students agree that Pole Fitness for Jesus is another means to worship God and to express their faith. Tiffany Booth, one of Dean’s students, told ABC News, “I do feel a spiritual connection whenever you have the music on and it’s singing about lifting you up and being closer to God. You do feel that.” Dean told The Los Angeles Times that if people wanted to judge her, that would be up to them but, “I’m good with God.” Religious scholars point out that the last 50 years have seen Christian books about dieting, Christian tattoo parlors, and Christian alternatives to yoga. Thomas Tweed, a professor from the University of Texas told ABC News that he found Pole Dancing for Jesus “mildly surprising.” Tweed told ABC News, “This is just another attempt to think through how to live a full Christian life. Some people of course would say that this is not the way; that it’s too vulgar, it’s too crass, it’s inappropriate. But I can imagine some Christians saying if it actually brings a husband and wife together as Christians to deepen the marriage bond, that actually it’s okay.” A number of churches in the U.S. host contemporary workout classes including jazzercise (First Church of Lombard, Indianapolis), Zumba (Amazing Grace Church, Memphis) and belly dancing (Trinity Presbyterian, Richmond, Va.), according to ABC News. Critics Some however do not approve. One man went to Dean’s class and waved a bible as he pounded on the door. Rev. Ron Krueger of Immanuel United Church of Christ told ABC News, “It does have a history of being used for unhealthy practices, for things that are not good for portrayal of women. I wouldn’t seek that route to encourage spiritual development.” However, Krueger told ABC News it would have a more positive outcome if it drew women back to church who were once turned away from the faith. Otherwise for health purposes, he felt that yoga, running, aerobics and walking were better choices. Sources: http://abcnews.go.com/US/hallelujah-christians-pole-dance-jesus-texas/story?id=13194891&page=2 Share this:      |
| Study predicts the end of religion in 9 western nations Posted: 23 Mar 2011 12:58 PM PDT
A new study concluded recently that religion may die in nine nations. The study, A Mathematical Model of Social Group Competition with Application to the Growth of Religious non-Affiliation, is listed at Cornell University Library, and was last revised in January 2011, according to God Discussion. The study noted that there is a steady increase in the numbers of those who claim to belong to no religious group in nine countries, and its mathematical formula showed religion will be extinct in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland, according to Discover Magazine. The study was headed by Richard J. Wiener, of Northwestern University’s Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Co-researchers are Haley A. Yaple of Northwestern and Daniel M. Abrams of the University of Arizona, the Daily Mail said. The paper was financed by Northwestern University and The James S. McDonnell Foundation. Information pertinent to the study was supplied by P. Zuckerman, according to God Discussion. The study, which was presented at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Dallas, Texas, analyzed census data that dated as far back as one century from the nine countries regarding religious membership, BBC News said. U.S. stats The study also commented on the U.S. noting that “Americans without religious affiliation comprise the only religious group growing in all 50 states; in 2008 those claiming no religion rose to 15 percent nationwide, with a maximum in Vermont at 34 percent,” according to God Discussion. Nonlinear dynamics The mathematical model applied, nonlinear dynamics, was used in a previous study by Abrams in 2003 to predict the waning use of certain languages in the world, BBC News said. In essence, the 2003 study noted that some languages were less useful today than others, and put a numerical value to its continuing use over time, BBC said. Nonlinear dynamics has also been applied to study other phenomena such as the projected expansion of one social networking site over others. The paper says, “Some other competitive social systems in which identical or very similar models may apply include, for example, smoker versus non-smoker, vegetarian versus meat-eater, obese versus non-obese, and Mac user versus PC user,” according to the Daily Mail. Core utility Nonlinear dynamics has at its core the measure of the utility of one phenomena compared to another. Wiener told BBC News, “The idea is pretty simple. It posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility.” Weiner said to BBC News, “For example in languages, there can be greater utility or status in speaking Spanish instead of [the dying language] Quechuan in Peru, and similarly there’s some kind of status or utility in being a member of a religion or not.” The study said, “In a modern secular society there are many opportunities for out-group connections to form due to the prevalence of socially integrated institutions, schools, workplaces, recreational clubs, etc,” according to God Discussion. Methodology Weiner told BBC News, “In a large number of modern secular democracies, there’s been a trend that folk are identifying themselves as non-affiliated with religion; in the Netherlands the number was 40%, and the highest we saw was in the Czech Republic, where the number was 60%.” Using the nonlinear dynamics model, parameters were simply adjusted to measure the social and utilitarian benefits of being part of the ‘nonreligious’ group. From there, they drew their conclusions, BBC News said. Shortcomings Weiner admitted the study is high formulaic and has its shortcomings. He said the results are “suggestive” but fall short in limiting its numbers to measuring the utility of a religious group and its size as incentives for others to join a faith group, the Daily Mail said. Weiner told BBC News, “Obviously much more complicated things are going on with any one individual, but maybe a lot of that averages out.” Simplistic network structure Discover Magazine commented on the “simplistic network structure” as one of the model’s limitations noting, “It assumes that each person is equally influenced by every other person. It also assumes that mere social utility is the driving reason behind people’s religious affiliations, ignoring a slew of other, difficult to measure, non-social factors underlying faith, such as the strength of deeply personal religious convictions and a (potential) basic human tendency to believe in something larger than ourselves.” Discovery Magazine said, “The study is based on the premise that religious networks behave the same ways as do speakers of a common language and non-religious social groups, a reasonable but debatable assumption.” Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368944/Religion-extinct-nations-New-Zealand-Canada.html http://www.goddiscussion.com/43411/religion-may-become-extinct-in-9-countries/ Share this: |
| Dutch missionary shot dead by thieves in Kenya laid to rest Posted: 23 Mar 2011 12:57 PM PDT
A Dutch Christian missionary, who was shot dead in Kenya when thieves broke into the orphanage where he worked, was laid to rest recently in his homeland in Netherlands. Ebel Kremer, 36, was murdered at 1 a.m. on Fe b. 25 by three attackers who entered the complex that the orphanage shared with Youth With a Mission in Athi River town, some 32 miles from Nairobi, Worthy News said. Kremer and his wife Lora, 34, lived within the complex and managed the orphanage. Lora, who witnessed the shooting death of her husband, was allegedly raped in the presence of her two small children, Worthy News reported. A night watchman who was also wounded in the shootout is now recovering, according to Charisma Magazine. YWAM was slated to host a Discipleship Training School graduation the evening following the tragic incident. It had also recently taken in new students for their forthcoming DTS session, Charisma Magazine reported. The Kremers had been receiving financial support from their church, the Free Baptist Congregation Groningen in their home country. A married couple from FBCG picked up Lora and her children to bring them to them back to Netherlands, Worthy News reported. The Kremers had been YWAM Kenya volunteers since Feb. 2008. Aside from the orphanage and training school, the complex also has a pre-school. Ebel was head of a special project, Maanzoni Children’s Village, which collaborated with Homes for Hope and Healing to establish eight homes for foster families that could each accommodate up to 12 children, Charisma Magazine said. Karin Kea Sued, YWAM leader told Charisma Magazine, “Ebel was overseeing the building of the second of the eight homes. We were waiting for the homes to be completed before accepting more children.” Sued also told Charisma Magazine that Kremer’s death was a tragic loss saying, “Our hearts are hurting as we are all in shock and disbelief that Ebel has been taken from us so suddenly, and in such a cruel and heartless manner. We have lost a fellow missionary and friend who beamed with energy and determination serving the One we all know to give perfect peace, comfort and eternal life. Our prayers and sympathy remain with Lora and their families in Holland.” YWAM said there is no evidence linking Kremer’s death to Muslim extremism. The area surrounding the Complex is primarily Christian and those who broke in were searching for money, Worthy News reported. There is no clear indication, as well, that YWAM’s identity as a Christian mission center had anything to do with the attack. PS Cain who worked in Kenya told Worthy News, “Most likely, the robbers would consider themselves ‘Christians’ and run from any Muslim label.” Tamara Neely, YWAM spokesperson told Charisma Magazine that police, who are focusing their investigation on a motive of robbery, have beefed up security around the complex. The couple’s home church, Free Baptist Congregation Groningen, held a special service before the burial. In a statement the church said journalists were kept away from Kremer’s funeral last Monday to help the family “cope with this loss and say farewell” privately, Worthy News reported. Mourning in Netherland Isabella w. van Spijk, a Kenyan Christian who is married to a Dutchman, commented on BosNewsLife’s website, “Our pastor was a close friend of the deceased…He is heartbroken and we as a church are saddened by the cruel act.” Spijk attends the Vineyard Assen church in Netherlands. She wrote, “The preacher could not hold back his tears, now and then he kept stopping preaching. Our God and only Him understands why. I will personally keep praying for Lora and the children that His will may prevail [and] comfort both families. God is on His throne and He will always remember them no matter what because we believe in a living God who is able to carry us through the storms.” Share this: |
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