The Top 7 Stream Articles of 2015
Too often Christians and others committed to faith and freedom work in faith silos, cut off from one another by old walls and needless fighting. The Stream began as a vision to bring together evangelicals, Catholics and others committed to faith and freedom. The spirit of that dream is captured in the above photo of Pope Francis and James Robison giving each other what may be the first papal high five in recorded history. What sparked the high five was their hearty agreement that Catholics and Protestants alike need to be brought into a personal and life-changing relationship with Christ. Playing church isn’t enough.
Good intentions also aren’t enough. A second purpose of The Stream is to equip readers with the great principles in the Western tradition proven to encourage freedom and human flourishing. The Stream accomplishes this through articles that either shed light directly on these core principles, celebrate areas of progress, or serve as a warning for what happens when these principles are ignored and abandoned.
As we enter into the new year with hope, here’s a look back at the seven Stream articles that reached the widest audience in 2015.
If you aren’t following the arguments over same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court, you should be. Even if you don’t cater weddings or sell pizza in Indiana, your religious freedom is in danger. … When presidential candidates come to our states to court us during the primaries … any hopeful should be pressed repeatedly to give a straight, unambiguous answer to this question: “Do you support a constitutional amendment restoring natural marriage? If not, then what exactly will you do to protect my religious freedom? If nothing, why should I support you?”
Justin Bieber credited a Pentecostal pastor with changing his life as he mingled Tuesday with thousands of Christians at a five-day church conference in Sydney.
The 21-year-old Canadian pop star praised Hillsong Church’s New York City pastor Carl Lentz, who has recruited several American celebrities and sports stars to the Sydney-headquartered church.
The official version of Pope Francis’ eco-encyclical Laudato Si was released this morning. While much of the media focus will be on the sections devoted to climate change and global warming, here are eleven things from the encyclical you probably won’t see in the headlines.
If you have been following mass media over the past few days, you will have learned from an economist at the U.S. Department of Labor that defenders of religious freedom are “Nazis.” Take a moment to ponder that assertion. Roll it around in your head for a while. You’ll be hearing a lot more fighting words as we enter the next phase of Christian life in America.
Here’s the breathless headline: “Scientists claim they can change your belief on immigrants and God — with MAGNETS.”
Wait. Attitudes toward God and immigrants? Are these a natural pair? The newspaper thought so. They tell of an experiment which “claims to be able to make Christians no longer believe in God and make Britons open their arms to migrants.”
#2: The Scientific Pantheist Who Advises Pope Francis
St. Francis of Assisi’s hymn Laudato Si’ spoke of “Brothers” Sun and Fire and “Sisters” Moon and Water, using these colorful phrases figuratively, as a way of praising God’s creation. These sentimental words so touched Pope Francis that he named his encyclical after this canticle (repeated in paragraph 87 of the Holy Father’s letter).
And the most-read piece of 2015 was …
It seems bewildering that President Obama insists on opening the floodgates to Syrian Muslim immigrants even after the Paris terrorist attacks. It gets stranger. Ten percent of Syria is Christian, but on Obama’s watch, only about 2.5% of recent Syrian refugees have been Christian, and this even though — unlike their Muslim compatriots — Syrian Christians have nowhere in the Middle East they can go to be wholly free of persecution.
Use the Comments section below to let us know what your favorite Stream story from 2015 was.
