10 MN to 720 MN: Christian Demographics in Africa.

[brewerb]

On the one hand Christians boast about how many of them there are in the world, as if that means anything, but the implication being that their brand of religion is more likely to be correct or something.

But then when you start to ask them about the bad behaviour or beliefs of other Christians they don't agree with they'll argue that they aren't true Christians.

So there can either be millions of Christians living around the world today or very few depending on what they're trying to argue

Hi Mathilda. It's not just about there being 2.6 BN Christians in the world compared to 150 MN Atheists (33% to 2%) (800 MN - 10% if Agnostics and the religiously unaffiliated are included). It's more about the pace of the change. Btw, some Atheists too would not consider Agnostics as "True Atheists" while others would, so that issue is there in Atheism as well.

I'm a Catholics, and for Catholics, all those who believe and have been raised in Christian Denominations professing Christ's Divinity/the Trinity as stated in the Nicene Creed are Christians. This is mentioned in Vatican II. All 3 major branches of Christendom, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox, confess the Trinity. Two groups do not, the JWs and Mormons, but those constitute only a minute percentage of professing Christians, even worldwide, but especially in Africa.

Back to the pace of the change. As other posters noted, Africa's Population in 1900 was around 140 MN. It is 11 times that today at around 1.52 BN. Africa's Christian Population was only 10 MN. Thus, by natural increase alone, one would expect the Christian population today to be a mere 110 MN. Yet, it is 610 MN above that. As far as I'm aware, such an extraordinary demographics change in so short a time has never happened in the history of any Religion anywhere, with the possible exception of how Europe became Christian in the first place, from the 5th century onward. Can anyone cite an example of similar growth in a Religion/Worldview other than Christianity? 

Here, some may mention Islam as a counterexample. Let's take the case of Islam in Africa. There were 35 MN Muslims in Africa in 1900. There are around 427 MN today. Multiplying by 11 gives an expected number of Muslims at 385 MN by natural increase alone. Thus, likely only the other 42 MN, or around 10% of the total Muslims in Africa, are to be accounted as conversions. For Christianity, that percentage by contrast (610/720=) is around 85%. A dramatic difference in the numbers.

Personally, I have no issue with peaceful advocacy for Atheism, Islam, or any other Religion/Worldview. It's when there is violent terrorism instead that there is an issue, as there often is with Islamist insurgents in Africa. Boko Haram itself, a well known terrorist group, was formed partly in response to the growth of Christianity and the Western education it brings with it: "The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009,[79][80] when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria.[54][81] The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing issues of religious violence between Nigeria's Muslim and Christian communities, and the insurgents' ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic state in the region.[82] Boko Haram's initial uprising failed, and its leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed by the Nigerian government.[83] He began the group in the year 2002, with a view of opposing western education with his followers.[84]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram_insurgency

God Bless.

Big fucking deal.

[Thumpalumpacus]

https://www.innocenceproject.org/wp-cont...port-5.pdf

Eyewitness identification is among the most prevalent and persuasive evidence used in courtrooms. Eyewitness testimony that directly implicates the defendant is compelling evidence in any trial, but it is not error-proof. Jurors may not realize that confident, trustworthy witnesses can be mistaken. A single witness’s identification can be enough to obtain a conviction. Eyewitness identification also plays a key role in shaping investigations. In the immediate aftermath of a crime, an erroneous identification can derail police investigations by putting focus on an innocent person while the actual perpetrator is still on the streets. Once a witness identifies the suspect to police, whether or not that person actually committed the crime, investigators may stop looking for other suspects. 

The Innocence Project identifies the common causes of wrongful convictions across DNA exoneration cases and has found eyewitness misidentification to be the leading cause. Innocence Project research shows: 
• Over 230 people, serving an average of 12 years in prison, have been exonerated through DNA testing in the United States, and 75% of those wrongful convictions (179 individual cases as of this writing) involved eyewitness misidentification.
 • In 38% of the misidentification cases, multiple eyewitnesses misidentified the same innocent person. 

I'm sure you had the same experiment in your Psych 101 as I did in mine, where a person runs into the classroom, creates a disturbance, and runs out PDQ ... and then the prof collects up 20 different accounts from 20 different student-witnesses.

[Minimalist]

I had to take adolescent Psych.....    part of the Secondary Ed program at my college.

[Dānu]

Misinformation and religion thrive under specific circumstances. Poverty is one, ignorance is another. Central Africa was ripe for a religious firestorm. No god required.