Majority of Germans say shops should be closed on Sundays

Evangelical Focus. 13 FEBRUARY 2020 

A survey published by news agency Idea in Germany concludes that most agree that businesses should remain closed on Sundays. 61% of the respondents said they agree with the view that, as a general rule, shops should remain closed on Sundays. Only 28% were against and 11% did not know or did not respond. According to the survey conducted by INSA-Consulere, the highest percentage support for closed shops on Sunday was found among women (64% vs 57% of men). All age groups seemed to agree on this issue except those between 18 and 29 years old: 54% prefer businesses to work on Sundays. 

CONTRAST BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS 

The survey also showed a different approach to the issue depending on the religion of the respondents. Protestants (66%), Catholics (67%) and members of free churches-evangelicals (62%) were in favour of shops closed on Sundays. In contrast, Muslims did disagree, with only 37% saying businesses should remain closed. 

POLAND AND THE UK 

The trend in European countries in the last years has been to allow businesses to extend the trading hours, including Sundays. But social initiatives have also called to “Keep Sunday Special”, as a campaign led by Christians in the UK has been asking for decades. In Poland, the calls to allow time “for family, rest and social relations” led the parliament to restrict the number of working Sundays. From 2020 on, businesses will be able to open only eight Sundays a year.

Pope Francis has been rated as the world's best leader according to Gallup survey.

Rome Reports 2019/02/08 

Pope Francis has been rated as the world's best leader. This is according to Gallup International’s Annual Global Survey conducted in 55 countries. 

Pope Francis has gained 56 percent, snatching first place from Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. They have been moved to second and third place respectively. 

The countries where the pope is best rated are Colombia, Croatia, Italy, Spain and Mexico. He is negatively rated in only four countries: Pakistan, Serbia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Pope Francis has launched a new way of living leadership. The Rome Reports documentary “Leadership and Pope Francis” interviews international celebrities such as Andrea Bocelli, Garri Kasparov, Mike Piazza or Lilian Tintori to unravel the keys to this leadership.

A new survey has found that a third of young millennials in the U.S. aren’t convinced the Earth is actually round

April 5, 2018  CBS

A new survey has found that a third of young millennials in the U.S. aren’t convinced the Earth is actually round. The national poll reveals that 18 to 24-year-olds are the largest group in the country who refuse to accept the scientific facts of the world’s shape.

YouGov, a British market research firm, polled 8,215 adults in the United States to find out if they ever believed in the “flat Earth” movement. Only 66 percent of young millennials answered that they “always believe the world is round.” Science teachers across the U.S. will be shaking their heads after learning that nine percent of young adults answered that they have “always believed” the planet was flat.

Another nine percent said of young adults said they thought the planet was spherical but had doubts about it. In a disturbing display of indecision, 16 percent of millennials said they weren’t sure what the shape of the planet was.

Overall, only two percent of the respondents said they always thought the Earth was flat without any doubt. YouGov found that age was directly connected to Americans’ views on the shape of the world. Seventy-six percent of adults age 25-34 say they’ve always believed the Earth is round, compared to 82 percent of ages 35-44, 85 percent of ages 45-54, and 94 percent of adults 55 and over.

A record low percentage of Americans believe that the Bible is "actual word of God," with more calling it a "book of fables," according to a new survey

by Paul Bedard | May 16, 2017

A record low percentage of Americans believe that the Bible is "actual word of God," with more calling it a "book of fables," similar to Aesop's, according to a new survey.

Gallup reports that just 24 percent believe the Bible should be taken "literally, word for word."

"This is the first time in Gallup's four-decade trend that biblical literalism has not surpassed biblical skepticism," said the pollster.

By comparison 26 percent view the Bible as "a book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man."

And the largest group, at 47 percent, believe it is the "inspired word of God but that not all of it should be taken literally."

Among Christians, 30 percent believe the Bible is the word of God, and Protestants more than Catholics agree.

Gallup said that the long decline in the authority of the Bible could have significant moral impacts.

"Americans in all age groups still largely accept the Bible as a holy document, but most of these downplay God's direct role in it. That could mean people are more willing than in the past to believe it is open to interpretation — if man, not God, wrote the Bible, more can be questioned. And that, in turn, may have consequences for where Americans come down on a number of morally tinged issues. The country may already be seeing this in growing public acceptance of a variety of behaviors that were once largely frowned on from a Christian perspective — ranging from gay marriage and premarital sex to out-of-wedlock births and physician-assisted suicide."       Washington Examiner