Business booming for private bunkers
Around the world, private individuals are paying big bucks to prepare for a nuclear disaster. Firms such as the Panic Room Co. in Britain have reported dramatic increases in sales. The Panic Room Co. installs nuclear bombproof bunkers and safe rooms for customers in cities and in relatively remote locations, both in and outside Britain. An employee told the Telegraph in an interview published on March 5, “Certain people are getting richer and, as the world’s issues get more complicated, security comes higher up their list of things they need and want.”
But will bunkers and stockpiles of food and water really protect what’s left of humanity in the event of a global cataclysm? Jesus Christ said of the deadly conflicts prophesied to precede His Second Coming: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matthew 24:21-22).
Only God can and will protect those who have repented and dedicated themselves to Him.
Why are younger adults less happy?
Young American adults are becoming less happy, according to data published on April 4 by the Atlantic. The number of adults ages 18 to 34 who report being “very happy” has sunk to a new low of 25 percent. The Institute for Family Study has identified three major causes of this “happiness recession.”
The first cause is plummeting marriage rates among young adults. Young married couples are 75 percent more likely to report being “very happy,” but the number of young married adults has tumbled from 59 percent in 1972 to 28 percent in 2018.
The second cause is less sex. “Young adults who have sex at least once a week are about 35 percent more likely to report they are very happy, compared with their peers who have no sex,” the Atlantic stated. This demographic has dwindled from 59 percent in 1972 to 49 percent in 2018. This is closely related to the drop in marriage rates.
The third cause is loss of religion. Young adults who attend religious services more than once a month are about 40 percent more likely to report being very happy, but that demographic has dropped from 38 percent in 1972 to 27 percent in 2018.
The Institute for Family Study draws connections between all three causes. “Finding a spouse can be hard and, crucially, one of the places young adults have historically found their spouses is church …” it stated. “Declining sex is at least partly about family and religious changes that make it harder for people to achieve stable, coupled life at a young age.”
The current withering of happiness is the direct opposite of God’s desire for mankind (John 10:10). In His Word, He gives the keys for true and lasting happiness, including how to succeed in marriage, sex and religion.
Polarization in American religion
America is changing from a single-faith culture to a two-faith nation, according to data published on March 19 by Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois University. In 1969, 91 percent of Americans said they were Christian, and only 4 percent claimed “no religion” whatsoever. Today, only 67 percent of Americans say they are Christian, and 23 percent claim “no religion.” Americans claiming “no religion” are often called “nones” because of how they answer the question, “What is your religious tradition?” They are becoming a powerful force in United States’ culture and politics.
The rise of the “nones” tracks closely with the decline of old-line Protestant churches like the Baptist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church, the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church. Both Catholics and evangelical Protestants in the U.S. are holding steady at just under a quarter of the population. Since evangelicals are often more zealous about religion than those from older Protestant denominations, the U.S. is also becoming more polarized as Christians become more devout and “nones” become more secular.