Recently, social media users have resurfaced pictures of the New York skyline from 1956, where a display of faith is shown that can hardly be seen in modern times. Three buildings displayed the three different crosses to recreate the scene where Jesus was crucified on the cross alongside the two thieves.
The photo shows three massive skyscrapers with their internal lights selectively cut on to illuminate a Christian cross to celebrate Jesus in the Easter season. Each cross measured approximately 150 feet tall and reminded one of the largest cities in the world of the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. See the image in a tweet below.
1956: Skyscrapers in New York City display crosses for Easter to celebrate Jesus who says: I give my life for you.
2019: Skyscraper in New York City lit up pink to celebrate abortion which says: YOU give your life for ME.
— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) January 29, 2019
“It’s a very powerful image,” Alex McFarland, president of McFarland Ministries in North Carolina, told Fox News. “My heart was moved to think about that time when publicly and culturally we were not ashamed to invoke not only God, but invoke Jesus Christ.”
McFarland continued, “My heart was moved to think about that time when publicly and culturally we were not ashamed to invoke not only God, but invoke Jesus Christ.” Patti Garibay, the founder of the American Heritage Girls in Cincinnati, told Fox News, “A mere 65 years ago, New York City celebrated the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus’ death on Calvary for all to see. There is no question the nation has performed a complete transformation, and not for the better.”
As Garibay points out in her comment and the tweet from SBA Pro-Life America, only a couple of generations ago America was overwhelmingly Christian. Juxtapose that with modern times, New York City celebrates abortion instead of honoring Jesus Christ. Confirming these trends with statistics, the Wall Street Journal recently reported on a poll that illustrated the decline in American faith. The WSJ reported:
Some 38% of respondents said patriotism was very important to them, and 39% said religion was very important. That was down sharply from when the Journal first asked the question in 1998, when 70% deemed patriotism to be very important, and 62% said so of religion.
… McInturff, a pollster who worked on a previous Journal survey that measured these attitudesalong with NBC News, said that “these differences are so dramatic, it paints a new and surprising portrait of a changing America.’’ He surmised that “perhaps the toll of our political division, Covid and the lowest economic confidence in decades is having a startling effect on our core values.’’
Furthermore, when this iconic photograph was taken, our country was roughly 90% Christian. According to reports:
The downtick in the percentage of the U.S. population identifying as Christian over the past eight years is a continuation of a trend that has been evident for decades. In Gallup surveys in the 1950s, over 90% of the adult population identified as Christian, with only a small percentage claiming no religious identification at all or identifying with a non-Christian religion.
Although Christian faith is declining in America, over 60% of Americans still affiliate with Christianity. This Easter season, it is more important than ever to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and spread the gospel as to get our country back on the right track.
Note: Featured image is screenshot from embedded tweet.
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