@DestaAmora2648@X1204thecityfel@IndoKatholic Japan expelled the Catholics and kept the Dutch. The difference was simple: the Catholics came offering God, while the Dutch were content to offer trade. When commerce asks nothing of the soul, Mammon usually gets the open port.
@IndoKatholic Do not make idols or serve any other God. With an iPhone you are no longer buying a device. You are buying status and approval. The moment a possession becomes a measure of your self and you sacrifice money, attention, or peace to maintain it, it has begun to function as an idol.
@sola_chad Acts 19:11–12: God performs extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that touched his skin are carried to the sick, curing their diseases and driving out evil spirits.
@ShaneSchaetzel if 5% insist on kosher food and everyone else can eat it, kosher becomes the default. Politics works similarly. A small group of Catholics who reliably vote, organize, build institutions, and refuse to compromise on essential truths can outweigh millions of nominal Catholics
@ShaneSchaetzel I agree . Despite being 20% Catholics have been ineffective. However there are plenty of smaller committed groups that have stronger influence. Taleb noticed that a stubborn minority can matter more than a passive majority: