This piece is The Free Press at its best. Sheluyang and his parents' stories are what make America great. New York Times "journalists" will never set foot in Sunset Park to learn about Christian immigrants. This passage describes them and the soulless NPC Professional Managerial Class: "But elsewhere in Brooklyn, some of the young hipsters in my borough’s more affluent neighborhoods try to fill the void in their souls with false gods—work or social climbing or politics."
Never forget all the crimes the CCP has committed over the past century, resulting in ~50 million deaths. My family, the Pengs, and millions of others appreciate the freedom of America compared to the tyranny of the CCP. However, many American leaders no longer criticize the CCP because they have become CCP court eunuchs. Let us pray for the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989 and the Chinese Cultural Revolution: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/tiananmen-square-massacre-cultural-revolution
This is why the world needs The Free Press. Would the New York Times ever write about the growth of Christian values in its own backyard, in other than its usual sneering smugness? Thank you Bari and Nellie.
In late 2020, after churches were closed for months, the Catholic Churches re-opened their doors as they argued their parishioners needed to receive the sacraments of communion and confession. I grew up in the Catholic Church but left when I married my husband. We attended an ELCA church faithfully and were heavily involved in volunteering and raising our children in it. When our church refused to open its doors out of fear of COVID, while at the same time they had at least 8 people in the same space to live stream services, I said enough is enough and started attending the Catholic services in person. My old ELCA church is still begging members of their flock to return. Meanwhile, my husband and I attended a First Communion service for the 8 year old daughter of friends or ours this past May and the Catholic church was packed full. Preach fearfulness and people will live in fear. Preach faith and the Word of God and your cup will runneth over.
This is why I subscribe: real journalism. The “glitterati” of the New York media, arts and investment house set are a sad, vapid imitation of real life, life with purpose beyond self. The underground culture of Christian immigrants may prove the meme, “diversity is our strength,” and redeem the decaying “smart set.”
When I saw the headline, I figured the story would be in a similar line as previous articles on religious resurgence that has flown under the radar of an otherwise indifferent legacy media.
When I saw the author’s name and realized it was a FP comments section favourite with a reputation for writing eloquently on auto pilot, I knew we were in for a treat. Thank you for letting us in to a glimpse of your family, Sheluyang.
'The new political ideology mimics Christianity in its doctrine of original sin, but without the hope of salvation'. That really sums it up perfectly. Great article, great line.
I think immigrants are going to be the ones who save America from our moment of insanity. They understand work, family values, faith, community, and love of the country that adopted them.
My brother just converted to Catholicism when he married a beautiful immigrant from the Dominican Republic. Their church has been revitalized by Hispanic immigrants as we native-born Americans forget our heritage. John Adams said that our nation and our Constitution are fit only for a moral and religious people. The lunacy and depredations of the atheistic left are proving him right on a daily basis. If there is any satisfaction in this it lies in how deeply unhappy and despondent most leftists are.
I love this piece. I was raised in a very conservative christian home but in my 20’s I was so leftist, nihilistic and so unhappy for many years. By God’s grace I met my husband who is a good Mormon. For some reason he decided to marry me, a raging feminist leftist. During the early years of our marriage we had a lot of debates but he was always kind to me and slowly I began to see the error of my thinking. By the time I had my son I was pretty well back to conservative though I wouldn’t say back to Christian. When Covid hit, God spoke to me. I was seeing what was going on in the world and was terrified for my son. I started reconnecting with the faith of my childhood that I had left behind. My church only closed for a little while with Covid but opened up earlier than most. My husband and I are not the same religion but we both love God and are both practicing Christians. God has saved me from all the unhappiness of my youth. He set me on a path of joy and hope. My son goes to an affiliated Christian school and as I was starting to panic about the crazy crap happening in schools he opened doors for me to become the board chair at my sons school. Now my life has purpose and I’ve found it in volunteer work for my church and school. My church and school are filled with young parents seeking shelter from the storm and we are growing. The illiberal left have clawed their way into prominence but then emperor has no cloths and many aren’t buying it.
Freedom is not a dirty word. Nor is the word religion. Yet both are under vicious attacks from those who fear both. Thank you Sheluyang. And God Bless You and your parents.
Sheluyang- Great piece. Keep the faith my friend and continue spreading the word to those with an open ear. You and your parents are doing a great service to your Brooklyn community and this country is blessed to count you all among its citizens. Thank you for sharing your story.
The final line brought tears to my eyes. I've been so troubled about the illegal crossings at the southern border and yet I often hear the people praising God for delivering them when they arrive. I do think we need to stop the flow but I would take a hard working God loving immigrant over the entire graduating class at my daughter's elite college.
Interesting and inspiring. This article confirms my suspicions that Christianity is not dying, merely shifting to new populations that will sustain and nurture it.
It’s worth noting that the Jews in America are also undergoing a seismic shift. The Reform movement, which is 70% of all people calling themselves Jews in America, is rapidly becoming secular, intermarried, disconnected from its roots. They are having one, maybe two, but frequently zero children.
However, the Orthodox Jews, currently around 20% of all Jews, are having much larger families, are politically and socially conservative, and are on a trajectory to become the majority of Jews by 2070 or so. The majority of those who identify as Jews will be religious and prolific and conservative.
The future America may look a lot like the America of the 1800s in terms of immigrant populations and religious fervor.
This piece is The Free Press at its best. Sheluyang and his parents' stories are what make America great. New York Times "journalists" will never set foot in Sunset Park to learn about Christian immigrants. This passage describes them and the soulless NPC Professional Managerial Class: "But elsewhere in Brooklyn, some of the young hipsters in my borough’s more affluent neighborhoods try to fill the void in their souls with false gods—work or social climbing or politics."
Never forget all the crimes the CCP has committed over the past century, resulting in ~50 million deaths. My family, the Pengs, and millions of others appreciate the freedom of America compared to the tyranny of the CCP. However, many American leaders no longer criticize the CCP because they have become CCP court eunuchs. Let us pray for the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989 and the Chinese Cultural Revolution: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/tiananmen-square-massacre-cultural-revolution
This is why the world needs The Free Press. Would the New York Times ever write about the growth of Christian values in its own backyard, in other than its usual sneering smugness? Thank you Bari and Nellie.
In late 2020, after churches were closed for months, the Catholic Churches re-opened their doors as they argued their parishioners needed to receive the sacraments of communion and confession. I grew up in the Catholic Church but left when I married my husband. We attended an ELCA church faithfully and were heavily involved in volunteering and raising our children in it. When our church refused to open its doors out of fear of COVID, while at the same time they had at least 8 people in the same space to live stream services, I said enough is enough and started attending the Catholic services in person. My old ELCA church is still begging members of their flock to return. Meanwhile, my husband and I attended a First Communion service for the 8 year old daughter of friends or ours this past May and the Catholic church was packed full. Preach fearfulness and people will live in fear. Preach faith and the Word of God and your cup will runneth over.
This is why I subscribe: real journalism. The “glitterati” of the New York media, arts and investment house set are a sad, vapid imitation of real life, life with purpose beyond self. The underground culture of Christian immigrants may prove the meme, “diversity is our strength,” and redeem the decaying “smart set.”
When I saw the headline, I figured the story would be in a similar line as previous articles on religious resurgence that has flown under the radar of an otherwise indifferent legacy media.
When I saw the author’s name and realized it was a FP comments section favourite with a reputation for writing eloquently on auto pilot, I knew we were in for a treat. Thank you for letting us in to a glimpse of your family, Sheluyang.
'The new political ideology mimics Christianity in its doctrine of original sin, but without the hope of salvation'. That really sums it up perfectly. Great article, great line.
I think immigrants are going to be the ones who save America from our moment of insanity. They understand work, family values, faith, community, and love of the country that adopted them.
What a beautiful, uplifting story. Perhaps there's still hope for our country.
My brother just converted to Catholicism when he married a beautiful immigrant from the Dominican Republic. Their church has been revitalized by Hispanic immigrants as we native-born Americans forget our heritage. John Adams said that our nation and our Constitution are fit only for a moral and religious people. The lunacy and depredations of the atheistic left are proving him right on a daily basis. If there is any satisfaction in this it lies in how deeply unhappy and despondent most leftists are.
I love this piece. I was raised in a very conservative christian home but in my 20’s I was so leftist, nihilistic and so unhappy for many years. By God’s grace I met my husband who is a good Mormon. For some reason he decided to marry me, a raging feminist leftist. During the early years of our marriage we had a lot of debates but he was always kind to me and slowly I began to see the error of my thinking. By the time I had my son I was pretty well back to conservative though I wouldn’t say back to Christian. When Covid hit, God spoke to me. I was seeing what was going on in the world and was terrified for my son. I started reconnecting with the faith of my childhood that I had left behind. My church only closed for a little while with Covid but opened up earlier than most. My husband and I are not the same religion but we both love God and are both practicing Christians. God has saved me from all the unhappiness of my youth. He set me on a path of joy and hope. My son goes to an affiliated Christian school and as I was starting to panic about the crazy crap happening in schools he opened doors for me to become the board chair at my sons school. Now my life has purpose and I’ve found it in volunteer work for my church and school. My church and school are filled with young parents seeking shelter from the storm and we are growing. The illiberal left have clawed their way into prominence but then emperor has no cloths and many aren’t buying it.
I’m not Christian. I love this story. America can still be the land of dreams, if you know where to look.
Freedom is not a dirty word. Nor is the word religion. Yet both are under vicious attacks from those who fear both. Thank you Sheluyang. And God Bless You and your parents.
Sheluyang- Great piece. Keep the faith my friend and continue spreading the word to those with an open ear. You and your parents are doing a great service to your Brooklyn community and this country is blessed to count you all among its citizens. Thank you for sharing your story.
The final line brought tears to my eyes. I've been so troubled about the illegal crossings at the southern border and yet I often hear the people praising God for delivering them when they arrive. I do think we need to stop the flow but I would take a hard working God loving immigrant over the entire graduating class at my daughter's elite college.
Interesting and inspiring. This article confirms my suspicions that Christianity is not dying, merely shifting to new populations that will sustain and nurture it.
It’s worth noting that the Jews in America are also undergoing a seismic shift. The Reform movement, which is 70% of all people calling themselves Jews in America, is rapidly becoming secular, intermarried, disconnected from its roots. They are having one, maybe two, but frequently zero children.
However, the Orthodox Jews, currently around 20% of all Jews, are having much larger families, are politically and socially conservative, and are on a trajectory to become the majority of Jews by 2070 or so. The majority of those who identify as Jews will be religious and prolific and conservative.
The future America may look a lot like the America of the 1800s in terms of immigrant populations and religious fervor.
love this insightful piece.