So I was listening to talk radio yesterday and the publisher of Time magazine said that the United States is becoming less religious as time goes on. He called the U.S. an "ex-Christian nation." 16% of the population consider themselves non-religious and want nothing to do with religion. That's a huge amount of people. Significantly bigger than any minority group. What caused this? do people realize that a talking snake and a talking burning bush is a little hard to believe? Or, maybe John Lennon's feelings are mutual with a lot of people:
I grew up in the church 'til I was 18 and moved out of my parents house. Haven't been back since. Same as my wife. Both of our parents still attend. Don't know why. I had no negative experiences, just don't feel the need to go. You guy should all watch Bill Maher's Religulous. Great film.
My story is exactly the same as yours. Grew up in the church until I was 18. It didn't just end on some arbitrary date though. I had been doubtful for years. The more I learned, read, studied and observed with my own eyes, the more I decided that I didn't believe in God. I call it my Age of Reason.
Religulous summed up my feelings on organized religion perfectly. Actually read an article on declining faith in the US a while back and I remember them saying that most people in fact do not believe in "god" per se'. But that a majority of citizens feel themselves to be "spiritually" inclined rather than the whole "intelligent design" of a single creator being. I don't feel the need to go, either, as I believe the organized stuff is all BS.
Yeah, I also think organized religion has a lot of problems. I think there may well be something to "spirituality" (what that is, whether it is just "god of the gaps," I couldn't say), but I think it makes a lot more sense for spirituality to be a personal endeavour, rather than an organizational one.
Well, if 78.4% of the adult population being Christian equates to the US being an "ex-Christian nation", then, yeah, I guess we are. Only 1.6% claim to be atheists and another 2.4% are agnostic. That "nothing in particular" crowd is growing, however, at 12.1%. http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
It's a cultural shift from knowing that you're a created being, and therefore no better than anyone else in society, to one in which the individual thinks of him/herself as the god (little g) of their immediate universe. It's not a matter of "believing in God" or not to most (not pointing out anyone in here). Once you think of yourself as your own moral compass, as "looking out for number one", as being able to control your own situation, and as anything more than a created being, that's when belief in big G God goes away. And the US is the third-largest evangelical mission field in the world, after China and India. When I talk to people who ask me questions about my faith, the name "Jesus" or "Gospel" or "salvation" doesn't come up for a long time. It's meaningless to talk to people about Christianity when they don't believe in the worldview of 1) a Creator created us, 2) Since He created us, he can set whatever rules He wants to (1. Love God perfectly. 2. Love others completely), and 3) humans don't (can't) live up to those rules. And there are more each day who aren't brought up with that worldview.
This is a great little satire on christian fundamentalism. ********************************** This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple. The man spoke first: John:"Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary." Mary: Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us." Me: "Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why would I want to kiss His ass?" John:"If you kiss Hank's ass, He'll give you a million dollars; and if you don't, He'll kick the s**t out of you." Me:"What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?" John:"Hank is a billionaire philanthropist. Hank built this town. Hank owns this town. He can do whatever He wants, and what He wants is to give you a million dollars, but He can't until you kiss His ass." Me:"That doesn't make any sense. Why..." Mary:"Who are you to question Hank's gift? Don't you want a million dollars? Isn't it worth a little kiss on the ass?" Me:"Well maybe, if it's legit, but..." John:"Then come kiss Hank's ass with us." Me:"Do you kiss Hank's ass often?" Mary:"Oh yes, all the time..." Me:"And has He given you a million dollars?" John:"Well no. You don't actually get the money until you leave town." Me:"So why don't you just leave town now?" Mary:"You can't leave until Hank tells you to, or you don't get the money, and He kicks the s**t out of you." Me:"Do you know anyone who kissed Hank's ass, left town, and got the million dollars?" John:"My mother kissed Hank's ass for years. She left town last year, and I'm sure she got the money." Me:"Haven't you talked to her since then?" John:"Of course not, Hank doesn't allow it." Me:"So what makes you think He'll actually give you the money if you've never talked to anyone who got the money?" Mary:"Well, He gives you a little bit before you leave. Maybe you'll get a raise, maybe you'll win a small lotto, maybe you'll just find a twenty-dollar bill on the street." Me:"What's that got to do with Hank?" John:"Hank has certain 'connections.'" Me:"I'm sorry, but this sounds like some sort of bizarre con game." John:"But it's a million dollars, can you really take the chance? And remember, if you don't kiss Hank's ass He'll kick the s**t of you." Me:"Maybe if I could see Hank, talk to Him, get the details straight from Him..." Mary:"No one sees Hank, no one talks to Hank." Me:"Then how do you kiss His ass?" John:"Sometimes we just blow Him a kiss, and think of His ass. Other times we kiss Karl's ass, and he passes it on." Me:"Who's Karl?" Mary:"A friend of ours. He's the one who taught us all about kissing Hank's ass. All we had to do was take him out to dinner a few times." Me:"And you just took his word for it when he said there was a Hank, that Hank wanted you to kiss His ass, and that Hank would reward you?" John:"Oh no! Karl has a letter he got from Hank years ago explaining the whole thing. Here's a copy; see for yourself." From the desk of Karl 1. Kiss Hank's ass and He'll give you a million dollars when you leave town. 2. Use alcohol in moderation. 3. Kick the s**t out of people who aren't like you. 4. Eat right. 5. Hank dictated this list Himself. 6. The moon is made of green cheese. 7. Everything Hank says is right. 8. Wash your hands after going to the bathroom. 9. Don't use alcohol. 10. Eat your wieners on buns, no condiments. 11. Kiss Hank's ass or He'll kick the s**t out of you. Me:"This appears to be written on Karl's letterhead." Mary:"Hank didn't have any paper." Me:"I have a hunch that if we checked we'd find this is Karl's handwriting." John:"Of course, Hank dictated it." Me:"I thought you said no one gets to see Hank?" Mary:"Not now, but years ago He would talk to some people." Me:"I thought you said He was a philanthropist. What sort of philanthropist kicks the s**t out of people just because they're different?" Mary:"It's what Hank wants, and Hank's always right." Me:"How do you figure that?" Mary:"Item 7 says 'Everything Hank says is right.' That's good enough for me!" Me:"Maybe your friend Karl just made the whole thing up." John:"No way! Item 5 says 'Hank dictated this list himself.' Besides, item 2 says 'Use alcohol in moderation,' Item 4 says 'Eat right,' and item 8 says 'Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.' Everyone knows those things are right, so the rest must be true, too." Me:"But 9 says 'Don't use alcohol.' which doesn't quite go with item 2, and 6 says 'The moon is made of green cheese,' which is just plain wrong." John:"There's no contradiction between 9 and 2, 9 just clarifies 2. As far as 6 goes, you've never been to the moon, so you can't say for sure." Me:"Scientists have pretty firmly established that the moon is made of rock..." Mary:"But they don't know if the rock came from the Earth, or from out of space, so it could just as easily be green cheese." Me:"I'm not really an expert, but I think the theory that the Moon was somehow 'captured' by the Earth has been discounted*. Besides, not knowing where the rock came from doesn't make it cheese." John:"Ha! You just admitted that scientists make mistakes, but we know Hank is always right!" Me:"We do?" Mary:"Of course we do, Item 7 says so." Me:"You're saying Hank's always right because the list says so, the list is right because Hank dictated it, and we know that Hank dictated it because the list says so. That's circular logic, no different than saying 'Hank's right because He says He's right.'" John:"Now you're getting it! It's so rewarding to see someone come around to Hank's way of thinking." Me:"But...oh, never mind. What's the deal with wieners?" Mary:She blushes. John:"Wieners, in buns, no condiments. It's Hank's way. Anything else is wrong." Me:"What if I don't have a bun?" John:"No bun, no wiener. A wiener without a bun is wrong." Me:"No relish? No Mustard?" Mary:She looks positively stricken. John:He's shouting. "There's no need for such language! Condiments of any kind are wrong!" Me:"So a big pile of sauerkraut with some wieners chopped up in it would be out of the question?" Mary:Sticks her fingers in her ears."I am not listening to this. La la la, la la, la la la." John:"That's disgusting. Only some sort of evil deviant would eat that..." Me:"It's good! I eat it all the time." Mary:She faints. John:He catches Mary. "Well, if I'd known you were one of those I wouldn't have wasted my time. When Hank kicks the s**t out of you I'll be there, counting my money and laughing. I'll kiss Hank's ass for you, you bunless cut-wienered kraut-eater." With this, John dragged Mary to their waiting car, and sped off.
Einstein was an agnostic. He considered himself neither a theist nor an atheist. He felt the issue was too large for humans to know. Here's what he said in a TIME interview: And from a letter he wrote to a friend:
Did you see the part where I wrote the simple word "I"? That means the sentence, and furthermore, the post was about "me". Given that logic, the decisions that were made within the prose were made by me and only me. I can decide what I want, and for me that is the best choice. I never claimed to be super intelligent, or that Einstein was on my side, or that people who don't agree with me are unintelligent. I reached my "Personal Age of Reason". Do you have a problem with that language? I really don't get you sometimes.
Great analogy Einstein's summarizes it up epically. "God didn't write books and Jesus was not a republican" - Bill Maher
The God of the bible is capable of incredible cruelty. He is sadistic beyond comprehension. He was once so pissed at his own creation that he drowned everyone, then supposedly sent them to fry for eternity. Which is the same fate for any who don't happen to blindly choose the correct religion. This God can be likened to a diabolical madman, who sends people poison, disguised as a drink, then tells them they have 10 seconds to chose the correct antidote. Why would God create us with free will, then burn us for eternity because we, one time, excercised free will in a way which displeased him(what kind of "free will" is that anyway)? And the act was something as trivial as eating a PIECE OF FRUIT. The only way he could redeem this sinful fruit eating was to wait 4,000 years, then incarnate as his own son, to be tortured on a Roman cross. Christians believe they will be raptured up into heaven and made into perfect little angels. Well, that is what God wants us to be, why'd he create us as fallible humans with "free will" to begin with. Then he leaves no evidence of his existence, and has apparently decided to go into hiding. If this deity had any shred of logic or virtue, wouldn't he make it perfectly clear who he is, make plain as day to everyone that he exists, and what we are supposed to do to avoid his wrath? It's absurd, that we, in the 21st century, are still having a debate over this mythological character from 2,000 years ago.
Only about 30% of the worlds population strongly identifies with Christianity. The rest dabble or believe in something totally different, and Islam is the worlds fastest growing faith. In addition the majority of churches in the United States are full of sinners and hypocrites by their own definition, so is there any wonder that non-believers are growing faster than believers? The way right Christians are actually killing their own cause because their platform of intolerance will never win out, unless they promote it by force. I used to think we could have a race war in this country, but now I fear a religious war.
Exactly. Just like John Lennon said, it's all purely based on fear and manipulation. In the old testament, you'd think it was the devil doing all of these things.
