Christian Science Monitor – February 26, 2008:
A panoramic snapshot of American religious life in 2008 reveals an extraordinary dynamism that is reshaping the country’s major traditions in historic ways.
Almost half of Americans have moved to a different religious denomination from that in which they were raised, and 28 percent have switched to a different major tradition or to no religion (i.e., from Roman Catholic to Protestant, Jewish to unaffiliated).
The fluidity is combining with immigration to spur dramatic changes in the religious landscape. Protestantism appears on the verge of losing its majority status. The number of “unaffiliated” Americans has doubled, to 16 percent. One-third of Catholics are now Latino and the religion is depending on immigration to maintain its share of the population.
These shifts are captured in a survey released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
There is a major movement within Christianity to remove titles/denominations … which, frankly, is a good thing. Denominations will shrink in relevance significantly… while, christianity, the grass root – no labels – movement, will gain traction. This also might spell the end of mega-churches… but time will only tell on that point.
This is way cool!! Did anyone else notice that non-theists are up to 4%?! With Jews at 1.7%, that means that non-theists should be able to force the issue and gain the respect of society as Jews have done.
Atheists are still the least trusted group in the United States. We need to come out of the closet and demand the respect of society! Check out the Out Campaign and let’s begin to gain some respect, and then, if we’re very lucky, a bit of Freedom From Religion.
Perhaps we’ll even get a bit of separation of church and state in the process.
GOD IS DEAD!
#3. So He was alive? Hmmm. Nice admission.
#2. Atheists have (and will) oppress the masses like no other. You should be glad you live in a world where Jesus people not only tolerate other/opposite views… but are asked to love everyone anyway.
I gave up religion for Lent 40 years ago (just after an Ash Wednesday service) while I was in college. I suddenly realized that religions offer no answers, but they do seem to very good at raising money.
I get more personal benefit from hiking in the woods (or a mountain, or a desert) than I do sitting in a religious building listening to someone preach.
One can develop a personal code of ethics directly from the Golden Rule (common to most religions), and avoid all the theological bunk with which most religions have burdened themselves.
#4 – rectagon,
You believe that Jesus people are asked to love? You never heard of the IRA? Clinic Bombings? Doctor shootings?
How about all of the various ways in which the bible tells people Thou Shalt Kill?
If you read the bible as a message of peace, you must be ignoring large swaths of it. More likely, like most religious individuals, you are not reading it at all. If you want to keep your religion and continue to believe it is one of peace, I’d suggest that you never read the unabridged bible. It’s some pretty nasty stuff.
hey rectagon, that argument has been so well debunked that you really should know better. I bet you are one of those who believe Hitler was atheist too. I bet you also believe that science is a religion.
Pathetic.
Religion is on the decline. Copernicus started something that can’t be stopped. It might take 5000 years but one day religionists will be the fringe of society and looked upon with distrust and disdain. It’s only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, I would recommend that religionists educate themselves and get some dignity. It’s hard to have dignity when you are on your knees all the time. Think for yourself. You have your religion because it was your parents, and so on and so on. Destroy this knowledge sapping meme.
Only a theist would be so lacking in the ability to reason logically in order to make that pathetic argument. Death does not necessarily imply life. A rock is “dead” in that it is “lacking power to move, feel, or respond.” However, that does not mean the rock was once alive.
#4, Tell that to all the people living under repressive theocracies.
“You should be glad you live in a world where Jesus people not only tolerate other/opposite views”
Is that by choice or by force of law?
From the article
I suspect that this is due in large part because immigrants are generally poorer and thus have less access to the Internet.
I also note that they differentiated between “unaffliated”, atheist and agnostic.
Someday, the root cause of religious predisposition will be discovered, and it will be controllable with regular medication. Then, there will no longer be any need for the asylums we deferentially call “churches.”
Even so, the Pope can keep his Popemobile
#8, SN
However, that does not mean the rock was once alive.
OK, smart guy, if the rock was never alive, I guess you only ever saw the “Dead”. Well, personally, in my time I’ve seen more than one LIVE rock concert. Like, “LONG LIVE ROCK”!!! man.
WOW, I think I’m stoned. Which is better than being graveled.
#4)
Prove your bullshit. Otherwise, go away, troll.
Worship TECH.
# 1 rectagon said, There is a major movement within Christianity to remove titles/denominations … which, frankly, is a good thing.
And likewise, do you think there should be only one kind of restaurant in a city? Or only one kind of club to attend? Or only one sport?
I, for one, enjoy the diversity of various denominations and church traditions. IMHO, Christianity would be impoverished if they disappeared.
What _is_ good is that the denominations fight with each other much less than in decades gone-by. That’s a very good thing.
The rock is “Alive” in the sense that the surface of the rock is a living, thriving, war-torn society much like ours. The only difference is it’s bacteria, not human beings on an oddly-shaped home.
We live on this huge rock that has been shaped with fire, water, gravity, growth and ultimately, human activity. The only difference between our rock and the rock on the earth’s extra-hard crust is that it has resources, and a hot core made of Iron and Nickel… that has the potential to blow itself up…
Enjoy it while it lasts people, it’s bound to end sooner than you think. And probably by our own hand, sadly.
#7 – #13. Debunked…? hardly.
Stalin. Atheist. Forbid religion.
Mao. Atheist. Forbid religion.
Pot. Atheist. Forbid religion. Those 3 murdered more than all the crusades and any other so called “religion based” (really… “money-power based”) wars rolled up.
Here’s a newsflash for you folks that want to force people to believe the way you do…er… not believe they way you do…it’s not about the fanatics who do evil things (oh, sorry, you don’t have a definition of evil… just go with the good old “judea-christian ethic for our purposes here) in the name of ________. It’s not about the ______… it’s about the greed.
Oh, BTW, the unabridged version is quite good… just don’t forget the last 1/3 of the book. Oh, BTW again… that’s where the Jesus freaks are told to put aside violence and put on love instead.
# 11 Gary, the dangerous infidel said,
Someday, the root cause of religious predisposition will be discovered, and it will be controllable with regular medication.
OR… science will discover that religious people have a brain function that can detect the spiritual reality.
Atheists lack that brain capacity and will be psychologically categorized along with sociopaths who lack basic human understanding.
(Just kidding, of course. But I just want to point out that there are multiple ways to look at religion and your’s is certainly a tiny minority opinion.)
“Give ‘em all something to fight about and pay ‘em to fight over it” (Firesign Theatre)
Nothing like fighting over the same stinkin’ desert “Holy Land” for thousands of years. And absolutely nothing beats a great cause like a good “Holy War,” not even oil.
My god is better than your god. So there.
#18 Greg Allen wrote “OR… science will discover that religious people have a brain function that can detect the spiritual reality.”
The empirical evidence against such a brain function, which I see as strong enough to disprove its existence, is the diverse and contradictory “spiritual reality” that religious people seem to detect with it. So many different religions can’t all be right.