Wednesday, March 11, 2009

IS 'RELIGION' IN A TAILSPIN?

During the '80's, especially the early years, there was an up-tick in religious belief in America. First it was Jimmy Carter who told us that he was 'born again' in the '70's, then Ronald Voodoo Economics Reagan came on the scene and used the Presidency to further his religious beliefs. At that point it seemed as if just about everyone was 'giving' their lives to Jesus, that 'born again' thing. Maybe it was the 'in' thing to do for some. For others it was real, or so it seemed.

I know I went that route for a few years. My experience had more to do with a woman (big mistake) than anything else. I went to church, read their bible, and listened. After several years of listening, reading, watching, and seeing exactly what it all was, I realized it was all a sham. There is no God, only the ones man has made to make himself feel better about the way he treats his fellow man. The Bible is a book, that's all, just a book with no more authority than Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Wars have been started in the name of religion, and countless millions, possibly billions, have died because of it. The War of the Roses, the Hundred Years War, Hitler's assault on the Jews, and most all of the problems in the Middle East today were and are because of religion. The Iranians want to annihilate the Jews because of religion. The Taliban, al Qaeda, Hamas all have their basis in religion. The Crusades were an assault on the Jews perpetrated by 'Christ loving' christians.

Now we see that religion in America has taken a hit. The number of 'nonbelievers', which I prefer to call realists, is on the rise. In my state alone believers have gone from 91% in 1990 to 76% now. The Catholics seem to have taken the hardest hit here. I wonder if people are finally realizing that the church just wants their money and really doesn't care about them. One good example of the Catholic church not caring would be the fact that they don't do anything about the pedophiles that are priests, who they just keep moving around when it seems they may get caught.

From the American Religious Identification Survey we have this:
Catholics on the Move, Non-religious on the Rise

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.

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So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, “the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion,” the report concludes.
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Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region, with Vermont reporting the highest share of those claiming no religion, at 34 percent.

“No other religious bloc has kept such a pace in every state,” the study’s authors said.

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The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral.


My friend One Fly at Outta the Cornfield has a post up about this today. That post, Prayer Central Taking A Hit, is well worth the read. He's got a couple more links I think you'll find very interesting.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

i can't wait til the world gets off this boogidy man addiction... how awful and manipulative the whole things is... and we waste so many resources...

on the other hand... what will undtalented rich kids do for money now?... oh wait, that's right.. there's always finance

keep up the great blogging... i'm a recent reader, but I really love the stuff I've read so far...

one love,
--Reverend Manny and the Twilight Empire

Grandpa Eddie said...

Ya know, Reverend Manny, Karl Marx was right about least one thing at least....religion IS the opiate of the masses.

HermitJim said...

When the emphasis at the Church I used to attend became more about what I drove and how I dressed...I stopped going!

I feel more in touch with my Maker on my back porch, enjoying all the beauty of nature...just my two cents worth!

Grandpa Eddie said...

Hey Jim, to each his own.

I'm not trying to sway anyone away from what they believe....just stating my views, the way I see it from where I sit, and what effect it has had on me, the people around me, and the world.

One Fly said...

Thinking back to those days when Raygun was evoking god and the Ayatolla was using his Allah I remember shaking my head and saying how fucked up this was and just how fucking dumb people are.

I'm glad to see these numbers begin to change. You can get every christian in America praying 24/7 and it won't make shit bit of difference in the outcome of anything. They could all start with the economy for one.

I'm glad they didn't get me. Tried real hard but it did not happen. Here is little One Fly's religion story.

Thanks for the link Gramps!!

Grandpa Eddie said...

I hear ya loud and clear on the prayin' thing, pal.

More then happy to send folks your way, One Fly.

LeftyLadi said...

So I'm sitting in the dentist office yesterday afternoon. I'm already a little uptight about having to spend the next hour of my life sitting in a chair with my mouth wide open with a man standing over me putting a stinging needle into my gums and metal things in my mouth, when I noticed a stack "free" newspapers on the table next to me.

I picked up the newspaper with screaming headlines, "Satan is Ripping the Foundations of Christian Faith Right Out From Under America."

Okay, so now I'm offended, but I read on, "This is not a time for Christians to be squishy or spineless in thier faith. We are in a life-and-death struggle. The devil is working overtime today to gain control of our nation's soul."

It goes on to list four "big lies" that "liberals" are spreading. Then the usual liberal bashing.

There were about 20 of those "free" newspapers, so I picked them all up and tossed them in the trash can.

That is my opinion of religion today!

P.S. My teeth are sparkling clean and so is my conscience.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Ah yes, radical right-wingnut conservatard chirstianity at it's best!
Don't ya just love the way they blame 'satan', aka liberals, for their 'flocks' thinning out instead of their own fallacious lies.
People just don't believe their crap anymore.

And the trash is right where that propaganda belongs.

Isn't it nice to have sparkling clean teeth and conscience!

SheaNC said...

I am not a religious guy myself, and Lord (or something) knows I have blogged a lot about religion too, but I did a post in 2005 about some progressive/liberal christian sites. It's called "Not all Christians want to kill you". It's good to know there are some out there who call themselves "Christian" who actually walk the walk, as they say.

Bonus tidbit: Quotes about Christianity by Famous Americans

Grandpa Eddie said...

Yeh, I know not all of Christianity is like the tali-born again we have here. The ones I have the most problems with are the radical right-wingers who tell people how to live their lives.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Damn....forgot...

Shea, thanks for the links my friend.